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Case 8 — Raven plc
12.1 BACKGROUND TO THE CASE
Raven is a large international technology group. The company reporting policy is conservative and driven by a desire to protect its reputation and get its financial reporting right. The audit committee chair, Norman, is a former finance director and is technically up to date and knowledgeable. The audit engagement partner, Ivan, is a senior member of his firm. The finance director, Trevor, is a former auditor and highly competent in accounting requirements. All three are professionally qualified accountants. The interviews related to Raven's second year of IFRS implementation.
The audit committee is run effectively and the finance director, audit committee chair and the auditor work together professionally to achieve the board's reporting objectives. Norman is determined to ensure that the audit committee does not have any late surprises in the financial reporting cycle.
During the course of the interviews, Trevor and Ivan discussed financial reporting interactions but Norman did not refer to these in detail. However, he did explain how he managed the audit committee.
12.2 CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
According to the relevant financial statements there were more non-executive directors on the board than executive directors. There were no disclosures which indicated the company did not comply fully with the Combined Code. The audit committee had three members.
12.2.1 Cycle of Meetings and Attendees
Norman explained that the audit committee ...
