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Private lenders’ demand for audit

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  • Baylis, Richard M.
  • Burnap, Peter
  • Clatworthy, Mark A.
  • Gad, Mahmoud A.
  • Pong, Christopher K.M.

Abstract

We study clauses in private lending agreements requiring auditors to assure lenders of borrowers’ compliance with financial covenants. Auditors are required under general purpose financial reporting to review covenant compliance. However, by informing lenders directly that they have no knowledge of default, auditors may increase their litigation risk. We find that auditor covenant compliance assurance clauses are significantly associated with more complex contractual adjustments to net income, the extent of reliance on accounting information in the contract, intangibility of borrowers’ assets, the number of lenders and loan maturity. We provide novel evidence of the audit market enhancing efficient contracting.

Suggested Citation

  • Baylis, Richard M. & Burnap, Peter & Clatworthy, Mark A. & Gad, Mahmoud A. & Pong, Christopher K.M., 2017. "Private lenders’ demand for audit," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 78-97.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jaecon:v:64:y:2017:i:1:p:78-97
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2017.06.001
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    3. Aguir, Wael & Ater, Brandon & Anabila, Andrew A. & Sobngwi, Christian Kuiate, 2022. "The role of shared auditors in loan contracts," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 87-97.
    4. Uyar, Ali & Lodh, Suman & Nandy, Monomita & Kuzey, Cemil & Karaman, Abdullah S., 2023. "Tradeoff between corporate investment and CSR: The moderating effect of financial slack, workforce slack, and board gender diversity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    5. López, Andrea Ruíz & Krumm, Alexandra & Schattenhofer, Lukas & Burandt, Thorsten & Montoya, Felipe Corral & Oberländer, Nora & Oei, Pao-Yu, 2020. "Solar PV generation in Colombia - A qualitative and quantitative approach to analyze the potential of solar energy market," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 148, pages 1266-1279.
    6. Jeffrey Pittman & Yuping Zhao, 2020. "Debt Covenant Restriction, Financial Misreporting, and Auditor Monitoring," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(4), pages 2145-2185, December.
    7. Carrizosa, Richard & Ryan, Stephen G., 2017. "Borrower private information covenants and loan contract monitoring," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 313-339.
    8. Asif M. Huq & Fredrik Hartwig & Niklas Rudholm, 2022. "Do audited firms have a lower cost of debt?," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(2), pages 153-175, June.
    9. Dan Dacian Cuzdriorean, 2018. "Auditing Research: A Review Of Recent Research Advances," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 6(4), pages 14-26.
    10. Chy, Mahfuz & De Franco, Gus & Su, Barbara, 2021. "The effect of auditor litigation risk on clients' access to bank debt: Evidence from a quasi-experiment," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1).
    11. Petya Platikanova & Kazbi Soonawalla, 2020. "Who monitors opaque borrowers? Debt specialisation, institutional ownership, and information opacity," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(2), pages 1867-1904, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Auditing; Financial reporting; Debt contracts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • M49 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Other

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