Audit Committees in Polish Supervisory Boards: Common Practice and New Challenges

The objective behind this chapter is an assessment of the functioning of audit committees in the supervisory boards of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in Poland. It is made up of three parts. The first encompasses the history of the origins of the audit committee in Polish supervisory boards and presents its basic characteristics – i.e. size, composition, and scope of activities. The second part presents the opinions and views of 34 interviewed board members with respect to their experiences in connection with the functioning of audit committees. The third part of the chapter is a presentation of the results of an analysis of recommendations relating to the functioning of audit committees as found in the post–crisis versions of corporate governance best practice in Western Europe. The conducted analysis indicates that under Polish conditions the audit committee continues to be a young institution. Among key benefits tied with its activities is its role as an institution bringing order and improving the efficiency of the supervisory board, which is especially important in the case of large boards. In spite of the observed benefits provided by the presence of an audit committee, the rate of the process of its spreading among Polish boards is slow. As to the challenges that must be faced by audit committees in Poland, among them is the need to pass into a higher level of maturity expressed in the character and complexity of performed tasks.