2011 Annual Report: The Burberry

In the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the audit committee is responsible for adequate supervision and reporting and for responding to:

Such forward-looking information involves important risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect actual results and cause them to differ materially from expectations expressed herein and in other Company reports, SEC filings, statements and presentations. These risks and uncertainties include, among others: local, regional, national and international economic conditions;

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 significantly increased the authority of audit committees in overseeing their companies’ financial reporting processes. One of the audit committee’s responsibilities is that they oversee the financial reporting process. Audit committees are required to review and discuss the annual audited financial statements with management and the external auditors. They also monitor control processes. Monitoring internal controls directly affects the reliability of financial statements is generally understood to be a function of audit committees. SOX section 301 directed the SEC to require audit committees to establish procedures to handle complaints on accounting, internal accounting controls, or auditing matters and to provide confidentiality to employees who submit complaints. Section 301 also states that audit committees are solely responsible for all the aspects relating to selecting, hiring, and replacing external auditors, whom report to the audit committee. An audit committee approves the compensation to external auditors. It also states that audit committees must discuss and resolve disagreements between management and external auditors.

The Audit Committee assists the Board in regard to financial reporting, audit and risk management, including:

Under the audit and examination committee, they have to regulatory and oversight the conduct risk of the entity, in addition, they have to disclose the security risk, operational risk and technology risk. Moreover, audit and examination committee required to oversight the internal audit function, external auditor performance and disclosure framework for financial and risk reports prepared for the board, management, and third party agencies. The committee should provide greater centralization of review and oversight and augment reporting to the board of the type of issues that contributed to breakdown in Wells Fargo’s sales culture.

Disney’s audit committee charter pertains to the committee's authority, purpose, structure, and its responsibilities to the company itself. The audit committee assists the board of directors in overseeing the reliability of the financial statements; compliance with company regulations and the law; external auditors’ qualifications and their ability to be independent; as well as their performance within the company, including that of the internal

Corporate governance strategies require the effective implementation of internal control and the appointment of independent audit committee. Internal controls will help to effectively run the organization’s operations whereas on the other hand, audit committee will help to maintain the transparency of financial information and boosts investor’s confidence (Gugler, Klaus, 2001).

Audit Committee: The Audit Committees’ role in checks and balances is to further assist the Board in providing oversight of the integrity of the financial statements, the effectiveness of the internal controls that relate to financial reporting, and the organizations compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.

The auditor’s responsibility is to express an opinion on the fairness of the presentation of the financials, and an opinion on the effectiveness of internal control of financial reporting, including an opinion on whether management’s assessment of internal control is fairly stated.

* Corporate controllership: This unit is responsible for overseeing the financial statements of the company and also other finance reporting and control functions. Tasks included for this group is developing presentations to senior management and the Audit committee of the board of directors concerning the financial performance of the company, as well as update of significant accounting standards. In addition to this, they work closely with investor relations and corporate communications departments with respect to financial communication.

In this assignment, I have chosen Burberry as the company to report. Burberry is one of the global luxury brand leader with a long history. It operates in three regions, Asia Pacific, Europe , Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) and Americas. I am interested in the firm’s performance in recent years. I am going to measure and analysis the performance of the corporate through Annual report 2015/16 and 2016/17 which published on 06-06-16 and 06-06-17 respectively.

The Audit Committee is comprised of the following five members from the Board; F. Duane Ackerman, Ari Bousbib, J. Frank Brown, Karen L. Katen, and Mark Vadon. This group is tasked with assisting the Board with the oversight of The Home Depot’s financial statements, ensuring that they are in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. They also review and monitor the Company’s Compliance program, making changes when appropriate to ensure that the Company remains compliant. This committee must be comprised of three or more independent directors from the Board and they cannot receive any compensation other than directors’ fees from Home Depot. A requirement for this committee is to have a basic understanding of

Previously closed door events for invited guests, the use of livestream technology allowed Burberry to take these key brand moments to an ever-wider audience over the course of the year, culminating with the livestream of the Burberry Spring/Summer 2011 womenswear show, which has been watched by over one million people across more than 180 countries around the world. The introduction of ‘retail theatre’ technology allowed the livestreaming of shows directly to flagship stores globally, while the development of instant digital commerce purchase capability, supported by supply chain innovation, has allowed customers for the first time to buy directly from the runway for delivery in seven weeks. Further innovations, such as the streaming of the September 2010 womenswear show in 3D to five locations around the world, and the hosting of the Autumn/Winter 2011 womenswear show on the iconic video screens in Piccadilly Circus, London, have continued to broaden reach and awareness.

To reinforce the association to the luxury category, Burberry also launched a high end line called Prorsum. It was a way of communicating the idea that Burberry was a brand with the stature to appear on runways alongside the fashion greats. It provided the brand an opportunity to showcase and reinforce their new image to the industry.

Does the Board or audit committee understands and exercises oversight responsibility over financial reporting and internal control?