Corporate Governance, audit committee and director independenceA wave of shocking corporate collapses, particularly among large listed companies despite their annual reports and accounts, has raised numerous corporate governance issues. The company's meteoric rise and fall have been associated with serious deficiencies in corporate governance, including weaknesses in internal control, financial reporting, audit quality and management oversight by the board of directors. The collapse of a number of businesses offers several important lessons about the role of corporate governance in preventing corporate collapse under increasing regulatory enforcement. Considering this, on 30 June 2010, a revised version of the Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations with the 2010 amendments was published to provide guidance to companies and investors on best corporate governance practices and to increase the transparency of a listed company . These principles do not constitute a strictly binding “hybrid regulation”, but generally carry some form of sanction if they are not followed. The ASX's approach is an "if not, why not" approach where companies are asked to (1) detail whether they comply with each best practice recommendation and (2) explain why they are not compliant, if this is the case. Role of the Audit Committee The audit committee plays a crucial role in assisting the board of directors to fulfill its corporate governance and oversight responsibilities in relation to a company's financial reporting; internal control systems, risk management systems and internal and external audit functions, as well as the integrity and transparency of corporate reporting. (Anon., 2011) The role and responsibilities of the audit committee are usually to review and make recommendations...... middle of the document ......nce/publications/audit-committee-guide/introduction. htm3. http://www.anao.gov.au/html/Files/BPG%20HTML/BPG_PublicSectorAuditCommittees/3_3.html4. http://www.asx.com.au/documents/asx-compliance/cgc-principles-and-recommendations-3rd-edn.pdf5. http://www.asx.com.au/documents/rules/Chapter04.pdf6. ASX Corporate Governance Council 2003, 'Principles of good corporate governance and best practice recommendations', Sydney.7. Australian Securities and Investment Commission v Rich 2009, Supreme Court of New South Wales (NSWSC) 1229.8. Barry, P. 2002, Rich Kids, Bantom Books, Sydney.9. Bhagat, S. and Bolton, B. 2008, “Corporate governance and corporate performance”, Journal of Corporate Finance, 14, 3:257–73.10. Brown, L. and Caylor, M. 2009, 'Corporate governance and firm operational performance', Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 32, 2: 129–44.