European ACLN - ViewPoints 5 - Internal audit-Tax governance - 31 October 2005 - Final

EUROPEAN AUDIT COMMITTEE LEADERSHIP NETWORK ViewPoints 31 October 2005 TAPESTRY NETWORKS, INC · WWW.TAPESTRYNETWORKS.COM · +1 781-290-2270The future of internal audit in Europe / Tax governance Introduction The European Audit Committee Leadership Network is a select group of audit committee chairs from leading European companies committed to improving the performance of audit committees and enhancing trust in financial markets. The network is convened by Ernst & Young and orchestrated by Tapestry Networks to access emerging best practices and share insights into issues that dominate the new audit environment. The European Audit Committee Leadership Network held its fourth meeting in London on 7 October 2005. Network members attending the meeting considered two topics: the future of internal audit in Europe and tax governance. They also identified other issues they are currently dealing with, including the need to: • Balance the time spent by audit committees on corporate governance issues with a focus on important business issues • Manage the demands of competing regulatory regimes • Provide oversight of corporate governance in businesses in emerging markets • Deal with the amount of time needed to provide oversight of the implementation of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (for SEC registrants) The members of the network participating in the meeting, or in individual discussions beforehand, between them sit on the boards of about 40 ...