Audit Committee and Banking System Stability: A Conceptual Framework

The functioning of board committees in Nigerian banks has generated interests in recent times. Concerns have been raised on the effectiveness of these committees especially their roles in the promotion of stable banks. One of the committees which attracted both research and regulatory interests is the audit. The efficiency of audit committees in the Nigerian banking system has been questioned. This is a proposed framework aimed at studying the roles of audit committees in the Nigerian banking system especially the impact on bank stability. The framework is focused on the attributes of the committee which include the frequency of meetings, expertise, independence and the size. The study proposed that these attributes could influence the stability of the banking system. The key attributes of the audit committee and how they impact bank stability have been reviewed. It is shown in the review that the audit committee is a vital element in bank stability which demands that more attention should be paid to the behaviour of its characteristics in ensuring bank soundness. The outcome of the research is expected to impact policy formulation on the functioning of the audit committee and equally have implications on bank risk governance structure. It would also be relevant to other researchers undertaking studies relating to board committee functioning in banks, risk governance and bank stability. This study is unique in that previous studies on audit committee did not focus on its roles in banking system stability.