According to the recently-released 2016 Board Practices Report, a collaborative board practices benchmarking effort between the Society and Deloitte LLP's Center for Board Effectiveness, 41% of companies disclose more than the required audit committee information in their proxy statements, but this overall percentage reflects significant company size variations - with almost 60% of large-caps disclosing more than what is required vs. just over 30% of mid-caps and only 15% of small-caps. However, an additional 9%, 18%, and 5% of large-caps, mid-caps, and small-caps, respectively, reported currently considering disclosure beyond the minimum requirements.
Comparing these practices to the S&P 100, Deloitte’s recent report: "Trends in audit committee reporting," which we reported on in a previous Society Alert here, generally revealed continued modest progress in enhanced voluntary audit committee disclosures, but for significantly increased (>10%) disclosure of: (i) the number of audit committee financial experts, (ii) the audit committee’s role in reviewing earnings/annual report press releases with management and the independent auditor, and (iii) the audit committee’s role in approving audit engagement fees. Particularly noteworthy: Virtually all companies disclosed the audit committee's role in risk oversight - with 61% disclosing that the audit committee's role extends beyond traditional areas such as financial reporting, internal controls, and compliance, subject to varying degrees of responsibility. The report includes a table summarizing the results and suggested types of enhanced disclosures.
See also the CAQ/Audit Analytics 3rd annual Audit Committee Transparency Barometer released late last year (reported on here), which showed a continued rise in voluntary proxy statement disclosure by S&P Composite 1500 companies (composed of the S&P 500,S&P Mid-Cap 400, and S&P Small-Cap 600) of information about the audit committee's oversight of the external auditor, and includes helpful, illustrative examples of each type of disclosure.
Access additional audit committee disclosure resources on our Audit Committees, Annual Meeting, and Disclosure Reform topical pages.
The iconic Society/Deloitte Board Practices Report - which presents findings from a survey distributed to the Society's public company members in late 2016 - covers trends in over 15 areas of board practices and hot topics including cyber risk, shareholder activism, and board diversity.