Audit committee characteristics in financially distressed and non‐distressed companies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether there is any difference in the characteristics of an audit committee between financially distressed and non‐distressed companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia (formerly known as the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange). Financial distress among big companies is a sign of weak corporate governance, of which the audit committee is one of elements. Four characteristics of the audit committee being examined are size, independence, activity, and accounting knowledge.