165 3rd INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC RESEARCH ( 3rd ICBER 2012 ) PROCEEDING 12 - 13 MARCH 2012. GOLDEN FLOWER HOTEL, BANDUNG, INDONESIA ISBN: 978-967-5705-05-2. WEBSITE: www.internationalconference.com.my AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE ROLES OF AUDIT COMMITTEE IN PROMOTING GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Idris Adamu Alhaji 1 Department of Technology Management and Business, University Tun Hussein Onn Malasia 86400 Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia, Hp: 0169294918 alhajiidris05@yahoo.com Dr. Wan Fauziah bt Wan Yusoff 2 fauziahy@gmail.com ABSTRACT The global financial crisis and recent cases of corporate frauds have brought into sharp focus the consequence of the precarious role to be played by the audit committees in ensuring good corporate governance particularly due to defenselessness of the economy to any chaos in the financial system. This paper is inclined to explore the roles of audit committee in promoting good corporate governance an empirical study of literature review. Most of the organisation’s failed due to lack of risk exposure relating to the organisation’s governance in relation to; compliance with laws, regulations, & contracts operation and information system effective and efficiency of operation, reliability and integrity of financial and operation information and safeguarding the assets. The audit committee is established with the aim of enhancing confidence in the integrity of an organisation's processes and procedures relating to internal control and corporate reporting including financial reporting. Audit Committee provides an ‘independent’ guarantee to the board through its oversight and monitoring role. Among many responsibilities the boards entrust the Audit Committee with the transparency and accuracy of financial reporting and disclosures, effectiveness of external and internal audit functions, robustness of the systems of internal audit and internal controls, effectiveness of anti-fraud, ethics and compliance systems, review of the functioning of the whistleblower mechanism. Audit Committee also plays a significant role in the oversight of the company’s risk management policies and programs. Audit Committee has thus become one of the main pillars of the corporate governance system in every organisation. The methodology used is based on the review of information collected from secondary sources i.e. published books, reports, research works, journals and newspapers. Some information is also collected through electronic sources, and the paper also intended to give some possible remedies in steering organisation’s through today’s complex business environment, expansion the field of vision, and clearly defining who’s will be tracking the company’s risk sensor, and taking a step forward to enhance its own financial performance. Key words: Auditing, Audit committee and corporate governance. 1 Post Graduate Student, Faculty of Technology Management and Business, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia 2 Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Technology Management and Business, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia