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We develop a classification to score the potential of corporate audit committees to be financially literate, as defined in this paper, based on listing requirements of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), as promulgated late in 1999. We score audit committees of approximately 300 large companies in 2000 and 2004, and of a subsample in 1996 as well. We find that scores did not change between 1996 and 2000 but have improved significantly since that time. The audit committees have room for improved financial literacy in the sense that we define. We find evidence of superior stock market returns to companies who have improved the potential for financial literacy, as we measure it, of their audit committees over the last four years. The improvers in our sample enjoyed annualized abnormal, excess returns of 4.6 percent per year more than those who did not improve.

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to compare the responses of South African respondents with all Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) 2006 respondents in the areas of compliance with the Institute of Internal Auditors' (IIA) International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (Standards) and several areas of the internal audit activity's (IAA) operations.Design/methodology/approachThis paper summarises and discusses the survey results from questionnaires sent to the IIA members as of September 2006. For selected topics, the CBOK 2006 database is compared for South African respondents and non‐South African respondents.FindingsThe paper finds that South Africans have a higher level of compliance with the Standards than those respondents residing in other parts of the world. Since the internal auditing profession is so young in South Africa, compliance with the Standards gives structure and support to the new IAAs and internal auditors.Originality/valueThis is the first study comparing the status of the South African internal auditing profession with the global state of internal auditing, activities performed by internal auditors and the perception of the IAAs in their organizations.

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