‘‘Governance’’ is defined as a set of policies, procedures, processes, systems, people and relationships that govern the enterprise to direct and control the actions of issuers. This includes the relationships between an issuer’s shareholders, board of directors, senior management, internal audit and external audit, and the mechanisms for holding issuers and the board and executive officers accountable. Corporate governance has traditionally been viewed as what the board of directors does when providing oversight on strategy, policy, performance and transparency matters.

This guide can be used by auditors to assess and understand the four pillars of an organization’s governance framework.