THE INTERNAL AUDIT IN STRENGTHENING ACCOUNTABILITY AND DISCLOSURE IN FIVE BRAZILIAN PUBLIC COMPANIES

Abstract

The accountability and transparency of Brazilian public companies, has become a subject of considerable repercussion on the grounds of society and other interested parties wish to monitor or oversee how public money is being invested. In this way, this work had the objective of identifying the level of transparency and accountability, with the assistance of the audit committee and the implementation of the compliance e whistleblowing in public enterprises. To achieve the proposed goal, a qualitative research, of descriptive character, analyzing the annual reports of five public companies, to demonstrate if they have an audit committee and make use of the audit programs. To demonstrate if they have an audit committee and make use of the audit programs compliance e whistleblowing. The results were positive for two of them. The BB presented a high average level of transparency in the rendering of accounts, while PETROBRAS had a medium level. On the other hand, the BNDES and the CEF had a low average level and the ECT had a low level. It can be identified that the companies that have the audit committee in their organizational structure divulge their information more effectively, confirming the importance of its function, improving communication with society and other stakeholders.