Updated on August 23, 2017
Under the Companies Act, the Audit Committee must consist of at least three Directors, the majority of whom must be outside Directors. In addition, under the Companies Act and the Board Charter, each member of the Audit Committee ("Audit Committee Member") must satisfy all of the following qualifications: (a) he/she shall not be a Director engaged in the business operations of Sony or any of its subsidiaries, a Corporate Executive Officer, an accounting counselor, a general manager or other employee of Sony and (b) he/she shall meet the independence requirements or such other equivalent requirements of the U.S. securities laws and regulations as may from time to time be applicable to Sony Corporation. The chair is to be selected from among the outside Directors. No Audit Committee Member shall become, as a general rule, a member of the Nominating Committee or the Compensation Committee. Moreover, at least one Audit Committee Member shall meet the audit committee financial expert requirements or such other equivalent requirements of the U.S. securities laws and regulations as may from time to time be applicable to Sony Corporation. The Board makes a determination on whether or not such Audit Committee Members meet these requirements. In determining whether to appoint or remove the Audit Committee Member, continuity of the Audit Committee shall be duly taken into account.
With respect to the candidates for independent auditor nominated by the CEO and other Corporate Executive Officers, the Audit Committee evaluates the nomination, prior to making a decision on the candidates. The Audit Committee continues to evaluate the performance, the independence, the qualification and the reasonableness of the independent auditor so appointed. For more details on activities of the Audit Committee, please refer to the page below.
In addition to the usual monitoring activities by each Audit Committee Member or Audit Committee supporting personnel who assist the execution by the Audit Committee of its duties (the Audit Committee Aide), the Audit Committee works with the internal control department and each division responsible for the internal control of the Sony Group. These departments periodically provide reports to the Audit Committee Members, either at Audit Committee meetings or other meetings, and also provide reports on the status or result of investigations at the Audit Committee's request.