4 minute read 20 Feb 2023
Boardroom meeting with engaged group

How our Independent Audit Quality Committee strengthens our focus on audit quality

By Julie Boland

EY Americas Area Managing Partner and EY US Chair and Managing Partner

Purpose-driven leader with a strong track record of growth, client service and sector leadership. Committed to quality and integrity and advancing diversity, equity and inclusiveness.

4 minute read 20 Feb 2023
Related topics Assurance Audit quality

Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) harnesses the value of the independent perspectives provided by the Independent Audit Quality Committee (IAQC) to help further strengthen audit quality and build trust in the capital markets and investor confidence.

The IAQC provides independent advice to EY US senior leadership on all matters related to the Firm’s system of quality control that affect audit quality, including its business, operations, culture, talent strategy, governance, and risk management. The committee consists of three external senior leaders with substantial, diverse experience highly relevant to this mandate.

EY US is very honored to have Carol Anthony (John) Davidson, Dina Dublon and Jeanette M. Franzel as our IAQC members.

We are very intentional in how we constitute this group, because we believe that audit quality is predicated on having a strong financial reporting ecosystem composed of auditors, issuers, investors, regulators, audit committees, and stewards of governance. It’s our view that each of these stakeholders must work collaboratively to promote audit quality and sustain strong capital markets and investor confidence. Each IAQC member brings a breadth of experience and diverse point of view that guide our ongoing efforts to strengthen audit quality across the Firm.

In a dynamic and fast-paced world, the IAQC’s independent advice is central to advancing our unwavering commitment to audit quality.

About the IAQC members

John Davidson

Carol Anthony (John) Davidson

Mr. Davidson is the lead independent director and chair of the audit committee of TE Connectivity and a director of FMC Corporation and International Flavors & Fragrances. Previously, he was a director of Pentair Ltd., Legg Mason Inc., DaVita Inc. and Allergan Plc. Davidson also served on the board of governors of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for more than five years and was a trustee and Vice Chair for the Financial Accounting Foundation. He is a certified public accountant and began his career in public accounting.

Mr. Davidson had a decades-long career as a financial executive. From January 2004 to September 2012, he was part of the new leadership team of Tyco International, a provider of diversified industrial products and services, serving as Senior Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer. Prior to Tyco International, Mr. Davidson held several executive roles at Dell Inc., including Vice President of Audit, Risk and Compliance, and Vice President and Corporate Controller.

Today, Mr. Davidson is a trustee for the University of Rochester, where he earned his MBA. Earlier, he served as a trustee for St. John Fisher University, where he graduated with a BS in Accounting.

Dina Dublon

Dina Dublon

Ms. Dublon joined the board of directors of PepsiCo in 2005 and currently serves on the sustainability, diversity and public policy committee and is a member of the compensation committee.

In 2019, Ms. Dublon was named to the board of T. Rowe Price, where she is a member of the audit committee and the executive compensation and management development committee. In 2021, she joined the board of Motive Capital Corp II and serves as chair of the audit committee. Previously, Ms. Dublon was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at JPMorgan Chase & Co. She held numerous positions at JPMorgan Chase and its predecessor companies, including Corporate Treasurer, Managing Director of the Financial Institutions Division, and Head of Asset Liability Management. Ms. Dublon also previously served on the boards of Deutsche Bank AG, Accenture plc, and Microsoft Corporation.

Ms. Dublon has chaired the board of advisors of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health since 2018 and previously served on the faculty of Harvard Business School and on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, including the Women’s Refugee Commission and Global Fund for Women.

Ms. Dublon received a bachelor’s degree from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and MS from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business.

Jeanette M. Franzel

Jeanette M. Franzel

Ms. Franzel was previously a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), where she provided strategic oversight for all PCAOB mission programs to oversee the audits of public companies and brokers and dealers that file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). She was appointed by the SEC in February 2012 and served until January 2018.

Ms. Franzel brought extensive audit experience to the PCAOB after a distinguished career at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). She ended her tenure as Managing Director, overseeing all aspects of GAO’s financial audits of the US federal government. During and after the financial crisis, Ms. Franzel’s team provided oversight of the US government’s efforts to stabilize the financial markets and promote economic recovery. Ms. Franzel has testified numerous times before congressional committees and subcommittees on governance and accountability issues.

Ms. Franzel is a board member of the North Carolina Association of CPAs, and is Chair of its Diversity and Inclusion Working Group.  She is also a member of GAO’s Center for Audit Excellence, providing strategic and technical assistance to various national government audit offices around the world.

Ms. Franzel has a BA in Accounting and Spanish from the College of St. Teresa and an MBA from George Mason University. She also completed the Senior Executive Fellows program at Harvard University. She is a certif.ied public accountant and a certified internal auditor

Summary

The Independent Audit Quality Committee (IAQC) provides independent perspectives to EY US to help further strengthen audit quality.

About this article

By Julie Boland

EY Americas Area Managing Partner and EY US Chair and Managing Partner

Purpose-driven leader with a strong track record of growth, client service and sector leadership. Committed to quality and integrity and advancing diversity, equity and inclusiveness.

Related topics Assurance Audit quality

Related articles

Our commitment to audit quality

We are pleased to present the 2022 audit quality report of Ernst & Young LLP (EY US or the Firm), which reaffirms our commitment to continuously improving the quality of our audits and strengthening our system of quality control.

14 Jan 2023 | John King

Twenty years later, SOX continues to drive trust in the capital markets

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) is viewed worldwide as an effective framework for increasing the reliability of financial reporting, deterring corporate fraud and promoting audit quality.

27 Jul 2022 | Bridget Neill