ABC Ltd. is a listed entity and having its board of directors. As the Company Secretary, suggest about the composition and role of audit committee.

Composition of the Audit Committee Regulation 18 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 stipulates the provisions pertaining to the composition and role of the Audit Committee which provides that: The audit committee shall have minimum three directors as members. At least two-thirds of the members of audit committee shall be independent directors. In case of a listed entity having outstanding SR equity shares, the audit committee shall only comprise of independent directors. The Chairperson of the audit committee shall be an independent director. The Company Secretary shall act as the secretary to the audit committee. The audit committee at its discretion shall invite the finance director or head of the finance function, head of internal audit and a representative of the statutory auditor and any other such executives to be present at the meetings of the committee. However, occasionally the audit committee may meet without the presence of any executives of the listed entity. All members of audit committee shall be financially literate and at least one member shall have accounting or related financial management expertise. Role of Audit Committee The role of the audit committee and the information to be reviewed by the audit committee shall be as specified in Part C of Schedule II to the SEBI (Listing Obligation and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015. The role of the audit committee includes the following: (1) oversight of the listed entity's financial reporting process and the disclosure of its financial information to ensure that the financial statement is correct, sufficient and credible; (2) recommendation for appointment, remuneration and terms of appointment of auditors of the listed entity; (3) approval of payment to statutory auditors for any other services rendered by the statutory auditors; (4) reviewing, with the management, the annual financial statements and auditor's report thereon before submission to the board for approval, with particular reference to: (a) matters required to be included in the director's responsibility statement to be included in the board's report in terms of clause (c) of sub-section (3) of Section 134 of the Companies Act, 2013; (b) changes, if any, in accounting policies and practices and reasons for the same; (c) major accounting entries involving estimates based on the exercise of judgment by management; (d) significant adjustments made in the financial statements arising out of audit findings; (e) compliance with listing and other legal requirements relating to financial statements; (f) disclosure of any related party transactions; (g) modified opinion(s) in the draft audit report; (5) reviewing, with the management, the quarterly financial statements before submission to the board for approval; (6) reviewing, with the management, the statement of uses / application of funds raised through an issue (public issue, rights issue, preferential issue, etc.), the statement of funds utilized for purposes other than those stated in the offer document / prospectus / notice and the report submitted by the monitoring agency monitoring the utilisation of proceeds of a public issue or rights issue or preferential issue or qualified institutions placement, and making appropriate recommendations to the board to take up steps in this matter; (7) reviewing and monitoring the auditor's independence and performance, and effectiveness of audit process; (8) approval or any subsequent modification of transactions of the listed entity with related parties; (9) scrutiny of inter-corporate loans and investments; (10) valuation of undertakings or assets of the listed entity, wherever it is necessary; (11) evaluation of internal financial controls and risk management systems; (12) reviewing, with the management, performance of statutory and internal auditors, adequacy of the internal control systems; (13) reviewing the adequacy of internal audit function, if any, including the structure of the internal audit department, staffing and seniority of the official heading the department, reporting structure coverage and frequency of internal audit; (14) discussion with internal auditors of any significant findings and follow up there on; (15) reviewing the findings of any internal investigations by the internal auditors into matters where there is suspected fraud or irregularity or a failure of internal control systems of a material nature and reporting the matter to the board; (16) discussion with statutory auditors before the audit commences, about the nature and scope of audit as well as post-audit discussion to ascertain any area of concern; (17) to look into the reasons for substantial defaults in the payment to the depositors, debenture holders, shareholders (in case of non-payment of declared dividends) and creditors; (18) to review the functioning of the whistle blower mechanism; (19) approval of appointment of chief financial officer after assessing the qualifications, experience and background, etc. of the candidate; (20) Carrying out any other function as is mentioned in the terms of reference of the audit committee; (21) reviewing the utilization of loans and/or advances from/investment by the holding company in the subsidiary exceeding rupees 100 crore or 10% of the asset size of the subsidiary, whichever is lower including existing loans / advances / investments existing as on the date of coming into force of this provision; (22) consider and comment on rationale, cost-benefits and impact of schemes involving merger, demerger, amalgamation etc., on the listed entity and its shareholders.