Purpose
The purpose of the Audit Committee is to assist the Board of Directors (the
“Board”) of Swift Energy Company (“Swift Energy” or the “Company”)
in fulfilling its responsibilities with respect to oversight in monitoring (i)
the integrity of the financial statements of the Company; (ii) Swift Energy’s
compliance with legal and regulatory requirements; (iii) the independent
auditors’ selection, qualifications and independence; and (iv) the
performance of Swift Energy’s internal audit function and independent
auditors.
The Committee shall also be responsible for producing the report required
by the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) to be
included in the Company’s annual proxy statement.
Membership, Structure and Operations
The Committee shall be comprised of three or more non-employee directors,
each of whom is determined by the Board to be “independent” under the
rules promulgated by the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and
meet the financial literacy and experience requirements under the rules or
listing standards established by the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. (“NYSE”),
all as may be amended from time to time. In addition, at least one member of
the Committee must satisfy the definition of audit committee financial expert
as such term may be defined from time to time under the rules promulgated by
the SEC. The members of the Committee shall be appointed by the Board, upon
recommendation of the Corporate Governance Committee, for one-year terms, or
until their successors are duly appointed and qualified.
The Board shall designate the Chairman of the Committee; provided
that if the Board does not designate a Chairman, the members of the Committee,
by majority vote, may designate one of the members of the Committee to serve
as Chairman until the Board designates a Chairman, upon recommendation by the
Corporate Governance Committee. All actions of the Committee will require the
vote of a majority of its members present at a meeting of the Committee at
which a quorum is present. The presence in person or by telephone of a
majority of the Committee’s members shall constitute a quorum for any
meeting of the Committee. The Board may remove any Committee member at any
time.
The Committee shall meet at least quarterly or more frequently as it deems
necessary, advisable or as circumstances dictate, and shall report regularly
to the Board. The Committee shall periodically meet separately with the
Company’s management, internal auditors and with the independent auditors to
discuss any matters that the Committee or each of these groups believe should
be discussed privately. In addition, the Committee shall meet quarterly with
the independent auditors and management to review the Corporation’s
financial statements in a manner consistent with the Committee’s
responsibilities and duties set forth in this Charter. Meetings may be called
by the Chairman of the Committee, Chairman of the Board or Chief Executive
Officer of the Company. The Committee may delegate its authority to
subcommittees constituted by a member or members of the Committee, provided
that a report on any activities or actions is presented to the full committee
at its next scheduled meeting.
Special Limitation
If a Committee member simultaneously serves on the audit committee of more
than three public companies, including the Company’s, the Board must
determine that such simultaneous service would not impair such member’s
ability to serve effectively on this Committee and such determination must be
disclosed in the Company’s annual proxy statement.
Responsibilities and Duties
The Committee’s job is one of oversight and monitoring. The Committee is
not responsible for certifying the Company’s financial statements or
guaranteeing the independent auditor’s report. Fundamentally, Swift Energy’s
management is responsible for preparing the Company’s consolidated financial
statements and the Company’s independent auditors are responsible for
auditing those financial statements. The independent auditors of Swift Energy
must report directly to the Committee.
In discharging its oversight role, the Committee is empowered to study or
investigate any matter of concern that the Committee deems appropriate and
shall have the sole authority to retain outside legal, accounting or other
advisors for this purpose, including the authority to approve the fees payable
to such advisors. The Committee shall advise management of the Company of
appropriate funding levels required for payment of compensation to any
advisors retained by the Committee.
In carrying out its responsibilities and duties, the Committee should
design its policies and procedures to be flexible, so that it may be in a
position to react or respond appropriately to changing circumstances or
conditions and to ensure that the corporate accounting and financial reporting
practices of the Company, as well as the auditing process, are in accordance
with all applicable requirements, and also are appropriately tailored for the
Company’s specific business and financial risks. In carrying out its duties
and responsibilities, the following functions are within the authority of the
Committee:
Financial Reporting
1. Review and discuss with the Company’s management and its
independent auditors the audited consolidated financial statements,
including the disclosures in Management’s Discussion and Analysis, in
the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K (or the Annual Report to
Shareholders if distributed prior to the filing of the Form 10-K) and the
interim financial results as well as the disclosures in Management’s
Discussion and Analysis in the Company’s quarterly reports on Form 10-Q
prior to filing with the SEC, and review with the Company’s independent
auditors the results of the annual audit and the quarterly review and the
matters required to be discussed by Statement of Auditing Standards (“SAS”)
No. 61, as amended.
2. Review in conjunction with the review of all financial statements
the quality of accounting principles and/or critical accounting policies
adopted by the Company, and discuss with the Company’s independent
auditors how the Company’s accounting principles and/or critical
accounting policies compare with those used by the Company’s peers or
leaders in its industry and whether appropriate alternative accounting
treatments of financial information within generally accepted accounting
principles have been discussed with management, including the
ramifications of use of such alternative disclosures, along with
consideration of the treatment preferred by the Company’s independent
auditors.
3. Review and discuss with the Company’s management and its
independent auditors, the quality and adequacy of the Company’s internal
controls and internal auditing procedures, as of the end of the most
recent fiscal year, including any significant deficiencies in the design
or operation of those controls which could adversely affect the Company’s
ability to record, process, summarize and report financial data and any
fraud that involves management or other employees who have a significant
role in the Company’s internal controls, and discuss with the Company’s
independent auditors how the Company’s financial systems and controls
compare with practices of the Company’s peers in its industry.
4. On at least an annual basis, the Committee shall review and discuss
the adequacy and performance of the Company’s finance function
including, but not limited to:
(a) the finance organization;
(b) financial reporting policies and practices including those
regarding earnings press releases and financial guidance policies;
(c) management information systems, internal accounting and
financial controls; and
(d) asset management policies, including a review of investment
policies, performance of short term investments, and cash position.
5. Review prior to filing each annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly
report on Form 10-Q, all material off-balance sheet transactions,
arrangements, obligations, and other relationships of the Company.
6. The Committee shall periodically discuss with the Company’s
independent auditors whether, in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles and the rules of the SEC, all material correcting
adjustments identified by Company’s independent auditors are reflected
in the Company’s financial statements.
7. Review and timely discuss with the Company’s management and
independent auditors the effect of regulatory and accounting initiatives.
8. Review disclosures made to the Audit Committee by the Company’s
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer during their
certification process for each annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly
report on Form 10-Q about any significant deficiencies in the design or
operation of internal controls or material weaknesses therein.
External Audit
9. The Committee shall be responsible for overseeing the independence
of the Company’s independent auditors.
10. In its discretion the Committee may request from the Company’s
independent auditors quarterly, and the Committee shall require annually,
a formal written statement delineating all relationships between the
auditors and the Company consistent with Independence Standards Board
Standard No. 1.
11. Discuss with the Company’s independent auditors any such
disclosed relationships and their impact on the independent auditors’
independence.
12. Set policies regarding the hiring by the Company of current or
former employees of the Company’s independent auditors.
13. The Committee shall have the ultimate authority and responsibility
for the appointment, termination, compensation and oversight of the work
of the Company’s independent auditors in preparing or issuing an audit
report or related work, including resolving any disagreements between the
Company’s management and its independent auditors regarding financial
reporting. The Committee shall approve, in its sole discretion, any
professional services to be provided by the Company’s independent
auditors, including audit services and significant non-audit services
(significant being defined for these purposes as non-audit services for
which fees in the aggregate equal 5% or more of the base annual audit fee
paid by the Company to its independent auditors) before such services are
rendered, and consider the possible effect of the performance of such
latter services on the independence of the auditors. The Committee may
delegate pre-approval authority to a member of the Committee. The
decisions of any Committee member to whom pre-approval authority is
delegated must be presented to the full Committee at its next scheduled
meeting. The Committee shall ensure that approval of non-audit services
are disclosed to investors in periodic reports required by Section 13(a)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Committee shall advise
management of appropriate funding levels required for payment of
compensation to the outside auditors for the purpose of preparing or
issuing an audit report or performing other audit, review or pre-approved
non-audit services.
14. At least annually, the Committee shall obtain and review a report
from the Company’s independent auditors describing: the firm’s
internal quality control procedures, any material issues raised by the
most recent internal quality control review, or peer review, of the firm,
or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional
authorities, within the preceding five years, respecting one or more
independent audits carried out by the firm, and any steps taken to deal
with any such issues.
15. The Committee shall meet with the Company’s independent auditors
without the presence of management at some point during all quarterly
meetings of the Committee, meet separately with the internal auditors
periodically and meet with management periodically without the presence of
the Company’s independent auditors.
16. The Committee shall periodically review and discuss the adequacy
and effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and management
reports thereon.
17. The Committee shall evaluate whether it is appropriate to adopt a
policy of rotating the Company’s independent auditors on a regular
basis.
18. The Committee shall require the Company’s independent auditors to
perform timely reviews of the Company’s interim financial reports.
19. The Committee shall require the Company’s independent auditors to
submit to the Committee each year a management letter, which outlines any
weaknesses in internal controls and other matters of significance.
20. The Committee shall review each annual audit with the Company’s
independent auditors. Such review should include:
(a) any difficulties encountered in the course of the audit work,
including any restrictions on the scope of activities or access to
required information, and any disagreements with management;
(b) any changes in the planned scope of the audit;
(c) any changes in the scope of activities of the internal auditors
and evaluations of the impact of such changes on the conduct of the
Company’s independent auditors’ audit and/or any other
implications of such changes;
(d) the responsibilities, budget and staffing of the internal audit
function; and
(e) obtaining assurance from the independent auditors that its
obligations under Section 10A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
have not been implicated.
Internal Audit
21. The Committee shall review the internal audit plan and significant
changes in planned activities; and review significant findings resulting
from internal audits and management’s responsiveness to the findings.
22. The Committee shall review the internal auditors’ assessment of
the effectiveness of or weaknesses in, internal control systems.
23. The Committee shall evaluate the performance and independence of
the internal auditors on at least an annual basis.
External Reserve Engineers
24. The Committee shall review and confirm the appropriateness of the
process of selection of the Company’s independent reserve engineers, in
consultation with those members of management that the Board deems
knowledgeable in such area and focused upon confirmation of the
independence of such reserve engineering firm.
Compliance with Laws and Regulations
25. The Committee shall review, with the Company’s management and its
independent auditors, the Company’s procedures established to:
(a) prevent unlawful political contributions, bribes, unexplained and
unaccounted for payments to intermediaries (foreign or US);
(b) ascertain whether there are any unaccounted or off-book
transactions; and
(c) identify payments in violation of applicable laws and standards of
business which are intended to influence employees of potential customers
to purchase their products (commercial bribes, kickbacks, etc ).
Other
26. The Committee shall establish procedures for (i) the receipt,
retention and treatment of complaints from employees of the Company on
financial reporting, accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing
matters, and (ii) anonymous and confidential submissions by employees of
the Company of concerns regarding questionable financial reporting,
accounting or auditing matters.
27. On an annual basis, the Committee shall review with the Company’s
independent auditors and/or internal auditors, if applicable, audits of
the employee benefit plans to determine that there are proper Company
procedures to ensure compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.
28. On an annual basis, the Committee shall review the adequacy of the
Company’s and officers’ and directors’ liability insurance coverage
and review the Company’s insurance policies with respect to risk
assessment and risk management.
29. The Committee shall recommend whether each year’s audited
financial statements should be included in the Company’s Annual Report.
30. The Committee shall conduct a self-evaluation of its performance
not less frequently than annually and report its findings to the Board.
31. The Committee shall review and reassess the adequacy of this
Committee’s Charter on an annual basis and recommend any proposed
changes to the Board for approval, as well as periodically review actions
taken by the Committee so as to comply with the NYSE listing standards or
other applicable listing standards and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 or
other applicable securities laws or regulations.
32. Maintain minutes or other records of meetings and activities of the
Committee.
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