Over the past year, the economic environment has shown signs of stabilizing, but recent events suggest the seas are likely to remain choppy for some time to come. There are many factors contributing to the uncertainty businesses face as they look to the future. Committee members should exercise an attitude of healthy skepticism when working with management on new and emerging issues.

In this issue of The Bulletin, we explore these issues and provide observations for boards of directors and their audit committees to consider while setting the 2012 audit committee agenda. There are 10 major challenges non-financial services businesses will likely face over the next 12 months and the 2012 agenda items we suggest are significant matters warranting audit committee oversight.