ABSTRACT The Kingston Cotton Mill Company (KCM) was one of the first companies to be formed under the Joint Stock Companies Act 1844. This Act led to an explosion in company formations, as it was intended to do. The provisions of the Act anticipated a number of the concerns about what would now be called ‘corporate governance’, caused by the divorce between ownership and management. The KCM provides an interesting case study on the effectiveness of the early governance provisions. The extent of the agency problem at the KCM was especially acute because of the relatively large body of shareholders (just over 400) starting a large-scale project from scratch with no knowledge of the cotton industry. Particular attention is paid to the accountability and audit provisions introduced into the KCM's constitution. Evidence of the weaknesses in these provisions is derived from the legal proceedings which followed the company's collapse in 1894. The purpose of this study is to provide a basis for better understanding some key issues in corporate governance in mid- to late-Victorian Britain through the examination of the background to a company whose name has been familiar to generations of accounting students and practitioners.

中文翻译：

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19 世纪英国的审计和公司治理：金斯敦棉纺厂的模式

摘要 Kingston Cotton Mill Company (KCM) 是根据 1844 年《股份公司法》成立的首批公司之一。该法案导致公司组建爆炸式增长，正如它的本意。该法案的条款预见了对现在所谓的“公司治理”的一些担忧，这是由所有权和管理权之间的分离引起的。KCM 提供了一个关于早期治理条款有效性的有趣案例研究。KCM 代理问题的严重程度尤其严重，因为相对较多的股东（刚刚超过 400 人）在对棉花行业一无所知的情况下从头开始一个大型项目。特别注意引入 KCM 章程的问责制和审计规定。