COSO Releases New Board Oversight Guidance Developed with PwC
Press Release | Governance | March 31, 2026
Twelve guiding principles offer boards a practical tool for oversight, accountability, and long‑term value creation
NEW YORK, March 31, 2026 – The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), today announced the release of its Corporate Governance: Guiding Principles for Board Oversight, developed in collaboration with PwC. The new publication provides boards with a clear, board-level set of guiding principles and practical illustrations to help them assess whether their governance model remains fit for purpose as organizations confront accelerating change, heightened stakeholder scrutiny, and increasingly complex risk environments.
The guiding principles are intended to be broadly applicable across entity types and globally applicable across geographies and jurisdictions. Grounded in COSO’s longstanding work in internal control, risk management, and oversight, the guidance offers boards a common reference point where governance expectations can be fragmented.
“Boards are being asked to make decisions with greater speed, transparency, and accountability than ever before,” said Lucia Wind, Executive Director & Chair of COSO. “This guidance gives directors a common reference point to further enhance oversight, clarify roles, and support disciplined, long-term decision making.”
Developed by COSO in collaboration with PwC, the publication draws on extensive research, a review of widely recognized governance practices, and insights from directors, executives, governance professionals, and COSO’s sponsoring organizations. The guidance is directional and illustrative, not prescriptive, and is intended to complement applicable law, regulation, and governance standards rather than prescribe a single governance model.
Boards and governance professionals can use the publication to sharpen governance discussions, support board and committee assessments, inform director onboarding and continuing education, and clarify information flows, decision processes, and accountability.
“In today’s environment, governance is a strategic capability,” said Ray Garcia, Leader of PwC’s Governance Insights Center. “As boards navigate accelerating change and expanding risk, strong oversight is essential to sustaining performance and long-term value. This publication provides a timely contribution to the governance dialogue, offering boards a practical lens to evaluate whether their oversight approach is keeping pace with complexity.”
Wind added, “Effective governance depends on how oversight responsibilities connect and reinforce one another. COSO offers this publication to support boards and those charged with governance as they assess and refine oversight over time in pursuit of long-term value.”
Corporate Governance: Guiding Principles for Board Oversight is available now from COSO.
About COSO
Originally formed in 1985, COSO is a voluntary private sector organization dedicated to helping organizations improve performance by developing thought leadership that enhances internal control, risk management, governance and fraud deterrence. COSO is jointly sponsored by the American Accounting Association (AAA), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Financial Executives International (FEI), the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), and The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). For more information, visit www.COSO.org.
About PwC
At PwC, we help clients build trust and reinvent so they can turn complexity into a competitive advantage. We’re a tech-forward, people-empowered network with more than 364,000 people in 136 countries and 137 territories. Across audit and assurance, tax and legal, deals and consulting, we help clients build, accelerate, and sustain momentum. Find out more at www.pwc.com.
Media contact
Cecile Fradkin
S&C Public Relations Inc.
cfradkin@scprgroup.com
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