a) Six key responsibilities of External Auditors in promoting Good Corporate Governance of banks:

1. Verifying Financial Statement Accuracy: Auditors examine financial statements to ensure they are true and fair, promoting transparency and preventing misreporting, as seen in preventing issues like those in the UT Bank collapse.
2. Assessing Internal Controls: They evaluate the design and effectiveness of internal controls, reporting weaknesses to the audit committee, enhancing governance by ensuring robust risk management per BoG Corporate Governance Directive.
3. Ensuring Regulatory Compliance: Auditors check compliance with laws like Act 930 and BoG directives on capital adequacy, helping banks maintain good governance and avoid penalties from events like the 2017-2019 cleanup.
4. Fraud Detection and Reporting: Through risk-based auditing, they identify fraud risks and report suspicions, supporting the board in upholding ethical standards and protecting stakeholder interests.
5. Advising on Risk Management: Auditors review risk assessment processes, providing recommendations on improvements, aligning with Basel III adaptations in Ghana to strengthen governance in areas like liquidity and cyber risks.
6. Reviewing Governance Disclosures: They verify disclosures on board structure, remuneration, and related parties, ensuring accuracy and completeness, fostering accountability and trust in bank governance.

b) Four mechanisms by which External Auditors contribute to maintaining the Integrity of Financial Reporting and enhancing Shareholder confidence:

1. Issuing Independent Audit Opinions: By providing an unbiased opinion on the fairness of financial statements, auditors assure shareholders of report reliability, boosting confidence in investment decisions.
2. Conducting Substantive Testing: Auditors verify transactions, balances, and disclosures through testing, detecting material misstatements, maintaining integrity by ensuring accurate reporting.
3. Evaluating Accounting Policies: They assess the appropriateness and consistency of accounting policies per IFRS, preventing manipulation and ensuring comparable reports, enhancing shareholder trust in the information.
4. Reporting on Going Concern: Auditors evaluate the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing uncertainties, which maintains integrity by alerting shareholders to potential risks, as in post-DDEP recovery scenarios in Ghanaian banks.