1. What Is COSO? COSO stands for the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission — an independent U.S. private‑sector initiative founded in 1985 by five key professional associations: AICPA (Accountants) FEI (Financial Executives International) IIA (Internal Auditors) IMA (Management Accountants) AAA (Accounting Academics) COSO’s Purpose COSO develops frameworks to improve: Internal control Enterprise risk management (ERM) Fraud deterrence Corpora