Purpose - The purpose of this thesis is to attempt to investigate the potential existence of an Audit Expectation Gap (AEG) in the Lebanese Commercial Banking Sector and assess the understanding of bank employees of the standards of internal audit as promulgated by both the Institute of Internal Audit and the Lebanese Central Bank. Design/methodology/approach - Deductive in nature, this thesis uses a questionnaire survey to examine the existence of a significant AEG in different areas of audit. Findings - The thesis finds evidence that an AEG exists in the areas of fraud detection and ...