Views from the crow's nest
Internal auditors are in a prime position to help financial services firms navigate the challenging risk and regulatory environment. Pam Kaur explains how the function is adapting.
Internal audit teams have a unique vantage point from which to understand and assess all aspects of large and complex financial services firms. They can see end-to-end across the organisation, they see holistically across risk types, and they can trace products and processes through the handoffs between different business lines and functions. This puts internal audit in an indispensable position as stakeholders seek assurance that firms are managing an increasingly wide range of risks.At a time of heightened scrutiny of the financial services industry, internal auditors also have an opportunity to add value as agents of change by helping business units to cope with unprecedented and significant volumes of mandatory regulatory change. Internal audit must be in a position to quickly understand and assess each regulatory development and evaluate whether the organisation’s change programmes are fit for purpose.
Internal auditors must also sharpen their antennae to the world around them, and constantly consider how external factors may affect the organisation. This includes the consideration of events at other banks, the strategy of industry peers, macroeconomic and geopolitical events (within stress-testing programmes for example) or reviewing regulatory priority areas.
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