Audit Insights: Banking
Our report Audit Insights: Banking is the third in ICAEW’s Audit Insights series and follows reports on retail and manufacturing. It is based on the collective insights of banking audit specialists from BDO, Deloitte, EY, Grant Thornton, KPMG, Mazars, the National Audit Office and PwC.
Since the start of the credit crunch in 2007 and through the global financial crisis that ensued banks have made changes to their businesses, improved the information they publish and strengthened governance and internal control. There have also been major reforms to how banks are regulated. All this has made banks safer but has also added to their costs of doing business. Bank customers may need to pay more for a narrower range of banking products and services.
Our report highlights long-term business challenges that banks still face, set out as four flags. These relate to: cultural change; the potential need to rethink their business models; challenges in measures used to assess their financial strength and performance; and demands for major IT investment.
Responsibility rests primarily with bank boards and there are no quick or easy fixes.