Blog: The Perils for Internal Audit of Donning a “Black Hat”
In his blog, IIA President and CEO Richard Chambers, CIA, QIAL, CGAP, CCSA, CRMA, shares his personal reflections and insights on the internal audit profession. Here’s an excerpt from his latest post:
One of the enduring challenges for internal auditors is how to sustain trusting relationships if they are frequently called upon to assist in investigations of executive and employee misconduct. As I observed in a 2014 blog post, the reality is that many internal auditors are asked to assume responsibilities related to corporate investigations.
More than 80 percent of respondents to The IIA’s 2015 Common Body of Knowledge survey indicated that their internal audit function had some degree of responsibility for detecting fraud within their organizations. That number changed little in the past three years. Current data from IIA members show 73 percent of CAEs report having fraud auditing as part of their responsibilities. Another 31 percent report having forensic investigations under their purview.
It is not uncommon for internal audit to be asked to conduct confidential investigations outside of their normal scope of work, such as on behalf of the audit committee or executive management. In some cases, internal auditors are called upon by the general counsel or CEO to assist with specific investigations.
Read the full InternalAuditor.org blog post from IIA President and CEO Richard Chambers.
