Stakeholders are demanding increased internal
audit involvement in risk identification and management, a PwC US
survey of audit stakeholders has found.
PwC’s 2012 State of the Internal Audit
Profession surveyed about 1,530 internal auditors and
audit stakeholders, such as chief executives and audit committee
directors, across 16 industry sectors from 64 countries.
It shows the role of internal auditors is
critical to effective risk management, which has been a topical
area in recent years due to the global financial crisis.
About half of the respondents asked for added
capabilities in the area of data privacy and security, and 32%
would like internal auditors to become more involved in
understanding and managing regulations and government policies.
Forty-five percent of respondents felt their
organisation does not create their audit plans using a robust,
top-down risk assessment approach.
“As the risk landscape continues to evolve,
the majority of business leaders surveyed said they are not
comfortable with how their risks are being managed, although 74
percent of those surveyed have formal enterprise risk management
processes,” PwC US risk assurance practice Dean Simone said.
“To deliver what stakeholders want, the
standard for an effective internal audit function has been raised
and internal audit needs to elevate its performance to meet the
always increasing stakeholder expectations.”
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