The Institute of Internal Auditors (Qatar chapter) hosted Richard Chambers, president & CEO of IIA Global, at a virtual event recently. Chambers presented a keynote address titled "Covid-19, Disruption and the Dahead for Internal Audit."
‘Accounting Today’ ranked Chambers as one of the top 100 most influential people shaping the accounting profession. Chambers is also recognised as one of the most influential leaders in corporate governance by the National Association of Corporate Directors.
Chambers is an award-winning author currently working on his fourth book expected for release in 2021.
Chambers began his presentation with a prologue of the journey over the past decade in 2010-20, where internal audit weathered a financial crisis (2010-12) and post-crisis with global regulations (2013-15). During this time, there was "COSO-Internal Control" framework refresh. Enhanced expectations from the internal audit by stakeholders followed this (2016-17), and there was an explosion of new and emerging risks (2018-19) in terms of culture, data ethics and artificial intelligence.
The IIA body geared up with prime measures such as Audit Channel as knowledge sharing medium, Pulse of internal audit publication, Specialty/Industry Centers for enhanced focus, and participating in high-level advocacy measures.
“Covid-19 is the first global crisis of the new decade and the most significant disruption in generations where organisation face a multitude of risks. This has left a profound impact on internal auditing with discontinued scope, cancelled engagements, redirected staff to do non-audit work and lost staffing. The significant challenges were delays due to the responsiveness of function being audited, multifarious evidence gathering for validation, reduced productivity in ‘Work From Home’ environment and difficulty in conducting effective meetings” Chambers stated.
Sundaresan Rajeswar, board member, IIA Qatar who co-ordinated the event said, "Chambers, who recently announced that he would be stepping down as president and CEO in early 2021, by accepting Qatar Chapter’s invitation provided a valuable parting gift to all our members. Chambers praised IIA Qatar chapter for invaluable leadership and appreciated members for being proactive during the pandemic by promoting educational events."
"The IIA global president provided a roadmap for the internal audit profession, particularly focusing on pandemic related realities and the course of action to pursue," Adel al-Hashimi Chapter President said.
The meeting was attended by board members Fahad al-Marri, Rajeswar, Christian Adonis, Girish Jain, Murali Krishnan, Kurien, Murtaza with over 150 attendees.
Chambers is an award-winning author currently working on his fourth book expected for release in 2021.
Chambers began his presentation with a prologue of the journey over the past decade in 2010-20, where internal audit weathered a financial crisis (2010-12) and post-crisis with global regulations (2013-15). During this time, there was "COSO-Internal Control" framework refresh. Enhanced expectations from the internal audit by stakeholders followed this (2016-17), and there was an explosion of new and emerging risks (2018-19) in terms of culture, data ethics and artificial intelligence.
The IIA body geared up with prime measures such as Audit Channel as knowledge sharing medium, Pulse of internal audit publication, Specialty/Industry Centers for enhanced focus, and participating in high-level advocacy measures.
“Covid-19 is the first global crisis of the new decade and the most significant disruption in generations where organisation face a multitude of risks. This has left a profound impact on internal auditing with discontinued scope, cancelled engagements, redirected staff to do non-audit work and lost staffing. The significant challenges were delays due to the responsiveness of function being audited, multifarious evidence gathering for validation, reduced productivity in ‘Work From Home’ environment and difficulty in conducting effective meetings” Chambers stated.
Sundaresan Rajeswar, board member, IIA Qatar who co-ordinated the event said, "Chambers, who recently announced that he would be stepping down as president and CEO in early 2021, by accepting Qatar Chapter’s invitation provided a valuable parting gift to all our members. Chambers praised IIA Qatar chapter for invaluable leadership and appreciated members for being proactive during the pandemic by promoting educational events."
"The IIA global president provided a roadmap for the internal audit profession, particularly focusing on pandemic related realities and the course of action to pursue," Adel al-Hashimi Chapter President said.
The meeting was attended by board members Fahad al-Marri, Rajeswar, Christian Adonis, Girish Jain, Murali Krishnan, Kurien, Murtaza with over 150 attendees.
