The purpose of the session is to provide participants at Junior / Middle & senior management level with clear understanding of internal control definition and concepts, and give an overview of the latest trends recent evolutions in the business environment on that topic in order to help participants define a strategy and approach to internal control in alignment with the Code of Governance internationally

The seminar will also provide the guidance in terms of roadmaps, frameworks and tools in order to facilitate the implementation of internal control projects in a cost-effective way. Staff training will improve work quality, work practices and efficiency.  Think about how many computer systems each staff member uses within your Organisation.

- Risk Managers

- Internal Auditors

- Accountants

- Backoffice Employees

- Controllers

- Managers

- Compliance

- Regulators

- Account Managers

This course will be of value and relevance to those seeking to build on their understanding of the processes, terminology, techniques and tools of risk management in the financial services industry. It is of particular benefit to those in internal audit, policy and procedure writers and middle office and operations middle management

By participating, you will be able to:

1. Establish a benchmark for good practice in maintaining effective internal controls

assess the alignment between your firm's business objectives, governance, risk appetite statement and controls

2. Create a cycle of continuous improvement for your internal control systems

design additional controls to support business objectives

3. Build critique current accountability and transparency systems

1. The role of internal controls and risk management in supporting your organisation’s objectives

» Integrating internal control as part of risk management and

governance

» Definitions and their importance

» Conflict between risk management and internal control

» Cast study: large losses – risks without controls

2. Re-assessing roles and responsibilities

» Establishing and confirming who is responsible for what

» Assessing the consequences and impacts of dysfunctional

integration and conflict — on profit and performance

» Reflect on the typical impediments to integration

» The differences between audit and risk committees

» Risk officers and risk departments – what do/should they do?

» Linking objectives

» Case study: senior management’s role within conflict

3. Supporting an organisation’s culture

» Why the tone at the top matters

» Management’s lead in internal controls

» Values of the organisation

» The importance of aligning objectives to culture to risks

4. Goals, risk and governance: linking GRC to individual

performance

» How should risk managers be paid?

» Linking risks and profits to performance and performance

management systems

» Bonus versus risk versus professional competencies. Why too

much risk can result in less competence

» Accountabilities: ensuring those in charge are accountable for

being in control

5. Ensuring sufficient competency and skill

» Understanding the objectives to ensure the right skills are

developed

» Having sufficient resources

» Risk models versus real-life experience and knowledge:

assessing the reality when the model says you’re OK, but

experience says you’re not

6. Responding to risk

» Ensuring your controls match the risk involved: mix and cost

effectiveness of controls

» Establishing the need for continuous change

» Understanding and promoting risk interaction

» Risk treatment strategies

» Assessing risk acceptance

» Establishing risk targets: risk identification and model issues

7. Communicating regularly

» Clear, understood and documented controls

» Embedding GRC communication into the way people work

» Communication in a crisis — who does it? What tone? Case

study

» Internal communication between departments and differing views

of risk

8. Monitoring and evaluating controls

» How should the internal control system be monitored?

» Providing feedback to the governing body

» Causes of failure of internal controls — why those that have

historically worked can suddenly fail, and the underlying causes

of failure

» Actions from evaluations — do you want/need to change?

» Dealing with conflicts of interest — senior management actions

and decision-making

» Who is responsible for monitoring controls?

» Accurately matching monitoring frequency to volatility

» Accountability of controls to targets — setting risk targets versus

profits

9. Providing for transparency and accountability

» Why the performance of risk management and internal controls

must be accounted for

» Reporting to stakeholders — who do you tell if it’s working or not,

and how can you tell if it is?

» Reporting on breakdowns in the GRC links

» Incorporating feedback into the mechanism — lessons for

stakeholders and investors

» Regulators and risk reporting

10. Future risks

» Risk is forward looking, but who is discussing future risks?

» Who signs off on what worked and what didn’t?"