UAE organisations working towards implementing innovative internal auditing practices
UAE Internal Auditors Association has more than 1,700 members
Dubai - Organisations across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are working towards implementing innovative practices in internal auditing, in line with the vision of the UAE’s leadership, which promotes good governance and innovation, an eminent internal auditing expert has said.
“The role of internal audit in the UAE has come a long way from being looked upon as merely a function that provides assurance on financial matters, to one that plays an active role in assisting an organisation in implementing good governance practices. In line with the vision of our great leadership, which emphasises on running businesses ethically, UAE’s organisations have been actively implementing measures to promote good governance, and internal audit plays a key role in helping to achieve the same.
There is also a strong focus on innovation and smarter ways to implement these practices,” said Adil S Buhariwalla, Managing Partner, MASC International, while addressing members of UAE Internal Auditors Association in Dubai, at a members’ meeting held recently.
The members’ meeting was part of the UAE-IAA’s initiatives towards encouraging dynamic leadership to advocate and promote the profession of internal auditing throughout the UAE. The meeting was attended by internal audit professionals from both private and public sector organisations across the UAE.
As the role of internal auditors continues to become more important, the number of internal auditors in the UAE is also increasing. The UAE Internal Auditors Association has over 1,700 members which includes internal auditors from across different segments in government and private orgnisations.
Abdulqader Obaid Ali, Chairman of UAE Internal Auditors Association, an IIA Global Affiliate, said: “Internal auditing plays a key role in the present day competitive corporate environment in leading organisations to work ethically and successfully. In the UAE, organisations are highly aware of this, and this focus on continuous improvement in adopting good governance practices is increasing especially as the UAE economy grows from strength to strength, and readies itself to host mega events such as Internal Auditing International Conference 2018 & Expo 2020. In line with the vision of our leaders, the UAE Internal Auditors Association is committed to promoting innovation and excellence in internal auditing practices in the UAE and today’s meeting was an effort in this direction to help to increase awareness and skills of our members.”
Adil S Buhariwalla, who addressed the internal auditors on ‘Looking Back to Keep on Track’, said, “We can be proud that, in UAE, an increasing number of organisations have internal audit functions that have been adopting best-in-class internationally recognised internal audit practices.”
He discussed the key lessons learnt from recent global corporate scandals and highlighted some of the most common mistakes being made by internal auditors. Not investing in training of employees due to cost-savings, failure to develop soft skills, lack of sufficient planning, micro managing engagements and not maintaining client engagement are among the mistakes internal auditors frequently make, said Buhariwalla.
He emphasised that an honest analysis of corporate culture must be a part of internal auditors’ purview, and they should raise their concern to the Audit Committee and Senior Management where they see an erosion of organisational culture being a significant risk.
This involves gaining expertise in auditing organisational culture. A toxic organisational culture has been time-and-again identified as the nucleus of major corporate scandals. Where organisations set seriously challenging targets for management and employees, and demand delivery of results at any cost, there is an increased likelihood of erosion of culture, caused by the highly stressful working environment. There could be a significant exposure to fraud, if good governance measures are not in place, added Buhariwalla.
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© Press Release 2017
