Perhaps the Securities and Exchange Commission is mistaking Internal Audit Awareness Month with Internal Audit Malfeasance Awareness Month. Last Thursday the SEC filed insider trading charges against two internal auditors for allegedly sharing tips that they got from their respective employers. On the same day, the SEC announced that the Read More
The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed changes that would limit the need to adhere to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) requirements to obtain audits of their financial controls over financial reporting (SOX 404) to larger public companies. The SEC voted yesterday to propose amendments to the accelerated filer and large Read More
For a long time, many companies have used process improvement strategies—ideas such as Six Sigma, Lean, Kaizen, Total Quality Management, Re-engineering, and a slew of others—to streamline operational processes, and they have done so with great success. Process improvement and continuous improvement initiatives, which often rely on the help of Read More
Global package foods company Kraft Heinz announced in a statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission this week that it would restate nearly three years of financial statements after an internal inquiry, led in part by internal audit, found misconduct in the company’s procurement department. The company will restate earnings Read More
This month, give an internal auditor a hug or a high five. And if you are an internal auditor yourself, help spread the word about the great work that internal auditors do at their companies. Internal auditors around the world are joining together to build awareness about the importance of Read More
Editor’s Blog Former Enron CFO Andy Fastow was at the center of one of Corporate America’s most notorious frauds. He helped orchestrate the series of off-the-books special purpose entities that enabled Enron to hide its failings and propped the company up before its inevitable collapse. For his part in the Read More
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the United Kingdom is recommending some sweeping changes to the U.K. audit industry. After issuing its final report from a large-scale investigation into audit practices in Britain, it says some drastic changes are needed to address serious competition problems in the industry. “Legislation Read More
Blowing the whistle can be a thankless job. More than one-third of respondents who reported wrongdoing and were identified as the source were either threatened with or received a reprisal as a result, according to a 2010 survey by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent “quasi-judicial” agency that Read More
The State Bank of Pakistan has issued some new standards for financial firms on internal audit and the oversight of the function. The new internal audit guidelines set forth several requirements for how the function is structured and governed. Banks and other companies that meet the state definition of a Read More
Guest Blog: Once upon a time, Little Red Riding Hood ventured out into the forest to visit her poor, sick grandmother. Along the way, she encountered a charming wolf, which gave her no cause for alarm. Although he asked countless questions about where she was going and distracted her with beautiful flowers, Read More
