ABSTRACT

Prior to approving a set of internal audit plans a couple of years ago, the Chairman of the Audit Committee requested additional information that related to other assurance reports which the Audit Committee or the Board was receiving or expected to receive in the same period. The concept of integrated assurance was, at the same time, being established in the organisation by a member of the Executive who is also the Chief Risk Officer for the purpose of gaining a holistic risk oversight, that is, application at Level 3. Increasing standards of governance in the industry have undoubtedly raised the awareness of the Audit Committee to the need for more explicit assessment of the completeness of risk assurance provided at board level. Discussions between the Chief Risk Officer and the Chief Internal Auditor were held to ensure that any gaps and overlaps in the risk assurance map were resolved appropriately.