ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the challenges facing boards in gaining a clear and holistic risk picture as they cut through the clutter of information they are given in the name of assurance. The need for a holistic risk and assurance picture lays the path for developing integrated assurance. The chapter identifies the respective responsibilities in the assurance food chain, particularly in those principal areas of the business that could make or break the organisation to lay the foundations for considering the design and coordination of assurance. Effective assurance at an integrated level cannot just happen; it requires a degree of design and coordination of resources to minimise waste, duplication of effort and collation of knowledge. The chapter examines assurance in corporate governance that it would be fair to state that such a rethink was probably overdue; the lessons from the financial crisis have merely provided a catalyst for analysis.
