The IIA Commends B20's Recommendations to G20 to Strengthen Governance

LAKE MARY, Fla., Dec. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) – the internal audit profession's leader in standards, certifications, education, research, and technical guidance worldwide – commends the Business 20's (B20) Integrity & Compliance Taskforce for their recommendations to the Group of Twenty (G20) it's recent summit in Indonesia. The recommendations, intended to help create a global framework for compliance and integrity as the foundation for sound growth, highlight the internal audit function's critical role in this process.

The G20 is an intergovernmental forum that addresses global economic issues and the B20 serves as the global business community's official G20 dialogue forum to formulate policy recommendations. The IIA is a Network Partner for the B20's Integrity & Compliance Task Force and has been meeting regularly to advance policy discussions.

Internal audit is included in all the Task Force's recommendations, including:

• Promoting sustainable governance in business to support ESG initiatives
• Strengthening governance to mitigate exacerbated cybercrime risks
• Fostering collective action to alleviate integrity risks
• Fostering agility in counteracting measures to combat money laundering/terrorist financing risk factors identification

"The IIA applauds the B20 for recognizing that a robust internal audit function is critical to providing a sustainable platform for growth for businesses globally," said Anthony Pugliese, CIA, CPA, CGMA, CITP, President and CEO of The IIA. "The B20's recommendations to the G20 underscore the internal audit function's role in adding value to their organizations by providing assurance that organizations have effective controls and governance over emerging issues that are critical to businesses globally."

The IIA commends the B20 for their recommendation on sustainable governance, which references The IIA's Three Lines Model:

The report states, "the Three Lines Model describes how the accountability of the governing body, actions by management, and independent assurance by internal audit provide the foundation for effective governance. Together, they need to work effectively through appropriate coordination, communication, and collaboration to ensure their activities are appropriately aligned without undue overlap, duplication, and gaps, and without conflict or incompatibility."

The IIA strongly supports the B20's acknowledgment and recommendation that "internal audit can and should play a significant role in an organization's ESG journey. It can add value in an advisory capacity by helping to identify and establish a functional ESG control environment. It also can offer critical assurance support by providing an independent and objective review of the effectiveness of ESG risk assessments, responses, and controls."

The IIA agrees with the B20's stance that the G20 should "encourage business to enhance existing resources to uphold whilst realign cybersecurity policies and protocols to better meet changing business needs. The effort may include strengthening the role of internal audit to actively provide assurance over management's ability to identify and manage risks and respond against cyber-attacks incidents."

"The B20's recommendations highlight the importance of the internal audit function to businesses and the value they add to their organizations," added Pugliese. "The IIA remains committed to supporting our more than 218,000 members and the global internal audit profession in their important work to mitigate risk and facilitate strong governance, which helps organizations meet their objectives."

Read the B20's full recommendations here.

The IIA is a nonprofit international professional association that serves more than 218,000 global members and has awarded 180,000 Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) certifications worldwide. Established in 1941, The IIA is recognized as the internal audit profession's leader in standards, certifications, education, research, and technical guidance. For more information, visit theiia.org.

SOURCE The Institute of Internal Auditors