Internal auditing used to rely on manual processes and complex spreadsheets — and too often this is still the case for financial institutions. However, many organizations recognize that, in addition to meeting regulatory requirements, effective internal audit practices support business strategy and performance. For institutions that leverage digital transformation to modernize their approach to governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) management, cloud-based platforms use digital records and automated tracking to reduce the burden of time-consuming,…
Anti-money laundering (AML) efforts have been of great concern to both regulators and financial institutions in recent years, with a growing focus on cybercrime and data collection. While the financial system grows in complexity, so does the potential risk to the financial services industry and the role of regulatory bodies such as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Congress has mandated that FinCEN implement a strategy for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of…
The realm of governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) is constantly changing and becoming more complex. Organizations are quickly realizing that manually managing their GRC initiatives with tools like spreadsheets, word processors, and shared files and drives don’t meet the requirements of a modern, efficient GRC program. While office software is functional and requires minimal IT knowledge to operate effectively, it falls short in managing risk and compliance data and policies for two primary reasons:…
COOs and other operations leaders need to look no further than the barrage of guidance from global financial regulators to see the importance of building operational resiliency in the financial services industry. Institutions are expected implement management practices and supporting infrastructure to maintain robust customer or member service through technology failures, market disruption, systemic risk events, natural disasters, and even pandemics. Steps for Strengthening Business Continuity and Resilience Management To build resilience and business continuity…
Financial services firms have historically approached audit management through scattered and disconnected methods. Individual auditors worked in their own siloed environments, lost in disorganized spreadsheets, loosely organized internal checklists, and separate auditing protocols across different business functions. As technology has enabled better external and internal audit management, financial institutions are replacing these ineffective processes with a unified audit program that simplifies and streamlines financial and internal control audits. Best Practices for a Unified Audit…