A summary from across the web of 2023's Internal Audit Hot Topic's, Focus Area's and Risk Priorities.
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We have searched across the web; through each of the Big 4's websites, through the IIA, and across thought leadership sites to find out what they all consider to be the top risk / focus areas for Internal Audit going into 2023.
Each year, these risk in focus / hot topics reports can prove to be an invaluable resource for many audit functions and show many upcoming or potential risks which Chief Audit Executives (CAE's) and Audit Committees should be considering. You can see what the 2022 hot topics were by reading this blog post, or you can read the 2021 blog post. If you're really keen, you can go all the way back to the 2020 hot topics by reading this blog post.
In this post, we will show you what the IIA, PwC, Deloitte, Protiviti and Gartner all consider to be the main focus areas for 2023.
Here we go.
Institute of Internal Auditors
The Institute of Internal Auditors released their Risk in Focus 2023 report back in September this year. You can read our review of the report here. Following a survey amongst a number of Heads of Audit, the report identifies the following top 15 categories which are on people's minds going into 2023:
Mergers and acquisitions
Health, safety and security
Communications, reputation and stakeholder relationships
Fraud, bribery and the criminal exploitation of disruption
Organisational culture
Organisational governance and corporate reporting
Financial, liquidity and insolvency risks
Supply chain, outsourcing and 'nth' party risk
Business continuity, crisis management and disasters response
Climate change and environmental sustainability
Digital disruption, new technology and AI
Changes in laws and regulations
Macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty
Human capital, diversity and talent management
Cybersecurity and data security
You can view the full Risk in Focus 2023 report here.
Deloitte
Deloitte has set out a list of planning priorities for Financial Services Internal Audit for 2023. Their website includes an interactive diagram which highlights both risk areas, but also improvement or focus areas specific to the internal audit team. The diagram is also a neat tool which could be presented to your audit committee and show which topics you have already covered (or plan to cover) through your audit work.
Deloitte has identified the following hot topics Internal Audit in Financial Services:
Regulatory
Financial Crime and Sanctions
Fraud Risk Management Framework
Cryptocurrency / Digital Assets
Payments Sector Regulatory Developments
MIFID II – Transaction Reporting
UK Solvency II Reforms
Artificial Intelligence – Control Frameworks
Operational Resilience
Financial and Credit
Pensions Dashboard
The Pensions Regulator’s Single Code of Practice
Regulatory Reporting
ICARA Implementation
IFRS 17
ESG Risk Assessment and Disclosures
UK Corporate Code Reform
Governance, Risk Management and Culture
Risk Culture
Diversity and Inclusion
Risk Management Effectiveness & Maturity
Investment Governance
Third Party Risk Management
Remuneration Risk and Reward
Conduct
Improving the Appointed Representatives Regime
Consumer Duty
Consumer Affordability - Cost-of-Living Crisis Impact
Technology and Digital
Digital Transformation and Change
Cloud Hosted Technology Environments
Cyber Security Incident Response
Internal Audit Innovation
Internal Audit Analytics and Automation Factor
Aligned Assurance
Re-setting IA's Purpose – IA 4.0
You can view the full Deloitte 2023 Internal Audit suggested areas of focus for 2023.
Alternatively, you can view the 2023 Hot Topics for IT Internal Audit report here which provides a great overview of focus areas for the year, as per the diagram below.
PwC
PwC have compiled their 2023 Financial Services Horizons Scanning for Assurance Functions report which lists various hot spots for considerations. The report goes into detail on the specific focus area for each individual hot spot.
Hot spots identified for 2023 include:
Customer outcomes
Operational resilience
Cyber
Critical third party service providers
Digital assets
Auditing crypto assets
You can read the full 2023 Financial Services Horizon Scanning for Assurance Functions report here, and download specific financial services sector reports for more detail.
Protiviti
Protiviti have pulled together a range of risks for consideration as part of their Executive Perspectives on Top Risks report.
The eight hot topics identified by Protiviti include:
Succession challenges, including attracting and retaining talent
Economic conditions
Increased labor costs and impact on profitability targets
Resistance to change
Supply chain uncertainty
Work environment and culture
Adoption of digital technologies
Risk management culture
Workforce demands and hybrid working
Business resilience and crisis management
You can read the full Executive Perspectives on Top Risks report here.
Gartner
Gartner's Hot Spot summary includes the following:
Cyber threats
IT Governance
Data Governance
Third Party Risk Management
Organisational Resilience
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
Supply Chain
Macroeconomic Volatility
Workforce Management
Cost Pressures
Culture
Climate Degradation
Specific details for each of the above topics are included in their report.
You can view the full Gartner 2023 Audit Plan Hot Spots Report here. Please note, you do need to register to view this report.
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