IIA president outlines strategies for the future

The Institute of Internal Auditors’ Global President and CEO, Richard F. Chambers, CIA, QIAL, CGAP, CCSA, CRMA, visited Qatar recently and presented a talk titled, “Internal Audit: Poised for Future” for a large gathering of auditors at Oryx Rotana.
The special appearance included Chambers signing his award-winning book, “Lessons Learned on the Audit Trail.” He also met with  Yousuf Al Jaida, CEO of Qatar Financial Center and Patron of IIA-Qatar H.E. Abdulla bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Chairman of the Abdulla bin Hamad Al-Attiyah Foundation for Energy and Sustainable Development.
Chambers, who has more than 40 years of internal audit experience, is a globally respected thought leader for the profession and was named by Accounting Today as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting and by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) as one of the most influential leaders in corporate governance.
Chambers’ presentation commenced with an overview of The IIA’s worldwide reach, which now spans more than 185,000 members from 170 countries and territories. The Middle East experienced nearly 20 percent growth in membership from 2015 to 2016, ranking it as the fastest-growing region for the organization. The IIA also has seen tremendous growth in its flagship certification, the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), which has increased 35 percent over the past four years.
Internal auditing’s emerging trends are very encouraging, with the Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) global practitioners survey indicating improvement in staffing, budgeting and reporting status, according to Chambers. The CBOK survey, produced by The Internal Audit Foundation, revealed internal audit time devoted to critical areas: risk management assurance (43 percent), strategic business risks (42 percent), and corporate governance (31 percent).
“The stakeholders want internal auditors to raise the bar by participating in major organizational change initiatives,” Chambers said.