PAC: Audit committee must take responsibilities objectively
KUCHING: In recent years the role of audit committees has expanded to cover more risk management functions, due to the challenging business and risk environment from the Government regulations and enforcement to technology and digitisation.
“Audit committee members must take their responsibilities professionally and objectively as they play an important role in ensuring the integrity and quality of corporate reporting,” said Public Accounts Committee ( PAC), chairman, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed during his keynote address at the Audit Committee Conference 2015 in Kuala Lumpur.
He added that whatever the audit committees do today, it has to be done as professionally, truthfully and comprehensively as they can.
This is the key message that was conveyed by Jazlan at the Audit Committee Conference 2015, which was held in Kuala Lumpur.
The Audit Committee Conference 2015 is jointly organised by the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) and The Institute of Internal Auditors Malaysia (IIA Malaysia).
The one-day conference attracted over 250 participants comprising senior audit committee members, company directors, governance professionals, business leaders, internal and external auditors and other audit and finance professionals.
With the theme ‘Rising To New Challenges’, this year’s conference focused on how audit committees are expected to navigate new areas of possibilities and risk such as cyber security and the evolving regulations and international developments.
MIA president Datuk Johan Idris echoed the same that the audit committee members are faced with many challenges in discharging their responsibilities in a landscape that is becoming increasingly regulated and complex.
“With the advancement of technology and the exponential growth of data, Audit Committee members should be aware of cyber security risk trends as well as review adapt policies to address cyber security concerns in their organisations,” he said during his speech.
IIA Malaysia president Philip Satish Rao said as a committee that provides oversight to financial reporting, risk and control, the audit committee must work in partnership with the senior management.
“With internal auditors as their eyes and ears, the IA functions need to understand, embrace and evolve in the manner internal audits are carried out and value is provided to Boards.
“IA functions need to be able to continue to also challenge the governance and risk management practices in the organisation including the manner its lines of defence are set-up.
“In order to provide good governance to any business entity, audit committees need to step up to new challenges to help achieve the strategic objectives of the organisation,” Rao added.
At the event, delegates will be given insights into the findings of the recent ACI Global Audit Committee Survey.
The survey captured views of audit committee members around the world on a range of issues from financial reporting and disclosures, audit quality, and oversight of internal and external auditors, to risk management and crisis readiness, emerging technologies, and audit committee effectiveness.
Key speakers at the conference included AirAsia Bhd’s chair of Audit Committee V Uthaya Kumar, KPMG in Malaysia partner Lee Min On; CyberSecurity Malaysia’s chief technology officer Dr Solahuddin Shamsuddin; Ernst & Young Advisory Services Sdn Bhd’s partner and advisory Jason Yuen; Microsoft SEA’s corporate attorney for Digital Crimes Unit Jonathan Selvasegaram.