IIA/Chambers: The transparency debate - How does it affect internal audit?

18 November 2013

President and CEO of the IIA, Richard Chambers, looks at greater transparency in the corporate sector. In 2008 it was argued that lack of corporate transparency, particularly in the financial sector, was a direct factor in the crisis.

The EFRAG and the IFRS Foundation and IASB are exploring disclosure reform initiatives. A July 2013 report by the CFA Institute argues that while most disclosure reforms focus on reducing the quantity of disclosures, reform should instead focus on improving disclosures.

Some governments are taking action. At an Open Government Partnership summit held in London last month, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that a registry of shell companies — where firms keep money offshore — would be made public. Since the summit, the Open Government Partnership has held ongoing discussions about company ownership transparency.

A recent Fortune magazine article by Eleanor Bloxham, CEO of The Value Alliance, echoed the need for improved disclosures by sounding an alarm about the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s disclosure reduction initiative to combat “information overload". Bloxham solicited feedback from investment industry executives who opined that they would like to see more information, not less. Mr Chambers couldn’t help but notice that much of the information cited by executives relates to governance, risk management, and control — and could be fulfilled in part through internal auditing’s emerging role in integrated reporting.

According to the article, executives identified the following needs:

• More information from management and the board about their assessment of strategies and risks.
• Greater insights on governance and risk management processes.
• More disclosure of key performance indicators.
• More information on environmental and social disclosures, including risk areas such as carbon emissions, water scarcity, political spending, and corporate lobbying.
• Information about the real reasons for executive departures.
• Information on the CEO-to-worker pay ratio. 

Full article

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