Control, Risk and
Assurance Update

what you need to know

25 September 2008 • LONDON

FEE £560 +VAT (£658.00)

TIMETABLE:

09:10 Registration and Coffee • 11:00 Coffee • 12:45 Lunch • 15:15 Tea • 17:00 Conference Close

session one (09:30-11:00)

Emerging Challenges in Internal Auditing

Andrew Chambers BA, CEng, FCCA, FCA, FBCS, CITP, FRSA, FIIA

Internal auditing rarely stands still. 2008 and 2009 have heralded significant new challenges. This is an opportunity to catch up and consider carefully the principal ways in which the practice of internal auditing is changing, driven by significant modifications of professional requirements as well as by economic and other shocks impacting upon internal audit.

• Boards' growing need for independent assurance and ways for internal audit to contribute to meeting this need
• Enhanced focus on the internal auditor's assurance role
• Strengthening the internal audit role in fraud prevention and detection
• Understanding the planned changes in The Institute of Internal Auditors' International Professional Practices Framework, including their 2009 Standards
• Adoption by accounting and other bodies of The Institute of Internal Auditors' global internal auditing Standards
• The future of HM Treasury's Government Internal Auditing Standards (GIAS)
• Implications for staffing internal audit functions and staff development
• Frequent findings from external quality assurance review of internal audit functions.

session two (11.15-12.45)

IT Governance and the Effective
Management of IT

John Mitchell PhD, MBA, CEng, CITP, FBCS, FIIA, MIIA, CISA, CGEIT, QiCA, CFE

Apart from the hardware and staff the overwhelming majority of IT is invisible. The software, data and transactions cannot be seen, but their importance is often reflected in the large budgets commanded by the Chief Information Officer (CIO). How can the Board know whether IT is being well governed and providing value for money? Often the Board is only aware of poor governance after the event, when the company name appears adversely in the media, or when the regulators come knocking on the door. Pro-active governance should provide assurance that the assertions made by the CIO can be relied on and give advance warning of any problems. This session will deal with the concepts of IT governance and value for money IT within the context of the larger corporate governance picture.

• The major IT governance issues
• Planning and organisation
• Acquisition and implementation
• Delivery and support
• Monitoring and enhancement
• Confidentiality
• Integrity
• Availability
• Compliance
• Resource management and value for money

session three (13.45-15.15)

Using Risk Management to Add Value to
your Business

Steve Giles MA (Oxon), ACA

Risk management is a crucial component of modern corporate governance but its benefits are sometimes overlooked. This session shows how risk management can be used by organisations to enhance the value of their business. Far from being a bureaucratic, box-ticking exercise, management of risk should be placed at the centre of an organisation's strategy, with employees at all levels buying into the process. Delegates will learn a number of simple techniques that will help them to achieve this, focusing on the following

• The true meaning of 'taking a risk-based approach' • Key responsibilities and relationships
• '4 T's approach' to risk management
• Modern risk management frameworks - from Turnbull to COSO and Basel II
• How to embed risk awareness into corporate culture
• The crucial issue of employee engagement - Gallup's 'Q.12' scores and ways to manage people risk in your business

session four (15.30-16:30)

Developments in Corporate Governance

Andrew Chambers BA, CEng, FCCA, FCA, FBCS, CITP, FRSA, FIIA

In important respects boards, their individual directors and those who serve boards need to be aware that directors' duties have been extended and board room practice needs to move apace. Apart from directors duties there are other elements to the new Companies Act which must modify board practice. In parallel with these statutory changes there has been a significant roll out into other sectors of the UK's Combined Code, revised in 2008. UK Listing Rules are changing, for instance to give effect to the EC's 8th Directive requirements relating to audit committees. And across the Atlantic, but impacting on many UK entities, a more realistic, slimmed-down implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is being applied. This session summarises these and other developments in this field.

• The codified general duties of directors
• The new 'enlightened shareholder value duty'
• The duty of reasonable care, skill and diligence
• The 'Business Review' and safe harbour provisions
• EC rules on audit committees for public interest entities
• Related Listing Rule requirements and changes
• The 2008 Combined Code of best practice
• Key features of 'SOX Lite'
• Practical consequences of recent developments for boardroom practice

discussion forum (16.30-17:00)