Financial services firms continue to operate in a complex and fast-changing environment. Regulatory developments, technological change, economic uncertainty, and evolving customer expectations are influencing how organisations assess and manage risk.
As Internal Audit functions look ahead, they are reviewing whether their assurance plans remain aligned to the issues that matter most to boards and senior management.
While recurring high-priority risk areas such as financial crime, cyber security, operational resilience and AI governance remain high on the agenda, we are increasingly hearing from boards and senior leaders that “strategic resilience” is a key area of focus, prompting questions about whether organisations have the culture, capacity and capabilities required to successfully deliver their strategic objectives.
Strategic resilience rises up the agenda
While operational resilience focuses on the ability to keep delivering important business services through disruption, strategic resilience considers whether an organisation is well positioned to adapt, respond and succeed as conditions change.
As boards face increasing uncertainty, many are looking beyond individual risks and asking whether their people, key business operations and technology are cohesive and holistically robust enough to support long-term objectives. Put bluntly, within a Board meeting, “do we currently have what it takes to land the strategy?”
For Internal Audit functions, this is an opportunity to add value through independent assurance, helping boards assess whether the organisation's governance, culture, operating model, capacity and capabilities remain fit to deliver its strategy in an increasingly uncertain environment.
Other areas for your plan refresh
Alongside strategic resilience, organisations continue to focus on a range of emerging and evolving risks, including:
- AI governance, adoption and responsible use
- cyber security and emerging technology risk
- financial and economic crime prevention and detection
- third-party outsourcing, supply chain dependencies and concentration risk
- data governance and data quality.
The challenge for many firms is not only managing these risks individually but understanding how they interact and influence wider business objectives.
Looking ahead
The role of Internal Audit continues to evolve. Today's functions are increasingly expected to provide decision-support insights, alongside assurance over controls and compliance.
In the coming weeks, we'll be sharing further insights into these themes and the priorities we believe will have the greatest influence on Internal Audit plans across the financial services sector. We'll share our view on the priorities likely to shape Internal Audit plans in the year ahead and explore how Internal Audit is helping organisations navigate the intersection of strategic growth, resilience, AI adoption, regulatory change and operational risk.
Please get in touch with your usual Crowe UK contact if you would like to discuss more.
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