The book aims to provide guidance on best practices related to corporate governance and banking activity management, the center of gravity being the internal audit function as a bridge between all departments and business lines of a bank. The importance and opportunity of this conceptual approach lies in a mix of factors (technological, regulatory, customers’ financial behavior, idiosyncratic factors of banks, etc.) that are increasingly influencing corporate governance systems, the way in which banking activity is conducted and developed, and the relationship internal audit - internal control - risk management.
During the twelve chapters, the book proposes a consistent, gradual reflection of the management framework for credit institutions, analyzing the relationship between corporate governance, internal control and internal audit in the banking field. In the following chapters, the focus is on illustrating the role of internal audit in the risk management process, including references from best practice at international level. The authors have developed and explained in detail the specific features for conducting an internal audit mission, the tools / procedures / methods used by internal auditors to collect audit evidence and issue an audit opinion. The applicative side of the book is well capitalized by the chapters presenting the specificity of internal audit activity for different business lines / departments of a credit institution and the role of internal audit in fraud detection within critical banking activity components. The last part of the book illustrates the new relationship and collaboration framework between external audit, supervisory authority and internal audit and analyzes the perspectives of internal audit activity in the light of post-financial crisis trends.