The BarnOwl info sharing breakfast held on the 27^th August 2015 was very well attended and focused on two topics, namely  ‘King IV – an update on the progress so far’ and ‘What makes an internal audit function a valuable asset’. We would like to thank our guest speakers; Gert Cruywagen, Director of Risk at Tsogo Sun Group and a member of the King Committee on Corporate Governance and Liesl Brown, head of internal audit at Cell C for their time and insightful presentations. We would also like to acknowledge the Institute of Directors and the King Committee for the feedback on King IV. Thank you to Gillian le Cordeur, the CEO of the Institute of Risk Management South Africa (IRMSA) who gave us an update on the great progress made regarding the professionalisation of the risk management discipline.

Some key take outs from Gert’s presentation was that the process of drafting King IV has been more inclusive taking into account the requirements of SMMEs, the public sector, NPOs, pension funds, medical schemes in addition to the requirements of large listed and non-listed corporate organisations. The drafting of King IV takes into account a more integrated approach along the lines of themes rather than distinct chapters and risk management is a ‘golden threat’ that flows through all themes. The estimated time frame for King IV to come into effect is the 3rd quarter of 2016 and it is envisaged that it will be embraced and rolled out within organisations by the end of 2017. King IV will still be based on the principle of ‘apply or explain’. There is also the opportunity to participate in the King IV process should you wish. More information is available on www.iodsa.co.za.

Liesl shared with us some valuable learnings in terms of audit adding significant value to her organisation and being highly respected and trusted within the organisation. Liesl spoke about adding value, doing things right and knowing your boundaries. Liesl elaborated on the boundaries between internal audit, external audit, operations, risk management and forensic audit relating to the issues of independence as well as assurance versus consulting. Liesl discussed a practical approach of applying the principles of the IPPF rather than a rigid rule based approach.

Once again, we would like to extend a big thank you to Liesl, Gillian and Gert for their insightful presentations.

Gert’s presentation on: ‘King IV – an update on the progress so far’ can be downloaded here

Liesl’s presentation on: ‘What makes an internal audit function a valuable asset’ can be downloaded here

Gillian’s presentation on ‘Professionalisation – the IRMSA journey’ can be downloaded here