CEO blog May 2026

By Anne Kiem, CEO of the Chartered IIA

If only they would listen!: Internal control failings have cost firms over £1 billion – ignoring internal audit can be expensive. 

Our research shows that internal audit matters. We are campaigning for change, and we want our members to draw on the Chartered IIA community to ensure their work makes a difference, says Anne Kiem, CEO of the Chartered IIA.

You can have the best advice in the world, but if no one listens to it, you will fail. This was the message from our recent report, Internal Control Failure! And it really made an impact. 

It was great to see it picked up by many sector news publications, including City AM, Accountancy Age, and Board Agenda. This was gratifying, but not surprising. Our findings resonated – as they needed to. Financial firms losing over £1 billion in fines for internal control failings is not a small problem. 

As Accountancy Age put it, “Internal audit flagged it, the board ignored it”. 

By analysing regulatory fines imposed over the past five years, our research revealed that more than half were the consequences of internal control failures. Not only could they have been avoided, but, shockingly, many of the problems had been highlighted (sometimes repeatedly) by internal auditors and others in the organisations. 

Next steps 

The lessons from this research must be taken further – by all of us. We must remind companies that it is no good having internal auditors and trusted advisors if you do not listen to them.  

The message is even more critical for those who do not have internal audit teams. Even some of those in our survey, in a sector that is highly regulated, did not have internal audit functions. We have repeatedly highlighted the fact that some of the water companies hitting headlines for poor performance do not have internal audit. 

This matters. The Chartered IIA will continue to campaign with regulators and ministers. We will  highlight the changes that must happen to ensure better governance in all sectors, particularly those critical to our daily lives. But you can do this too, in daily conversations, through peer networks, and by conversations with board members and non-executives. 

We will also continue to campaign for the Audit Reform bill to return to the legislative agenda. This would expand the definition of Public Interest Entities (PIEs) and, therefore, require more organisations to have an internal audit team.  

But it’s not just about regulatory requirements. We want all companies to understand that if they do not have an internal audit function, they must face the consequences.  

These have increased with the new Crime and Policing Act, which increases the risk that companies could be liable for crimes committed by their senior managers. Lawyers are pointing out that this could include non-financial crimes, including modern slavery, gross negligence manslaughter, and data protection offences. 

Increase impact 

The counterweight to publicising the need for internal audit capabilities is that every internal audit team must ensure it has something useful to contribute – and can present this in a way that has most resonance with busy executives.  

Internal auditors must prove their value  daily. We can argue that we need the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA) and increased mandatory internal audit only if the work that is being done has tangible results. Our research suggests that some does, but some advice is still not heard, or is ignored by the people who should act on it. 

We have seen in the past month how a skilfully delivered, expertly crafted speech can convey difficult messages to a powerful leader with a strong personality. King Charles’s speech in the United States demonstrated that being diplomatic does not mean shying away from awkward truths. 

For internal auditors, this comes back to courage, now explicit in the Global Standards. It also indicates the need to be creative and imaginative in communicating key messages – and the need for these to be genuinely insightful, timely, and important. 

The evidence of past failures indicates room for improvement. Our research has highlighted why companies must listen, and the government must act. Our members must seize the moment and embrace new ways of working and communicating. 

Use our community 

The Chartered IIA community is vital here. Together, you create a unique pool of expert internal audit practitioners. We must share the combined knowledge in this pool and use it to help teams of all sizes in every sector benefit from collective experience. 

This is why the Chartered IIA conferences, awards event, and communities are so important. We can bring internal auditors together to share views and innovative ideas in a way that no one else can. So use us to your full advantage – doing so will benefit both you, your organisation, and the wider profession. 

Renewals are due this month, which makes it a great time to think about how you could gain more from your membership. Come along to a regional conference, or to our annual Internal Audit Conference in September. Attend the Audit & Risk Awards Event and read our case studies of what previous winners have achieved.  

Join one of our webinars or communities and respond to our membership survey, published this month. Or attend one of our courses to learn how to do things differently and share your experiences and concerns with other attendees. 

The world is an increasingly complex and dangerous place, with global conflicts spilling into our own streets. Whether you work in a multinational business exposed directly to escalating political tensions or tariffs, or whether you have Jewish or Iranian staff who are worried about their safety and that of their families, we are all affected. 

This makes it more important than ever to bring people together, to highlight what we have in common in our professional lives and our belief in ethical business, and to learn from each other how we can mitigate risks and make our organisations resilient. In an unstable world, our businesses need internal audit more than ever. We are shouting about this, so you can make a difference.