The Future of the Internal Audit Profession

James Ball is a Senior Analyst at the National Audit Office where he leads value-for-money studies and investigations on issues of Fraud & Propriety. 

His recent work has focused on the government’s management of conflicts of interest, tackling fraud and impropriety in emergency spending, and the use of estimates and data analytics to manage fraud and error.

He also provides expert support to the NAO’s financial audit and value-for-money teams on specific issues of fraud and impropriety for their areas of government. 

James is an ICAEW Chartered Accountant and holds an MSc in Science and Technology studies.

Aneeta Banga is a seasoned internal audit and risk management professional with over 20 years of experience across practice, industry, and the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). She has held senior leadership roles, providing strategic insights and solutions to global and complex businesses. As the Chair of the IIA Central Region, Aneeta offers guidance on governance enhancements, and best industry practices. Her expertise in developing risk-based audit plans and internal audit strategies has been pivotal in aligning business strategies and ensuring robust risk management.

Aneeta is recognised for her leadership qualities, including her ability to build and manage high-performing teams, foster collaborative relationships, and drive strategic initiatives. She has successfully established and integrated the Enterprise Risk and Financial Controls Framework at Marshall’s, enhancing financial reporting accuracy and reliability. Aneeta's extensive experience, leadership skills, and commitment to excellence have made her a valuable asset to the organisations she has worked with and the wider profession.

Sandro is currently President of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors.

He is employed as the Co-Head of People Enablement and Culture Assessment with Deutsche Bank's Group Audit function.

Sandro Boeri was one of the founders of Risk Audit Professional Development with a career spanning over forty years in financial services corporate governance in the City of London and internationally.

His main area of specialism is in the field of internal audit where after serving his apprenticeship during six years at Kleinwort Benson he went on to run the audit functions at Amsterdam-Rotterdam Bank in London, Credit Agricole, Sumitomo and the Gerrard Group.

Sandro is a major thought leader on culture in financial services as well as regulation in the fields of wholesale financial services.

Sandro is a prominent speaker on subjects ranging from corporate governance to motivation in the workplace.

Rachel has worked with a diverse range of businesses and organisations providing in-house and outsourced internal audit. After spending several years with a professional services firm, latterly as a Partner in the Risk Assurance Practice, Rachel founded ThinkingAudit to provide support, training and advice to Heads of Audit and their teams. 

Rachel is an active member of the internal audit profession, having been has been a member of IIA Global’s Professional Certifications Board and the IASAB which developed the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards. Rachel is an assessor for the Chartered by Experience programme and Internal Audit apprenticeships. 

Rachel has several years’ experience as a non-executive director and trustee and currently chairs two audit committees. Her focus for IIA Midlands will be on the view from the audit committee.

BSc. (Hons.) CFCIIA, CIA, QIAL, PGCert (Res), FHEA, CBTS

Ann has been working in the internal audit and related professions for over 25 years and became a Head of Internal Audit in a large Building Society in 2009. Since then, she worked in Risk Management and various governance roles, and held multiple appointments as Board, Council and Audit Committee member across a range of sectors and industries.

Ann moved into Higher Education in 2013 with the aim to giving more back to the internal audit profession. She was course leader for the only Internal Audit focused degree in the UK and helped develop both the level 4 and level 7 Apprenticeships with the trailblazer group of employees. She subsequently implemented and delivered the level 7 apprenticeship which she grew over 5 years by 700% with great success. 

Ann has been an active volunteer of the Chartered IIA since 2007 and is now Head of Technical Content and Research. She aims to bring her practical and higher education experiences to drive practical support for the internal audit profession.

Kevin is currently the Head of Audit and Risk at Orbit Housing Group, a housing association that manages a growing portfolio of over 47K properties, develops around 1000 units each year and serves circa 125K customers across central, south and east of England.

Kevin has worked in assurance for many years and has previously been a committee member of the Housing Association Forum between 1998 to 2001 and also a member of the IIA Midlands Committee from 2010 to 2020. He has worked across a range of sectors from local authority, NHS, education and commercial.

His main area of interest is the providing of assurance across an organisation. This year Kevin will relinquish his internal audit role for a wider view of assurance across the business linking the Business’s strategy to risks and the assurances that are required to ensure that key issues are addressed. However, it will be important to be independent from internal audit but work closely with them

Kevin is also the Chair of an informal group of large Housing Association assurance providers who share good practice and insight across the sector.

Kevin speaks on a number of assurance related subjects, is a school governor and is undertaking a coaching course as well as one on business resilience.

Kevin, a certified accountant, affiliate for the IIA and member of the Institute of Risk Management.

Marina McQuade is the Head of Risk Management at Sainsbury’s plc, one of the largest supermarket retailers in the UK, having recently joined them from National Grid plc.

Marina is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Internal Audit and a Director on the Chartered IIA’s Governing Council and Audit Committee. She also volunteers as a past chair and current member of the Chartered IIA’s committee for the Midlands region, ensuring effective engagement with members across the region and running conferences and events for members. She is a Chartered Certified Accountant and Fellow of the ACCA; and an experienced Head of Audit and Risk Assurance. 

This year Marina commenced work on creating a dedicated risk management function to support Sainsbury’s Next Level strategy, driven by their new purpose. Prior to this at National Grid plc, Marina led global Audit, Risk and Compliance Functions through transformational change in Governance, Risk and Compliance processes and technology, at a time when the energy industry is at the forefront of a pivot to adapt to climate change and the clean energy revolution, together with the ongoing strategic challenge to provide safe, reliable and affordable energy.

With over 20 years of Audit and Risk experience, Marina has a track record of building and leading highly engaged teams through change in some high profile, successful and complex organisations, including the Office of Fair Trading, Selfridges, Claire’s stores, the NEC and the RICS.  Marina is an ardent advocate for the value integrated risk management can bring to a business through a single GRC platform which enables insight and more effective decision making.

Tim O’Connor is the Head of Audit at the Co-operative Bank. He joined the Bank in 2014 and is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) having qualified as a Chartered Accountant (ACA) with Deloitte.

Tim has held a number of roles within Internal Audit at the Bank, with experience overseeing IT; Finance and Prudential; and Operational audits. He specialises in Finance and Prudential Risk with a particular focus on Model Risk. He is experienced in driving the development, implementation and maintenance of methodologies, quality assurance, systems, tools and processes within Internal Audit.

In 2024 the Bank Internal Audit team underwent a journey of continuous improvement. Through a comprehensive Roadmap the team revisited its Profile, Processes, People, Product and Plan. Using techniques from the world of Agile our continuous improvement journey was delivered and supported the best year the team have had for Audit Plan delivery. Tim is an advocate for the changes delivered and the methods by which the team got there.

Alex Psarras is a Director at Protiviti, where he leads the Enabling Technologies practice. With extensive experience in Internal Audit, Risk and Controls functions, Alex specialises in integrating Artificial Intelligence, Analytics and Automation into audit processes. He has successfully led numerous data-driven projects, focusing on Continuous Auditing and Monitoring within key business cycles. An advocate for technological advancement in audit and risk, Alex works alongside leadership to harmonise their strategic vision with a practical approach that focuses on people, process, and technology.