KPMG Lower Gulf and Hawkamah launch first Audit Committee Institute (ACI) in the UAE

•    ACI will enhance effectiveness of financial reporting and corporate governance in the UAE and MENA region
•    Institute will be open to audit committee members of private, public and UAE government institutions
•    KPMG GCC ACI Survey indicates  that operation risk, financial reporting and regulatory compliance will pose greatest challenge for companies in 2015

Dubai, 24 March 2015: Global audit services firm KPMG has exclusively partnered with Hawkamah, the institute for corporate governance that works with corporate governance institutions regionally and globally, to establish the first Audit Committee Institute (ACI)  in the UAE.

His Excellency Hamad Buamim, Chairman of Hawkamah Board, President and CEO of Dubai Chamber and board member of Central Bank UAE and Dubai World, was present at the launch along with other senior industry stakeholders.

Commenting on the important role that audit committees play, H.E Hamad Buamim said: “It is a great pleasure to launch the KPMG-Hawkamah Audit Committee Institute, which has been set up to serve the lower Gulf region. Audit Committee Institutes provide board members in general and audit committee members in particular peer exchange opportunities with practical insights focused on strengthening oversight of financial reporting and audit quality. In today’s rapidly expanding and complex business environment, there is an array of challenges facing boards and audit committee members. This Audit Committee Institute will serve as a knowledge resource and facilitate mutual exchange of experience and best practice among board and audit committee members.”

The Audit Committee Institute (ACI) will provide information, resources and knowledge sharing opportunities to help audit committee members, directors and senior management enhance the effectiveness, integrity and oversight of the financial reporting process in the UAE and the MENA region.

The ACI will be open to audit committee members of private, public, and UAE government institutions, and allow corporations to understand best practices and find solutions to implement the same within their organisations.  

Karl Hendricks, Head of Consulting, overseeing Corporate Governance Services, KPMG, said: “KPMG and Hawkamah share a deep commitment, expertise and long-standing reputation for promoting best practices in corporate governance and financial reporting. We have come together to establish the ACI that will play a prominent role in providing insights on leading corporate governance practices pertaining to audit committees of both private and public sectors.”

Alongside the launch of the ACI, KPMG Lower Gulf also released the KPMG GCC ACI Survey, which recorded audit committee members’ level of confidence in their oversight of their company’s financial reporting and in the accuracy, independence, and objectivity of external audit and internal audit processes.

The survery was participated by 100 audit committee members in six countries including the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Egypt.

A majority of the audit committee members responding to the survey expressed a reasonable, but not high level of confidence in existing audit functions. Audit committee members surveyed also expressed markedly less confidence in their oversight of risk.

Aside from financial reporting, the two risks most commonly cited by respondents as posing the greatest challenges for the company in the year ahead were operation risk/internal control environment and legal/regulatory compliance.

Hendricks added: “Many leading organisations are now taking a broader view of governance, risk management, internal control and corporate responsibility into their traditional governance models and the survey reiterates this.

“We are confident that the ACI will play a significant role in moulding the next generation of auditors from the private and government sectors in the region and increase investor and stakeholder confidence in the overall audit function.”