Proceedings

• Internal audit assist the board in fulfilling its corporate governance
responsibilities. In this direction, KPMG’s report emphasizes the key roles of
internal audit in assisting the board and its audit committee in accomplishing
its governance responsibilities, these key roles assuming at least a deliverance
of next issues like:
� An objective evaluation of the existing risk and internal control framework.
� Systematic analysis of business processes and associated controls.
� Reviews of the existence and value of assets.
� A source of information on major frauds and irregularities.
� Ad hoc reviews of other areas of concern, including unacceptable levels of
risk.
� Reviews of the compliance framework and specific compliance issues.
� Reviews of operational and financial performance.
� Recommendations for more effective and efficient use of resources.
� Assessments of the accomplishment of corporate goals and objectives.
� Feedback on adherence to the organisation’s values and code of
conduct/code of ethics (KPMG, 2003).
• Also, KPMG’s report states that internal audit should have the ability to
transcend all departments without fear of limitation of scope.
• The board/audit committee should have the ability to directly and critically
analyse and evaluate the internal audit function about its contribution to the
fulfilment of the board’s responsibility for internal controls.
One of the most significant organizations at European level from internal audit’s point
of view – European Confederation of Institutes of Internal Auditing (ECIIA)
developed a survey at European level over the role of internal audit in corporate
governance in Europe aiming to identify its current status, the necessary
improvements and future tasks that should be accomplished. Based on a survey
realised between all national institutes of internal auditing in Europe, ECIIA (2007)
report realised to develop a widespread picture of corporate governance activities and
internal audit developments in European context, in the same time looking for the
answers at some questions over the current involvement of internal audit in corporate
governance process, and finally to develop a set of proposals for good practices in
order to improve the role of internal audit in European corporate governance.
It’s obviously the amplitude and the increasing number of researches dedicated to
the investigation of the role of internal audit in corporate governance at international
level. A strong preoccupation could be also identified at national level, even if it is
not as well debated as at international level. Through their papers, Romanian
researchers (Dobroteanu and Dobroteanu, 2006; Manolescu and Roman, 2007;
Stanciu and Eden, 2007; Weaver, 2008; Morariu et al., 2008; Zapodeanu et al.,
2009; Morariu et al., 2009; Sgardea et al., 2009; Manolescu et al., 2010; Dobroteanu
et al., 2011) aim to identify essential aspects of corporate governance according to
its latest evolutions at international level.
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