President's Message

It was an honour for me to be elected President of the ECIIA at the General Assembly in Madrid. I will work hard with my colleagues on the Management Board to ensure that the ECIIA continues to effectively promote risk management, internal control, internal audit and corporate governance in Europe and the Mediterranean Basin.

The primary objectives of my mandate are:

• to ensure ECIIA provides a primary reference point for information and guidance on sound governance principles
• to support the development of norms and guidance, as appropriate, in the areas of corporate governance and the audit profession
• to raise awareness of the value of internal audit through the Three Lines of Defense Model.

All organisations have an interest in good Corporate Governance and, as part of this, the Corporate Governance Citizen Programme developed by the ECIIA provides a means for an organisation to manifest their commitment to such. As Internal Auditors, we are passionately committed to assisting entities, both private and public, to achieve the highest and most efficient levels of governance.

In light of the financial crisis, the corporate governance failures experienced and the consequential trend towards increased regulation, I believe that our top priority is to emphasize to all enterprises the importance of solid and efficient internal governance.

In addition, the time has come to emphasize assurance beyond the financial reporting area. As internal auditors play an important role in assessing the information and communication processes that form the basis for strategic and operational management decisions, I believe that priority must also be placed on providing knowledge and guidance that will in turn lead to efficient dialogue between auditors and the governing and supervising bodies.

For all these reasons, I have selected as the theme for my mandate: "internal governance before external regulation".

The ECIIA is a key element in the development of good European-wide Corporate Governance and with our National Institutes located in all 36 countries of the European Union and in a large number of the surrounding neighbourhood countries, internal auditors represent a driving force for change.

If you want to know more please contact me at president@eciia.eu or your local institute in your country.