Frank Jons: chromatic explosions!
He could have ended up as a partner in an auditing firm, but a job interview convinced him to follow his true calling: painting. Interview.
Leticia Lucas (IIA): Accounting for Stability
In an uncertain world, the role of internal auditors is crucial to providing a lens through which stability can be viewed. Leticia Lucas, President, Institute of Internal Auditors, Luxembourg and Head of Internal Audit, European Stability Mechanism says continuing education and development lend authority to the voices of internal auditors.
Can you present the IIA in a few words?
The IIA Luxembourg was founded in 1986 and is affiliated with the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). The IIA is an international professional association with headquarters in the USA. It is the internal audit profession's global voice, recognized authority, acknowledged leader, chief advocate and principal educator. In Luxembourg, we have around 650 members from all sectors. Our mission is to promote the internal audit profession and provide insight, knowledge sharing and professional development opportunities to our members in Luxembourg. We also aim to enhance the relevance, influence and importance of the internal audit profession in Luxembourg.
"We want to increase the value proposition to our members regarding professional education, working groups, activities and networking opportunities."
​
What objectives have you set out to achieve in your mandate?
My objectives are twofold: Serve our members and the internal audit profession as well as the continuous improvement and digitalization of the IIA internal processes. We want to increase the value proposition to our members regarding professional education, working groups, activities and networking opportunities. The environment is constantly changing and, as internal auditors, we need to be kept abreast of all those changes. The IIA has a key role in helping internal auditors in Luxembourg to always stay up to date by providing quality training, content and conferences. For example, one of our key achievements was the organization of the first European Conference for Internal Auditors in 2019, which brought more than 50 speakers and 700 internal auditors to Luxembourg from around the world. Advocating and promoting the importance and relevance of the internal audit profession for effective governance, risk management and controls in organizations are also key objectives for the Institute.
What challenges and opportunities do you identify for internal audit in the next five years?
Internal Auditors need to be forward looking, proactive and adapt to the business environment in which they operate. These can be seen as challenges, yet they are also opportunities to reinforce the importance and relevance of the profession. With today’s environment changing so rapidly, there is a demand for internal audits to keep pace with those changes, new trends, disruption and emerging risks. In the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) world we live in, internal auditors need to constantly expand their skillset and expertise if they want to stay relevant and add value to organizations. Topics like cybersecurity, information security, AI, business continuity, corporate social responsibility should be high in the internal audit agenda. The increasing complexity of regulatory requirements adds up to this picture.