Internal Audit Policy

Transcription

1 Internal Audit Policy This policy was adopted by the Board of Directors of Armagh Credit Union Limited. Signed:- Position Position Date: Internal Audit Plan

2 1. Introduction The internal audit function of Armagh Credit Union is carried out by our Supervisory Committee, which is elected by the members and which is independent of all of the functions inspected as part of the internal audit. This committee s primary objective is to assess the effectiveness of the credit union s internal systems and controls, procedures and policies and to ensure that they are adhered to. To achieve this objective, the committee has established an adequate audit programme consisting of a continuous programme of internal auditing. In addition, an independent annual audit of the credit union is performed by a firm of independent public accountants and an Audit Report is presented to members at the credit union s AGM. Where necessary, the committee may outsource aspects of its internal audit to independent third parties and any reasonable expense incurred in this will be paid by the credit union. The purposes of an internal audit are: (1) To ensure that the credit union s policies and procedures are followed; 2. (2) To provide the Board with a continuous appraisal of the overall effectiveness of the control systems, including proposed changes; 3. (3) To recommend improvements where desirable or necessary; 4. (4) To determine whether the internal controls established by the Board are being maintained properly and operated as laid down in the policy, and comply with relevant legislation, rules, policies and procedures; 5. (5) To ensure that accounting records are prepared promptly and accurately, and that they are in order; and 6. (6) To assess whether financial and operating information supplied to the Board is accurate, relevant, timely, and complete. Our objective is that our internal audit will be: An integral part of the evaluation of internal controls. A check and balance on management functions. An effective measure for the prevention and detection of loss. 2. The Board of Directors and the Internal Audit The Board of Directors has established a business environment that allows the Supervisory Committee to perform its duties freely, without restriction and which is sufficient to maintain the independence and objectivity of the function. The board ensures that sufficient resources are allocated to the committee in order for it to conform to the standards of internal auditing. The Board requires that all officers will cooperate with the internal audit and provide information and explanations as appropriate. The Board requires management to respond to audit reports and to take necessary and appropriate corrective action(s).

3 3. Audit & Verification Standards The Supervisory Committee will establish and maintain a satisfactory system of internal audit by: Risk analysis: Key risks in each area of Armagh Credit Union's business are identified and measured in terms of impact and prevalence. The adequacy of the specific controls put in place to mitigate those risks is assessed and measured. We recognise that these key risks can change over time Internal audit plan: This is developed on the basis of the risk analysis. Detailed programmes: These are based on the internal audit plan. Each programme must be comprehensive, specifying the frequency with which the various parts of the programme are to be carried out and how the work is to be performed. The work programme must include (but is not limited to) the following: Verification of cash (counting and reconciliation) without prior notification; Bank reconciliation (checking records against bank statements); Verification of passbooks or account statements; Checking for compliance with policies and procedures; Checking for compliance with relevant legislation and rules; Checking minutes and reports of the Board and committees for compliance, and assessing regularity and completeness; Checking loan applications; Verification of the credit union's assets and investments. Working papers: These are maintained to evidence who performed the work, how it was controlled and supervised, and to record the conclusions rreached. They are cross refertenced to reports made and actions taken. System of reporting: Formal reports are submitted to the Board on the completion of each aspect of programmed work, stating the areas covered together with any recommendations and conclusions reached. The Supervisory Committee also reports to the members at the credit union s Annual General Meeting. 4. General Principles & Protocol The Supervisory Committee will work in cooperation with the Board of Directors, committees, volunteers and staff of Armagh Credit Union in the best interests of the members of the credit union. The Supervisory Committee will refrain from active involvement in the management of the credit union. The supervisory committee, or any member thereof acting on behalf of the said committee, may attend any meeting of the board of directors or of any other committee of the credit union and shall have the right to be heard thereat. Notice of every such meeting shall be given to the supervisory committee. The Supervisory Committee has access at all times to the books and documents of the credit union. However, where possible the Supervisors will endeavour to select times that are least intrusive to the operation of the credit union.

4 Where the work of the Supervisory Committee discloses systematic shortcomings in internal controls, the issue must be raised with the Board at the next monthly board meeting. Where the work of the Supervisory Committee discloses individual errors, omissions, discrepancies or other problems, the issue will first be raised with the person s immediate line manager and will be reported to the Board at the next monthly board meeting. Where there is an immediate financial risk to the credit union, the Supervisors will request that an emergency board meeting be called and the president, or in their absence the vicepresident, will call such a meeting as soon as reasonably practicable. When it identifies errors, omissions, discrepancies or other problems, the Supervisory Committee will not directly approach individual committee members, volunteers or members of staff with these issues, unless the issue is minor in nature. As a courtesy, the Supervisory Committee will inform the Board of Directors (in advance) of any expenditure that it intends to charge to the credit union. 5. Annual review by the Board of Directors On an annual basis, the Board assesses the effectiveness of the internal audit function and considers the following: The adequacy and scope of its planning; The adequacy and scope of work performed in relation to the plans and programmes; The regularity and level of reporting on matters arising from the inspections; The disposal of points and recommendations raised, and reasons for the rejection of any major points; A review of the overall effectiveness of the internal audit function. 6. Audit Plan The first step in preparing an Internal Audit Plan for a Credit Union is to identify where things might go wrong for the credit union, i.e. what are the key risk areas. It is then necessary to assess the identified risks in order to understand the impact if any of the risks materialised. The risk assessment exercise will enable us to define the areas requiring audit and to rank these areas in order of priority. Audit resources will be applied to the various risk areas to assess if the controls in place are effective in mitigating the risk identified. The frequency of review will be dependent on how the risk has been prioritised.. We will use an internal audit work programme (given by Cavanagh Kelly Chartered Accountants) to focus our work on each risk area.

5 7. Identify Key Risks Based on our knowledge of Credit Unions, an internal audit work programme should assess the following key risk areas: Checking new and existing loans to ensure compliance with lending and bad debt provisioning policies; Ensuring transactions with officers occur under same terms as transactions with other credit union members; Verification of cash i.e. counting and reconciliation without prior notification; Bank reconciliation to check records against bank statements; Verifying share and loan balances;

6 Checking share withdrawals and disbursements to ensure that they have been authorised in accordance with procedures; Verification of the credit union s bank and investment account balances; Verification of the credit union's fixed assets and other assets; Compliance having in place all necessary policies and procedures and ensuring ongoing compliance with relevant Acts, Legislation and rules; and Ensuring appropriate Corporate Governance measures are in place. 8. Assess Impact and Likelihood of Risks and Prioritise Risks We will undertake a risk assessment of each of the above areas, by considering: The likelihood of the risk materialising, taking into consideration the volume of transactions, the complexity of the processes, the adequacy of specific controls, prior experience of the risk; and The impact that the risk would have on the Credit Union if the risk materialised; in terms of impact on financial resources, reputation, sensitivity of information, relationships with stakeholders and compliance with laws and regulations. Both the risk impact and risk likelihood will be assessed separately on a scale of high to low, with a corresponding numerical value assigned to each attribute as per the table below. Scale Impact Likelihood High Has a significant impact on the Risk may occur often achievement of the strategic objectives Medium Has a limited impact on the Risk is likely to occur achievement of the strategic objectives Low Has a small impact on the achievement of the strategic objectives Risk may occasionally occur The overall risk score will then be quantified by multiplying together the values for the risk likelihood and risk impact. Finally, the risk scores will be grouped as per the table

7 below and each auditable area will be assigned an overall risk category based on the following scores: Risk Category Priority Review Required High 1 Monthly or Quarterly Medium 3 Quarterly Low 3 Annually The priority classification will determine the scope and extent of the internal audit plan to be completed. i) Adequacy of Controls As part of our risk analysis, we will document the controls in place in each of the areas above and consider the adequacy of these controls in addressing the risks. In order to ensure that these controls are being operated as outlined and are effective, it will be necessary to make enquiry about and perform walkthrough tests on the identified risk areas in line with our Internal Audit Plan as covered in the next section. ii) Internal Audit Plan The detailed risk analysis exercise should be used to develop an Internal Audit Plan for the credit union as per Appendix 1. This is a rolling audit plan that covers all aspects of the credit union s business. Those areas deemed to be higher risk will be covered more frequently than areas deemed to be lower risk. The risk analysis and internal audit plan need to be reviewed on a regular basis and updated accordingly. Iii) Work Programmes Work programmes should be prepared for the risks areas identified in Section 7: A B C D E F G H I Review of Lending Activities Review of Transactions with Officers & Staff Cash Transactions Bank Reconciliations Share Balances Circularisation of Members Review of Investments Fixed Assets & Other Assets Review of Governance Measures

8 A: Lending To be reviewed monthly Yes/No Comments Review of Lending Activities: 1 Has the board of directors adopted written loan policies and procedures in line with PRA Regulations? 2 Are complete minutes prepared of every credit committee meeting? 3 Are loan officer records incorporated in the credit committee minutes? 4 Are credit committee minutes totalled and ruled off (i.e. double underlined in red underneath the total line) in such a manner that prevents additions or alterations? For a sample of new loans issued in the period: 1 Review evidence on file to ensure that appropriate pre approval screening procedures have been carried out on borrower in line with credit union s lending policy (an affordability assessment and obtaining a copy of bank statements, payslips etc. to confirm income). 2 Has loan been approved at the correct level (loan officer/ credit committee) in line with Lending Policy? Correct number of signatures to reflect approval on loan application? 3 Has Promissory note been signed by member and witnessed? Details agreed to initial loan application form? 4 Do promissory note details agree to loan amount entered on member s account on system? 5 Was there appropriate segregation of duties between staff/officer making loan application, approving loan and paying loan out to member? 6 Are members making full payments on both interest and principal in line with terms of promissory note? 7 Ensure that adequate bad debt provision is being made in line with CREDS requirements. For a sample of existing loans balances: 1 Is interest being calculated properly? 2 Was last interest rebate correctly calculated? 3 Is Bad Debt Provision adequate and calculated in line with the requirements in CREDS? 4 Investigate any large or unusual transactions on the member s accounts. Rescheduled Loans: Obtain a report of all loans rescheduled in the period: 1 Has the rescheduled loan been entered into a Register of Loan Amendments 2 Ensure that a new application form has been completed and that there is evidence of the member s change in circumstances on file. 3 Has application form being signed by member and credit committee? 4 Has new promissory note been issued and signed by both member and credit union official? 5 Has original level of bad debt provision been maintained until it is evident that loan is performing under the new lendiing terms?

9 B: Review of Transactions with Officers & Staff To be reviewed quarterly Yes/No Comments 1 Does credit union maintain a register of officers and deemed related parties and their loan and share balances obtain a copy of same? 2 For a sample of loans to officers, employees and their family members entered into in the period, ensure: - Appropriate affordability assessments carried out; - Has loan been approved at the correct level (loan officer/ credit committee) in line with Lending Policy? - Is loan application and promissory information appropriately signed and on file? - Is member making full payments on both interest and principal in line with terms of promissory note? - Have loans been advanced with appropriate segregation of duties at all stages? - Ensure that loan terms and conditions are not more favourable than those offered to other credit union members. 3 For a sample of accounts with loan balances in arrears/default, has appropriate action been taken to recover the balance?

10 C: Cash Transactions To be reviewed six times per year Yes / No Comments General Review of Controls over cash 1 Is cash on hand counted and verified? 2 Is the safe and float drawers locked at all times? 3 Is cash in the safe under dual control and are adequate safekeeping facilities provided? 4 Are cash floats established and replenished as decided by board policy? 5 Are cameras in place in credit union fully operational? 6 Does each employee have a float for which they sign? 7 Do all transactions have appropriate receipts and payment vouchers? 8 Are pay-in-slips/collection sheets used when members pay in money? 9 As cheques are received, are they stamped For Deposit Only to the account of Armagh Credit Union? Daily Cash Transactions 1 Surprise Cash Count to be carried out by the Supervisory Committee of tills and safe. Count to be reconciled to records. 2. Select a sample of daily cash sheets from the period under review: - Confirm accuracy of additions on cash sheet. - Agree amounts entered to till reports; - Are cash over/short items recorded accurately and are such items reviewed monthly by the board of directors? - Trace cash receipts to entry in Cash Receipts book and to computer system. - Who prepared bank lodgement was it an individual who does not act as a teller? - Trace lodgement to bank statement and ensure no undue delay in lodgement,

11 D: Bank Reconciliations To be reviewed quarterly Yes / No Comments For last monthly bank reconciliations: 1 Check totals on reconciliations and supporting schedules. 2 Agree Bank account balance to bank statement. 3 Review list of outstanding payments and lodgements for large and unusual items. 4 Trace a sample of cheques issued in week prior to period-end to bank statements prior to period-end or to list of outstanding cheques 5 Trace outstanding cheques to subsequent entry in bank statements ensuring that these clear the bank after the end of period. 5 Trace a sample of lodgements in week prior to period-end to bank statements prior to period-end or to list of outstanding lodgements. 6 Trace outstanding lodgements to bank statements after period-end. 7 Enquire into any items un-presented for a significant period of time. 8 Agree reconciled bank balance to trial balance at period end date.

12 E: Share Balances To be reviewed quarterly Yes / No Comments Obtain a list of share and loan balances at the period-end: 1 Review for any large/ unusual balances which may not be compliant with Credit Union Policies on Share and Loan Balance. 2 For a sample of balances check that the interest/dividend paid has been correctly calculated. 3 For a sample of shares issued and deposits received: - Trace amounts and details to paying in slip. - Trace amounts and details to ledger. 4 For share/deposit withdrawals: - Trace amounts and details to counter slip. -Trace amounts and details to copy cheque if available. - Trace amounts and details to ledger. 5 For a sample of accounts (including dormant accounts), vouch the years transactions from the statement to supporting documentation i.e. vouchers, paying in slips, cash book, minutes for dividend amounts, etc. 6 For a sample of new members in the period, verify the authenticity of membership by ensuring application has been approved by the directors by reference to board minutes and director s signature on the application card. Ensure that appropriate identification documents have been obtained in order to confirm identity for money laundering purposes.

13 F: Circularisation of Member Balances - To be reviewed quarterly Yes / No Comments 1 Carry out circularisation of share and loan balances. Include dormant and delinquent accounts in your sample. Ensure requests are properly addressed and contain return information for responses to be sent directly to the supervisory committee. Follow up nonreplies with second or subsequent request. 2 Investigate and follow up any differences between responses and credit union records, or any responses highlighting issues, and record results. 3 Where there has been no response to a circularisation letter, perform alternative audit procedures. (For example, consider reviewing the documentation of the approval of the loan. 4 Document results accordingly.

14 G: Review of Investments- To be reviewed quarterlyx Obtain a list of investments at last month end. 1 Confirm that investments are limited to those allowed by CREDS. The following types of investment are allowed: Yes / No Comments (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Deposits or loans to a UK domestic firm with Part IV permission to accept deposits; Deposits or loans to an institution which is authorised in any other EEA State to accept deposits; Sterling-denominated securities issued by the government of any EEA State; Fixed-interest sterling-denominated securities guaranteed by the government of any EEA State, provided that any guarantee is unconditional in respect of the payment of both principal and interest on those securities. 2 Review and check that all investments have a maturity date of not more than 5 years from the date on which the investment is made. 3 Review reconciliations for each account and vouch to supporting documentation, ensuring that major transactions were properly authorised in line with the credit union s investment policy, board minutes, investment sub-committee minutes. 4 Where investments are managed by an external investment manager, obtain an investment report from the investment manager directly 5 Where the investments are not managed by an external investment manager, or where otherwise deemed necessary, check all or a sample of the valuation of investments by reference to an authoritative and independent source. 6 Investment Income Ensure this is reflected in the accounts on an accruals basis. Check income for a sample of investments to ensure it is complete for the period.

15 H : Fixed Assets & Other Assets To be reviewed annually Obtain a copy of the Credit Union s fixed asset register: 1 Select a sample of fixed assets on register and physically verify that these are still held by the credit union. The sample should include additions in the period and older assets. Yes / No Comments

16 I : Review of Governance Measures To be reviewed once per annum 1 Ensure that the credit union maintains a manual of its policies and procedures in line with CREDS R covering the following areas: - Cash handling and disbursements; - Collection procedures; - Lending, including large exposures - Arrears management - Provisioning - Liquidity management - Financial Risk Management - Money Laundering Prevention - Internal Audit - Information technology - Business Continuity - Marketing - Training - Connected Persons and managing conflicts of interest - Complaints Handling - Single Customer View Yes / No Comments 2 Review Policies and Procedures Manual to ensure that these have been approved by Board of Directors and are reviewed at regular intervals (at least once per annum). 3 Review minutes of meetings of Board of Directors. Ensure that: - meetings occur regularly (monthly) - regular attendance by Board members - minutes are suitably detailed - agreed actions are circulated and followed up at next meeting - Minutes are signed as approved by secretary

17 I : Review of Governance Measures To be reviewed once per annum 4 Ensure that the credit union is maintaining an up to date Business Plan. There should be evidence that this Business Plan has been reviewed and updated on a regular basis. The Business Plan needs to include key compliance ratios such as the capital and liquidity ratio. The Business Plan should maintain rolling financial projections. It is recommended that this covers a period of three years (current financial year plus two additional years). Yes / No Comments 9. Documenting and Reporting Findings The supervisory committee will retain documentation of all work carried out. This will include: - A one page summary (see Appendix ) summarising work done, results and conclusion; - Explanation as to sample size and sampling methodology used where relevant; and - Copies of all working papers to support work carried out. - A suggested schedule is given below

18 Appendix Internal Audit Report Risk Area: 1 Risk Area: Date of last Review: 2 Risk definition: Existing controls in place: Control tests carried out: Sample size: 3 Summary of key findings: 4 Recommendations: Review of previous recommendations 5 Overall conclusion: 6 Comments: Carried out by: Presented to the Board on: Date: Date:

19 Risk Area What is the Risk Controls in Place Likelihood Impact Score Priority Review J F M A M J J A S O N D Lending Loans to officers Cash Verification Verification of loan & share balance Bank reconciliation Loans not issued in line with the CU policy Loans may be on more favourable terms Misappropriation of cash Cash reconciliation done dally Procedures in place High monthly x x x x x x x x x x x x Done by a special comm High quarterly x x x x High 6 times/yr x x x x x x Unusual transactions Checked by supervisors Med quarterly x x x x Error or fraud of member accounts Share transactions Not authorized by member Verification of bank & investments balance Misappropriation of funds Checked by supervisors High quarterly x x x x Username of all transactions recorded Dormant accounts Un-authorized access Only the Manager can re-active dormant accounts Policies & procedures Assets (fixed & others) Minutes & reports Not in line with PRA guidelines Med quarterly x x x x Checked by supervisors Med Twice per year Polices & procedures reviewed regularly x x x x Low 3 times/yr x x x Low annually x Misappropriation Checked by supervisors Low annually x Inappropriate governance in place Checked by supervisors Low annually x