It was the type of newspaper coverage most Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) would dread. “Unaudited Accounts Cause Issues,” declared a September 2018 Cook Island News headline. The article, which went on to detail how the Cook Islands has a backlog of unaudited public accounts...
Summer 2016
You May Have Noticed…Something Has Changed
The Journal is committed to this continued transformation, and you may have noticed a bit of a metamorphosis in the overall look and feel of this edition. The goals behind the redesign of the Journal include giving it a more contemporary, yet corporate, look and feel; providing a cleaner and more engaging reading experience; increasing readership accessibility; and adapting the Journal into a more robust tool for knowledge sharing...
The Digital Revolution: Threat or Opportunity for the Audit Profession
The audit profession in the Netherlands has been involved in a series of major incidents in recent years. The good news is that the Dutch audit profession has adopted a raft of measures since we wrote to Parliament in 2014, highlighting the main concerns from a public-sector viewpoint. The question is whether we are fighting the final battle in the war to restore public trust or just the next in a long series of battles...
Letter from the Editor
As journalists, we do our best to ensure that everything is clear, concise and correct. But, there are times when we don’t always completely meet that challenge, particularly taking into account the global nature of our business. In the Spring 2016 issue of the INTOSAI Journal, we published quite a bit of news and some fascinating feature articles. In fact, we received numerous inquiries about some of the reporting in the last edition, specifically submissions from the State Audit Office of the Republic of Latvia...
Emerging Risk Framework for Banking Systems, Regulatory Response
Financial institutions and markets provide essential services to the U.S. and global economies. However, weaknesses in federal oversight have contributed to the thrift and bank crises in the 1980s and the financial crisis experienced from 2007-2009. For example, the resolution of banks and thrifts during these crises cost federal bank and thrift insurance funds over $165 billion and resulted in unprecedented...
CNAO, GAO Leverage Expertise to Generate Results
In 2012, heads of the SAIs of China and USA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). According to the MoU’s objective, "The participants intend to establish, improve, and develop a framework for cooperation in national audit and promote effective interaction between the participants on the basis of equality, reciprocity, and mutual benefit." The MoU has allowed the National Audit Office of the People’s Republic of China (CNAO) and the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) the opportunity to...
SAO Hungary Issues “Pillars of Good Governance” Series
The State Audit Office of Hungary (SAO) fundamentally renewed its activities in the past 5 years further developing international principles of good governance. The SAO’s study series titled "Pillars of Good Governance" and the Hungarian model of good governance embody the results of our work, our experience gained during the renewal and the synthesis of our knowledge. In accordance with its institutional strategy, the mission of the State Audit Office of Hungary (SAO) is to promote...
Myanmar Welcomes New Union Auditor General
On April 5, 2016, Mr. Maw Than, a well-known economist (born August 28, 1939), officially assumed his role as Union Auditor General (UAG) of the Office of the Auditor General of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. He was appointed by the President in 2016 with the approval of the Parliament for a term of five years. Mr. Maw Than has served in several high-visibility roles, including...
Thailand Hosts ASOSAI GB Meeting and International Symposium
The Office of the Auditor General of Thailand (OAG) hosted the 50th Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI) Governing Board Meeting (GBM), as well as the International Symposium on the "National Integrity System (NIS)" February 15-19, 2016, on the auspicious occasion of the 100th anniversary of its establishment. The objectives of the symposium were...
New SAV AG Promotes Transparency, Citizen Ownership
On April 5, 2016, Doctor Ho Duc Phoc was appointed by the National Assembly as Auditor General (AG) of the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV). He was nominated by the Chairwoman of the National Assembly (NA) and was approved by the majority of the NA. Dr Phoc says that, "I will try, with my utmost efforts, together with other leaders of the SAV and the entire Office, to achieve...