2015 Global Audit Committee Survey from KPMG

Early this year, KPMG’s Audit Committee Institute surveyed over 1,500 audit committee members in more than 36 countries around the world on a wide range of issues including risk management.

Some of the key concerns of audit committee members include:

  • Economic uncertainty and volatility,

  • Regulation and public policy impact,

  • Operational risk, and

  • Cybersecurity

Among these concerns, committee members have stated they have been stretched too thinly to review and absorb key data to mitigate organizational risks. Over 75% of the members have reported that the time required to carry our their responsibilities has increased, with almost 50% saying their role is more difficult with less time and budget being spent to address key issues. Consequently, more boards are reassigning risk oversight responsibilities to other committees which help to free up valuable time to review important business issues.

They express the top five challenges and concerns to include:

  1. Uncertainty and volatility related to economic, regulatory, and political changes

  2. Government regulation and the impact of public policy initiatives

  3. Legal and regulatory compliance

  4. Operational risk

  5. Talent management

Additionally, when asked where they should spend their time, the top five areas included:

  1. Adequacy of internal controls around operational risks

  2. Oversight of the risk process

  3. Cybersecurity

  4. Legal and regulatory compliance

  5. Keeping pace with technology changes

For a reading of the full report packed with interesting statistics and insights, click here >>

By Robert J. Blackburn, Managing Principal, Blackburn Group, Inc., contact him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..