Risk management

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Risk management advisory committee
Client acceptance advisory committe

Risk management advisory committee
Managing and mitigating risk across the global organisation is an integral part of implementing the global strategy. The executive director – risk and regulatory matters leads these efforts, which entail i) identifying the risks inherent in the global strategy and then developing policies and procedures that help address those risks and ii) integrating risk management into each of the global practice areas, internal global functions (such as marketing and information technology), as well as working with member firms to assist and support their implementation of the global risk management policies and procedures.

The risk management advisory committee, chaired by the executive director – risk and regulatory matters, is comprised of several member firm managing partners and risk management leaders, together with representatives from each service line, the worldwide director – quality control and the Grant Thornton International chief legal officer. This committee makes recommendations regarding risk management policies and procedures to the Global Leadership Board. These policies and procedures set standards and guidance for how each member firm should approach risk management. Defining a common risk management threshold and language across the member firms is important because there are different interpretations and understandings of risk management from country to country.

Establishing such a common framework also supports member firms’ efforts on global assignments. Areas covered by the global risk management policies and procedures include independence, member firm client acceptance and client re-acceptance. Acceptance and re-acceptance of member firm assurance clients is considered a cornerstone of the enterprise-wide risk management approach. Given this importance, certain member firm assurance engagements that meet one or more defined criteria are submitted to a global review team for approval. Overall, there is a continuous focus on enhancing the risk management framework including, for example, the development of proprietary software that will centralise the client acceptance/re-acceptance global review and approval process.

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Client acceptance advisory committee
The executive director – risk and regulatory matters chairs a global client acceptance advisory committee. The associate general counsel assists with the coordination of the activities of this committee. The committee meets weekly to review submissions from member firms for acceptance and re-acceptance of assurance engagements meeting certain risk criteria including, but not limited to, the size of the engagement, the size of the client/prospective client and the extent to which Grant Thornton member firms are engaged in the audit of group companies. The client acceptance advisory committee is comprised of the executive director – risk and regulatory matters, the worldwide director – quality control and partners, nominated by their managing partners, selected from a geographically dispersed set of member firms.

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