FBK GT at December Debates 2020

FBK GT’s experts have participated in December Debates 2020, which covered such topics as internal control and audit amid the pandemic, remote work and information security risks. This year’s debates were held online and dedicated to the memory of Anatoliy Sheremet.

Maya Savitskaya, a Manager of the Department of Assurance and Advisory to Financial Institutions, spoke about the impact of the pandemic on control functions and focused on the expansion of the risk universe and business process transformation. She also explained how to organise efficient internal control and mitigate the effect of risks, in particular, if employees work remotely. According to her, internal control and risk management procedures should be updated to address current challenges.

Oksana Kolbaeva, a Senior Consultant of the Internal Audit and Risk Management Department, urged businesses to pay attention both to problems and opportunities offered by the crisis. The ongoing crisis caused by the pandemic gives internal audit a chance to demonstrate its capabilities and prove its effectiveness for owners and management.

Alexander Chernenko, the CEO of FBK Cybersecurity, spoke about an information security system based on specific business and cyber risks. He believes it crucial to monitor information security efficiency at all levels, so his speech was mostly dedicated to internal control and audit issues.

Roman Kenigsberg and Irina Kovaleva, employees of the Internal Audit and Risk Management Department, moderated a world cafe, whose attendees noted the key role of all control functions in the period of significant changes brought by the pandemic. The controllers emphasised the importance of information system development and business continuity. Attendees of the world cafe admitted that their work had become more difficult, mostly because of disrupted communication and transformation of business processes.

Elena Pertseva, the Deputy Director of Corporate Governance and Sustainability, mentioned that businesspersons tend to pay more attention to so called “non-financial”, or ESG risks, rather than economic risks. Sustainability reporting, on the one hand, helps companies to share their operating results with stakeholders, including their efforts to manage those kind of risks. On the other hand, it becomes a monitoring and feedback instrument for the companies