Head of Internal Audit
Sovereign Fund of Egypt
Total years of experience :25 years, 7 months
Establishing the Internal Audit Department as per the leading professional practice standards including developing the required charters for the Audit Committee, and Internal Audit function.
Developing the Internal Audit Plan including different roles to be played by the internal audit ranging from assurance, compliance, fraud management, and advisory services.
Advisory role to the Board, Audit Committee, and Management to the new projects, capacity building project, governance structure.
- Developing Internal Audit, and Audit Committee Charters.
- Aligning the Internal Audit structure and operations with international professional internal audit standards.
- Conducting Risk Assessment for ADTC departments and operations.
- Developing and implementing Audit Plan assignments covering operations, finance, and focus areas.
- Developing KPIs for the department, and Career Development Plans for staff.
- Handling fraud scenario assessment project for ADTC.
- Handling evidence of some legal cases.
- Conducting special assignments as per the Board of Directors instructions.
- Conducting compliance exercises against respective policies and procedures.
- Reviewing newly developed policies and procedures in terms of controls, operational risks, and alignment with similar laws; before being implemented.
- Drafting Board of Directors, and Audit Committee meetings minutes.
- Drafting Board of Directors Decisions.
- Implementing an audit software used in internal audit operations.
- Recruitment of staff for the department.
Process & Control Improvement has a review and assurance task for all company operations. It includes:
1. Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting.
2. Audit / Reviews for operations, compliance in functions or plants.
3. Strategic Risk Assessment.
4. Risk Management.
5. Compliance with Heineken governance rules and measures.
6. Fraud awareness / assessment / investigations.
7. Integrity cases management.
8. Policies development and update.
9. Improvement projects.
My professional experience for fifteen years is in a) audit (financial and operational), b) compliance with policies and procedures, c) corporate governance best practices and structures, d) due diligence engagements, and e) fraud investigations, and assessments. The aforementioned included Best Practice evaluations with recommendations, and follow-up for weaknesses noted.
Main businesses and industries covered are investments, utilities (water and electricity), corporate credit, health insurance, pensions, manufacturing, and employment.
This experience was gained through employment with a) PricewaterhouseCoopers - Egypt, b) Abu Dhabi Audit Authority - UAE, c) Al Qudra Holding (An investments company in the UAE), and d) Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council - UAE.
Additionally, a) my professional qualifications through passing the Certified Public Accountant; CPA, exams and Certified Internal Auditor; CIA, exams, and b) being bilingual (English and Arabic) is a valuable asset for me.
Leading the internal audit activities (Recruitment, developing Charters, Executing assignments …etc).
Developing of charters for Audit Committee, Internal Audit Department, and Internal Audit Manual.
Developing and handling Corporate Governance Code and required board decisions, and committees charters.
Solid experience in corporate governance structures and practices.
Preparing audit plans.
Engaging in the Financial and Operational Audits, Agreed Upon Procedures, Compliance with rules and regulations, Corporate Governance, Due Diligence, and Fraud Investigation engagements.
Engaging in development and review of organizational structures, business processes, policies and procedures.
Performing limited reviews for some business operations in different subsidiaries.
Handling secretarial work of the company Audit Committee.
Actively engaged in re-structuring project for the holding company including a) the holding model, b) required Organization Structure, c) Mission Statements, d) Job Descriptions, e) Business Processes, and f) Policies and Procedures manuals development.
Monitoring payments processing with identifying non-compliance cases along with highlights on deficiencies in the respective business process, authority matrix, and governance structure.
Conducting risk assessments to identify regulatory and operational risks across Al Qudra’s activities.
Handling KYC requirements for business partners and investments.
Handling life insurance, and professional indemnity insurance assessment and comparison processes.
Preparing various reports to top management and board of directors as needed.
Several operational and financial audits with focus on internal control weaknesses, means of improvement, and business operation in comparison to related best practice. Clients of which were:
Abu Dhabi Investment Company; ADIC, (Audited operations and controls of Syndicated loans, Global Portfolio, Local Portfolio, Trading securities, and Held to maturity securities),
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank; ADCB, (Corporate Governance, and Procurement),
Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority; (Planning and limited review on contracts between client and foreign partners),
Abu Dhabi Pension and Retirement Benefits Fund; (Planning and limited review),
Duty Free and Catering Services; (Planning),
Department of Agriculture; (Operations audit),
Department of Public works; (Operations audit), and
Three fraud investigation assignments.
Attended the following technical courses:
Fraud Awareness and Money Laundering - April 2005 - DC Gardner
KPMG Money Laundering and Fraud Investigation Techniques - November 2001 - KPMG
Supervisory and Management Skills Course - January 2003 - ERNST & YOUNG
Appraisal and Interviewing Skills Course - August 2001- ERNST & YOUNG
Several ADAA in-house training courses including an overview of IAS 32 & IAS 39, an introduction to Derivatives, and Writing Management Letters skills.
Financial audits, due diligence, and agreed upon procedures assignments for the following clients:
Coca-Cola Bottling Companies; (Quarter reviews, interim and year end audits),
Inter-Casino Management; (Interim, and year end audits),
TetraPak - Egypt; (Year end audit),
Bristol Meyers Squib; (Year end audit),
Dade Behring - Egypt; (Year end audit),
Credit Lyonnais Bank; (Year end audit),
Baroid Limited (Halliburton Group); (Year end audit),
Sainsbury; (Year end audit),
Petrolube Oils (Member of Aramco); (Year end audit),
DHL; (Year end audit),
FIAT - Egypt; (Year end audit),
Ghabbour (Assembler of Hyundai and Scania Vehicles); (Year end audit),
CBR (Cement company in Belgium ); (Due Diligence),
Best Foods; (Due Diligence),
Middle East Glass ( Affiliate of Coca-Cola - Egypt ); (Due Diligence), and
Tecnicas Reunidas; (Review for Foreign reporting purposes to main branch in Spain).
Passed three parts of the Certified Internal Auditor Exam in November 2005. Part IV should be waived as I passed the CPA exam.
Passed the uniform CPA exam in the State of California in May 2000. Passed the Ethics exam of the State of California in February 2002.
Faculty of Commerce English section was founded in 1993. It was characterized by limited number of students, American education style, and international references as textbooks. I joined it in its second year since its foundation.