Senior Vice President, Internal Audit
Citibank, Canada
Total years of experience :30 years, 10 Months
• Providing strategic direction, leadership, and guidance to a global team of professionals tasked with conducting time-sensitive issue validations affected by regulatory consent orders from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve Board (FRB).
• Overseeing teams accountable for executing comprehensive end-to-end validation of business-critical milestones and corrective action plans associated with regulatory consent orders.
• Providing advice to management on the adequacy of internal controls, risk identification, root cause analysis, and recommendations for improvements to facilitate successful business transformation initiatives.
• Developing and maintaining strong relationships with key stakeholders, including senior management, regulators, and external auditors, through effective communication, regular meetings, and collaboration.
• Creating and executing risk-based audit plans designed to mitigate significant business risks, ensuring alignment with relevant regulatory mandates and adherence to Citi’s policies and procedures.
• Leading project audits ensuring the delivery of high-quality audit findings and value-added recommendations.
• Collaborating with cross-functional teams to strategically allocate resources for the project audit work stream.
• Developing, mentoring, coaching, and providing guidance to team members to promote their professional development and career growth.
• Promoting a collaborative and accountable culture while driving continuous improvement through innovation and adoption of best practices. Proactively staying updated on emerging risks, regulatory mandates, industry trends, and internal audit best practices to enhance the efficiency of the internal audit function.
Annual Planning & Strategic Initiative Group:
• Led the bank’s annual audit planning exercise including maintaining the audit universe, guiding audit directors on existing and emerging risks, conducting risk assessments, creating audit projects into audit application software, monitoring the audit plan to identify variances, and negotiating steps with audit teams to bring it back on track.
• Close day-to-day interaction with Senior Directors, VPs, and Senior Managers of various audit teams.
• Automated Audit Universe and change request process, updating entity risks on a real-time basis and increasing efficiency in audit planning by 20%.
• Helped teams re-design Risk Universe by mapping it with the risks identified by the Global Operational Risk Management Team (GORM) eliminating discrepancies and improving the risk assessment process.
• Implemented audit management software (TeamMate+) to automate the audit process. Conducted UAT testing, delivered functional training to a diverse team of 200+ auditors, developed comprehensive user guides, facilitated live Q&A sessions, and served as the primary support contact for any inquiries or assistance.
• Monitored KPIs associated with the Audit Plan and provided input to the quarterly Audit Committee Report.
Project/ Program Audit Group:
• Implemented “Agile Internal Audit” methodology at CIBC, which included creating comprehensive training material and conducting foundational training sessions on key agile concepts, scrum workflow, sprint planning, audit backlog, utilization of Kanban boards, and implementation of audit artifacts like audit canvas and point-of-view. Functioned as the designated “Agile Coach” for pilot audits, providing guidance and support throughout the process.
• Led strategic project and program audits, driving a shift from a compliance-focused to a risk-based approach by integrating risk assessments into multiple audit stages.
• Conducted comprehensive audits of the software development lifecycle (SDLC) from pre to post-implementation stages, encompassing both waterfall and agile project methodologies.
• Developed audit procedures covering all aspects of the project life cycle, spanning from project charter and traceability matrix to SIT/UAT test cases, entry/exit criteria, defect management, roll-back plans, and implementation readiness. Additionally, developed a framework to analyze business cases, business requirements, status reports, and project risks, ensuring comprehensive coverage within the audit scope.
• Led planning of various non-IT program audits, including CIBC Square, an advanced head office building project.
• Established and managed the internal audit and risk management function by leading a team of professional auditors and risk champions. Reported functionally to the Audit Committee and administratively to the CEO.
• Developed internal audit plan annually and maintained a dynamic audit and risk universe.
• Prepared quarterly reports to the audit and risk committee covering KPIs, the status of the audit plan, new findings with root causes, aging of outstanding deficiencies, emerging risks, and results of investigations conducted.
• Built relationships with senior management through regular meetings and feedback sessions discussing key audit findings, emerging risks, mitigation plans, and timelines for closing deficiencies.
• Oversaw execution of audit assignments, reviewed and approved audit deficiencies, and conducted follow-up audits to ensure adherence to audit recommendations and promote compliance.
• Played a pivotal role in implementing an anonymous tip-off/ whistleblowing initiative, resulting in a remarkable 70% reduction in fraud incidents within a six-month timeframe.
• Took charge of diverse investigations, including 419 frauds, conflict of interest cases, misuse of authority incidents, warehouse thefts, AML triggers, cash embezzlement, and payroll frauds.
• Designed an Audit Compliance Dashboard that facilitated senior management in monitoring and successfully reducing outstanding audit deficiencies from 30% to an impressive 5% within a span of three months.
• Oversaw the recruitment, development, and on-the-job training of team members. Conducted performance evaluations, offered regular feedback, and created personalized training plans to foster their professional growth.
• Collaborated closely with the head office in South Africa and regional audit teams in Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria to enhance skill sets and strengthen the Internal Audit function.
• Led planning, execution, and reporting of management audits of regional offices of MCB, and global operational audits of Sri Lanka and the Middle East.
• Led a high-level investigation of Special Assets Management Group highlighting financial irregularities and exposing a major conflict of interest fraud.
• Conducted audits of banking, airline & manufacturing sectors as an external auditor.
• Led 100% stock count of country’s largest storing facility exposing a major stock shortage fraud.
