Article
Adapting controls post COVID-19
Companies have been forced by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown restrictions imposed by governments to change their ways of operating, and switch to making much greater use of working from home.
The changes in working procedures have been put in place rapidly in order to sustain business operations, with a focus on results and performance, but updating the associated control systems may not have been given priority.
We explore the impact new ways of working may have had on existing controls and consider the behavioural responses which may occur and their possible implications for the ongoing effectiveness of the control environment.
Controls post COVID-19
What can you do to adjust your control environment to the ‘new normal’?
Simply assuming that established controls and procedures will continue to address the risks faced by the business may be short-sighted and lead to problems in the medium to long term. Instead, we suggest that companies should now reassess their entire governance, risk and control frameworks. As in other areas of risk management, we would advise companies to follow a risk-based approach and identify the processes that bear the highest risks following adjusted working patterns, in order to prioritise the analysis of controls:
Contacts
Recommendations
COVID-19 Operating in the 'new normal' – A backdoor to increased fraud risk?
Chief Compliance Officer support | Investigations team
