I first noticed the faint drum beat around internal auditors reengaging on fraud about a year ago. In recent weeks, the drums have become almost deafening. For example, last week, the South Florida Chapters of The IIA and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners held a joint full-day conference focused on fraud, and more than 230 local professionals turned out to participate. Later today, The IIA will host a one-hour webcast for North American members on “Taking Fraud Awareness to the Next Level: The Risk Universe, Technology, and Internal Audit’s Role.” More than 7,000 internal audit professionals have registered for the event — making it the largest single professional development event The IIA has ever hosted.

This week I have had the opportunity to visit Russia for the first time. After three days of meetings with senior government officials and chief audit executives of leading Russian companies, my optimism about the future economic development of this country in general, and IIA–Russia in particular, is very high!