It's one of those "givens": "you can't audit your own work." This can inhibit an auditor, appropriately, from designing business processes, writing standards or policies, and other activities that should be performed by management.

Yet again, issues have arisen with respect to the quality ot external auditors' work. This article on Deloitte reported that the PCAOB found deficiencies in 45% of inspected audits performed by that firm. Previous inspections found issues with audits by Ernst & Young (deficiencies in 20% of the audits inspected), PwC (29%), and KPMG (23%).

Many if not most of the items on my wish list are aspirational at best. They cover multiple areas, all coming together around my general theme of better run organizations. They include aspects of governance, risk management, internal audit, information, and performance management.

I posted earlier on the report by the Financial Services Authority on the failure of the major UK bank, RBS.

The UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published its report on the causes of the failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). RBS was a massive bank and its failure was significant to the UK and global economy.

The team at Protiviti has published yet another valuable report. Although it is directed at financial institutions, the points are also valuable to other organizations. Setting the 2012 Audit Committee Agenda for Financial Institutions identifies ten major challenges that need to be on the agenda. I like them, but I wouldn’t put them in this order and I would change several. 

An interesting report from Right Management finds that "poor relationships [are] the top cause for leader failure."  The top two factors were identified as:

• Fit with company values and culture 68%.
• Interpersonal skills 66%.