Affin Bank Berhad | Annual Report 2020

219 GROUP BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT AFFIN BANK BERHAD 197501003274 (25046-T) | ANNUAL REPORT 2020 2. INDEPENDENCE a. The GIA function is established by the Board to undertake independent review and assessment on the adequacy, efficiency and effectiveness of risk management, control and governance processes implemented by the Management. GIA reports functionally to the GBAC and administratively to the PGCEO. It is independent from the activities or operations of other operating units in the Group; and b. The GIA function is guided by its Audit Charter (as approved by the GBAC) which defines the mission and objective, responsibility, accountability, authority, independence and objectivity, and professionalism and ethical standards. 3. PROFILE AND QUALIFICATION a. Effective 1 May 2020, GIA is headed by Puan Wahdania Mohd Khir, replacing Puan Khatimah Mahadi who retired on 31 March 2020. Wahdania who holds a Master of Science in Quantitative Finance from the University of Westminster London is also a Chartered Banker and a member of the Financial Markets Association Malaysia. She brings with her more than 25 years working experience in the Financial Services Industry and has served both in the banking sector as well as, the regulatory body. In the banking industry, she has held various senior roles as the Head of Global Market Compliance and Treasury Operations, and Senior Director of Group Audit at a major financial institution; b. She is assisted by 57 qualified internal auditors from various disciplines mainly operations, credit, information technology, risk management, Islamic banking, fraud and investigation, treasury, finance/ accounting, investment banking, stockbroking and asset management; c. In order to perform its functions effectively, the internal auditors have regularly and continuously attended a number of training courses to equip themselves with the requisite knowledge and skills. In line with BNM’s expectation and GIA’s 3 years professional development plan to equip the internal auditors with various professional certifications such as Certification of Bank Auditors, Chartered Banker, AML/CFT, Professional Credit Certification, Bank Risk Management, Pasaran Kewangan Malaysia Certificate, Certified Information System Auditor, Master in Islamic Finance and etc, GIA has progressively enrolled its staff with AICB, ISACA and INCEIF to attain these qualifications. Majority of the internal auditors are certified with either one (1) or more of the aforementioned qualifications; and d. In the Quality Assurance Review conducted by The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Malaysia in December 2019, GIA was accredited full conformance with the IIA’s International Standards for Professional Practice of Internal Auditing and the pertinent regulations. In addition, GIA is also recognised to be operating at both “Optimised” and “Managed” levels against the Internal Audit Maturity Assessment (“AIMA”).