My response to the IIA Global's exposure of the Three Lines of Defence

I have now submitted my online response to IIA Global’s exposure of the Three Lines of Defence. I tried in my response to consider my views and experiences both as an internal auditor, and a non-executive and audit committee chair.

All in all I feel somewhat underwhelmed by both the exposure document and what is asked in the survey. I would have liked to see a clearer stance in the exposure regarding changes proposed to the model (if any) and also more focus on whether we really mean defence or are we talking about assurance when we discuss the different lines. I appreciated the focus on organisational success; emphasising the need for improvement rather than defending. I felt that while the exposure does talk more about the role of the board, that as a reader I was still not clear on what the exposure is proposing with regards the board’s role.

I tend to think quite visually, and it may have been that if the exposure had contained a graphical representation of the working group’s views it may have been more useful for me personally. I also understand why that was not done – the group wants to collect views before perhaps redrawing the model we have all been using for many years. The survey closes 19 September, so please do share your own views to help shape the future of the model.