Barclays 2014 Annual Report Download - page 47

barclays.com/annualreport Barclays PLC Annual Report 2014 I 45
Area of focus Matter addressed Role of the Committee Conclusion/action taken
The roll-out of the MCA, which
assesses management’s attitude to
the control environment
Q Encouraged the deployment of
the MCA and pressed for
improvements in MCA in order to
accelerate the timetable for all
businesses and functions to
achieve better internal ratings for
their control environment
Q Assessed the status of plans to
achieve improvements in the
control environment for each
business and function
Q Evaluated the control objectives
given to each member of the Group
Executive Committee
Q The Committee asked for plans to
improve the control environment to
be more granular and for quantitative,
outturn indicators to be developed so
that progress could be tracked by the
Committee
Q It also suggested ways in which the
control objectives for members of the
Group Executive Committee could be
further strengthened
The proposed revised approach to
managing the control environment
and to capturing and managing
material control issues and their
remediation
Q Evaluated and endorsed a proposal
from management for the
principles and characteristics for
management of a sound control
environment
Q Assessed the proposed new
methodology for the identification
and management of control issues
and their remediation
Q The Committee approved the
proposed new methodology
Q It also requested confirmation that
the revised approach would meet all
Barclays’ internal control
requirements, including requirements
associated with internal control over
financial reporting. The revised
approach was implemented with
effect from 1 January 2015
The adequacy and effectiveness of
Barclays’ whistleblowing processes
Q Asked for an update on Barclays’
whistleblowing processes
Q Assessed plans for a change in
approach to ensure they are more
consistent with best practice
adopted by bodies such as Public
Concern at Work and encourage
colleagues to raise issues
Q The Committee requested further
improvements in the information
presented to it, including asking for
additional detail of any specific
whistleblowing incidents relating to
accounting processes, fraud or theft
to be provided
Internal audit The performance of internal audit
and delivery of the internal audit plan,
including scope of work performed
and level of resources
Q Assessed and approved the internal
audit plan (including budget and
resource levels) on a quarterly basis
Q Evaluated internal audit’s
assessment of the performance of
each business and function,
including trends in audit issues and
any overdue audit issues
Q Examined the processes and
methodology used by internal audit
to plan its work and the scope and
depth of that work
Q Debated whether internal audit
should set targets for the flow of
new control issues and the time
taken to remediate any audit
recommendations
Q The Committee decided to create a
sub-committee specifically to assess
the level of internal audit assurance
risk and resourcing it was willing to
accept. This sub-committee is
working with internal audit on these
matters and is expected to provide
recommendations to the Committee
by July 2015
Q The Committee asked internal audit
to continue to emphasise to the
Group Executive Committee the
discipline needed to remediate
issues and agree appropriate
target timescales
Q It also asked internal audit to look at
the root causes for delay in
remediating audit findings and asked
the Group Chief Executive and Group
Finance Director to put additional
focus on timely remediation of audit
findings in their monthly review
meetings with each business. Each of
these actions is underway and
ongoing
External audit
Read more about the
Committee’s role in
assessing the
performance and
effectiveness of the
external auditor below
The work and performance of PwC
on key areas
Q Assessed regular status reports
from PwC on the scope and
progress of the external audit plan
Q Debated and agreed the key areas
of focus including valuations,
impairment, conduct and legal
provisions, tax and the
methodology and assumptions
used in the allocations between the
Core and Non-Core business
Q The Committee confirmed the scope
of the audit and the areas of focus,
including agreeing adjustments to the
audit plan following the strategy
update announcement
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