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Here in part two of our ‘Deep Dive into Consulting’ series Aoibhín Byrne, Expert Recruiter in Tax, Treasury and Practice Careers with our Dublin team, takes a closer look at risk advisory.
In a corporate landscape of increased regulation and demand for transparency, assessing, minimising and effectively managing risk is pivotal to business success. Failure to comply with regulations can result in hefty sanctions and legal action from regulators, as well as a tarnished brand reputation and public humiliation.
Over the past couple of years, we have seen advisory firms significantly increase the size of their risk consulting teams; a reflection of the growing need for their services in the market.
To start we’ll take a deeper look into some of the different areas that risk consulting teams specialise in:
Regulatory Risk
Globalisation has created an inter-connected, fluid business community, regardless of geographical location. Many organisations have their headquarters in one country, their manufacturing plant in another as well as multiple business units scattered in various locations. This means that these organisations have to comply with both global and local regulations.
Regulatory risk consultants are subject matter experts in regulatory standards and work with their clients to anticipate and adapt to regulatory changes. This can range from differences in financial reporting requirements from region to region to ensuring data is managed in accordance with data privacy regulations to FS firms ensuring they are compliant with prudential regulations.
Internal Audit
An internal audit function performs objective evaluations of the controls put in place in an organisation to effectively manage its risk and comply with regulations. Whilst many large organisations have their own, dedicated internal audit team within the business, some organisations opt to outsource this function to external risk consulting teams. Thus, many risk consultant teams have long-standing internal audit engagements with clients, which can lead to consultants being an almost permanent fixture in their client’s organisation.
Risk consultants also act as strategic advisors to their clients. They carry out assessments of internal audit functions or various controls used by the client, identify areas for improvement and help to implement best-practice processes to ensure the organisation is fully compliant with standards.
In this article, we have just tipped the iceberg in terms of covering the full breadth of services offered by risk advisory teams. This is an area of consulting that continues to grow where teams are offering specialised and niche services to their clients. Due to recent events, organisations are determined to further strengthen their resilience to risks of all kinds, making it an opportune time to make a career move in this space.
Need help achieving your ambitions?
Are you a tax or accounting professional looking for help in achieving your ambitions? If so get in touch with one of our expert team below, who are ready with lots of CV, LinkedIn, interview and career advice along with cutting edge market insights.
Aideen Murphy, Partner, Barden Cork at aideen.murphy@barden.ie
Kate Flanagan, Partner, Barden Dublin at kate.flanagan@barden.ie
Aoibhín Byrne, Expert Recruiter in Tax, Treasury and Practice Careers, Barden Dublin at aoibhin.byrne@barden.ie