INVESTIGATION STARTS BEFORE THE SUBPOENA ARRIVES
CD: Over the past few years, how have the biggest trends, risks, challenges and opportunities evolved in the way organisations identify and investigate potential issues before they become regulatory or enforcement matters?
Buchanan: Organisations have become more proactive in identifying potential issues, driven by increased regulatory expectations, greater scrutiny of corporate conduct and the growing volume of available data. The biggest shift is from investigating misconduct after the fact to using risk assessments, transaction monitoring and targeted testing to identify red flags earlier. At the same time, issues have become more complex, particularly where transactions, counterparties and employees span multiple jurisdictions. This creates challenges around data quality, fragmented systems and regulatory requirements. For organisations, the opportunity is to combine traditional controls with analytics and targeted forensic reviews to identify anomalies earlier and give management and boards greater visibility into emerging risks.
Scheck: Over the past few years, we have continued to see whistleblowers come forward with respect to a wide range of accounting and disclosure issues. It is important for companies to make an early assessment of the credibility of the allegations and decide how to respond to them. Best practice would be to hire independent counsel and forensic accountants to evaluate the issues and update the audit committee as to the findings. Keeping external auditors informed and in the loop is also essential if there is risk of a material misstatement or management is involved in providing representations or certifying financials.
Oct-Dec 2026 issue
StoneTurn