2022 OECD Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum

Protecting the integrity of public finances amid a pandemic: Taking stock of the effectiveness of external and internal audit | Joint OECD GACIF & G20 Indonesian Presidency session

Mar 31, 2022 | 9:30 AM CEST - 11:00 AM CEST

Description

This session will begin with opening remarks from Jeffrey Schlagenhauf, Deputy Secretary-General, OECD, and Lili Pintauli Siregar, Vice-Chairman, Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Indonesia. Fraud and corruption undermine public policies and services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, fraud estimates have been in the billions of dollars in several G20 countries. Supreme audit institutions (SAIs) and internal audit functions in the public sector are key players in the fight against fraud and corruption in the public sector. This session explores how the pandemic has stress-tested SAI’s and IAF’s work, and it considers a path forward to address common governance challenges, including combating fraud and corruption, amid crises. Key questions include: - What are the lessons learned in terms of how the pandemic tested the work of external and internal auditors to oversee public spending, including the strategies and frameworks that public audit entities use to safeguard integrity and combat corruption/fraud? - With accelerated public spending came amplified risks. What tools proved to be most effective for mitigating risks and ensuring accountability, transparency and integrity in spending, including preventing and detecting fraud and corruption? - What has the crisis taught us about what more can be done to strengthen co-operation and collaboration between internal and external auditors, in particular, or even other actors (e.g. anti-corruption agencies, financial integrity units (FIUs), regulators and law enforcement) so that we can better tackle the next crisis with greater coherence and co-ordination?