Internal Audit

We perform, evaluate, and update internal audit risk assessments and related internal audit scopes and plans. RGS expertise and experience ensures that internal audit plans are risk -based and address:

• Known and emerging risks
• Regulatory changes and priorities
• Strategic initiatives
• Prior audit or regulatory issues
• Resource planning and skill requirements

We perform internal audits in all areas of operations and accounting/finance and for human resources. RGS team includes seasoned professionals who have many years of experience in performing audits in all areas of financial service operations from front to middle and back-office activities. We have internal auditors with specialized knowledge in lending, investing, deposit operations, treasury, accounting, and human resources. We work with all types of financial institutions including community and commercial banks, foreign bank branches, and credit unions.

The services of RGS include performing or updating Compliance Risk Assessments and /or executing in-depth consumer regulation compliance audits. Our compliance audit specialists will help identify and prioritize issues that need to be addressed such as:

• Changing regulations that require implementation
• Training related to new regulations
• Outdated risk assessment that does not rate risks properly
• Lack of resources resulting in backlog of making changes to address new regulation, products, and modifications to system specifications
• Insufficient oversight of 3rd party vendors that support the compliance function
• Inadequate monitoring of activities for compliance with regulations

We perform Information Technology audits following COBIT and regulatory standards. Our team comprises of seasoned IT professionals and focuses on opportunities for enhancement beyond the base line requirements. RGS’s approach is designed to identify vulnerabilities and control weaknesses and includes evaluating:

• Risk assessments and identification of vulnerabilities
• Strategy and planning
• IT Governance, including policy/procedures and Board reporting
• IT Infrastructure
• Business Continuity Planning
• Third party risk and vendor risk management practices – (Breaches frequently occur through vendor systems)
• IT Governance and authentication practices
• IT Operations and Patch management practices

Our seasoned IT professionals are skilled at evaluating mission critical applications and evaluating the risk and controls concerning access, system configurations, change management, interfaces and other factors that could influence the successful performance of the system applications. These applications often support key operational activities such as the general ledger and regulatory reporting.

We perform internal audits of the Information Security and Cybersecurity internal control framework including governance, risk determination, processes, reporting and compliance with regulatory and industry standards. RGS deploys seasoned IT professionals and focuses on opportunities for enhancement beyond the base line requirements. RGS’s approach is designed to identify vulnerabilities and control weaknesses before security breaches occur. For that reason, RGS spends additional time evaluating:

• IS and Cybersecurity Risk assessments and identification of vulnerabilities
• Risk Management practices, including governance
• Network and Physical Security
• Encryption and Authentication practices
• Monitoring and Board/Management Reporting
• Access Controls and Recertifications
• Cyber response preparedness and resilience capabilities
• Incident Response Program

RGS has expertise, experience and samples of internal audit structural frameworks including internal audit policies and procedures, internal audit manuals and audit committee charters. Our team is familiar with customizing internal audit frameworks to best suit and support your institution’s governance needs based on the size and complexity of your business. Our experience ranges from De Novo institutions to those reaching the FDICIA milestone of $1 billion in total assets to larger non-public and publicly traded companies.

RGS specializes in helping institutions ensure that corrective actions attributable to audits or regulatory examination issues are fully addressed and that the validation process is thorough, well documented, and clear in demonstrating that the issue has been properly remediated. Our team are experienced in working with the clients and related regulatory authorities and making sure that regulatory matters requiring attention, or consent order remediations are thoroughly validated prior to regulatory review creating a path for closure of issues and lifting the restrictions.

We perform annual independent audits of BSA/AML/OFAC Programs. RGS has experienced BSA/AML specialists whose in-depth approach is tailored to the risk profile of your institution with a mindset both to compliance and process improvements. We fully understand and help resolve the risks presented by:

• The coverage and depth of AML and OFAC Risk Assessments which if inadequate can have serious consequences for the structure of the BSA Program from design and level of staffing needed
• An inadequate customer risk rating process that causes inefficiencies and increased costs due additional time needed for follow up and research
• Due Diligence and Beneficial Ownership complications
• Inefficient monitoring systems, delayed alert resolutions and unsatisfactory AML and OFAC system validations

We perform audits focused on the effectiveness and accuracy of management and board reporting. Our audit goes beyond basic compliance and completeness and focuses on effectiveness, eliminating redundancies and avoiding duplicative reporting. Our audit includes reviewing management and board committee structures to ensure that key risk factors across all core functions are being addressed and timely reported. Attention is also applied to the quality of meeting minutes reflecting discussions, considerations and decisions reached.

We provide support and project management techniques to track and manage various stages of coordinating the internal audit process, including supporting regulatory examinations. This includes, planning, resource allocations, information requests and tracking of results. We also apply these techniques in our full outsourced arrangements and have also helped internal audit functions improve overall coordination within their departments as also with external stakeholders.