Compliance Audit Services in Singapore
Introduction
One of the most effective ways for regulated entities and corporates to demonstrate a credible and proactive stance on governance and oversight is by conducting a well-crafted compliance audit, which enables them to assess the effectiveness of their compliance programmes, highlight any gaps to meet the requirements of the regulations and prove that they are taking a proactive stance on compliance. Compliance audit services offer organisations independent and evidence-based assurance in Singapore’s complex and dynamic regulatory landscape, enabling them to proactively manage regulatory risk, safeguard their licences, and instil greater confidence in stakeholders.
Our compliance audit in Singapore is provided by seasoned practitioners who are highly knowledgeable in regulatory compliance, financial compliance, MAS compliance audit solutions and corporate compliance review services. We have the technical expertise, regulatory understanding, and neutral perspective to conduct thorough, focused compliance reviews and audits for organisations across a wide variety of industries and with a range of licenses. We are implementing our approach in a way that is unique to our client and their regulatory framework, compliance programme maturity and risk profile.
Understanding Compliance Audit Services in Singapore
A compliance audit is a systematic and objective evaluation of an organisation’s compliance programme, policies, and procedures. It complies with regulatory requirements and internal standards relevant to the organisation’s business activities and the type of licence held. A compliance audit is a specific type of audit that is undertaken to assess the extent to which the organisation actually complies with its regulatory obligations, not just in policy but in practice, and to identify any areas of weakness, gaps or control failures that need to be addressed before becoming regulatory and/or reputational issues.
In Singapore, compliance audit engagements should consider the regulatory framework, regulatory conditions, and stakeholder expectations specific to the regulated activities of the respective organisations. The nature and extent of the compliance audit will depend on the type of entity being audited, the entity’s risk profile, the complexity of its activities, and the regulatory focus area. The Singaporean-compliant audit is a more comprehensive process than a simple document review, and it evaluates compliance controls in real use and how the compliance programme operates in practice.
Compliance Audit Services We Provide
- Independent Regulatory Compliance Audit: We are regulatory compliance audit consultants who conduct structured, independent reviews of an organisation's entire regulatory compliance programme, delivering a fact-based, objective assessment of its compliance position, control effectiveness, and remediation requirements against regulatory requirements.
- MAS Compliance Audit Solutions: We offer specialist MAS compliance audit solutions for financial services-licensed companies in Singapore across all facets of the compliance programme, including anti-money laundering controls, conduct and disclosure requirements, regulatory reporting, risk management, and governance arrangements.
- Financial Compliance Audit Services: Financial compliance audit services help ensure that an organisation's financial regulatory compliance arrangements are adequate and effective, including capital adequacy monitoring, financial reporting compliance, safeguarding arrangements, and the financial controls required under applicable financial regulatory frameworks.
- Compliance Gap Analysis Consultants: We offer a compliance gap analysis service that compares the organisation's current compliance policies, procedures, and controls with applicable regulatory requirements and industry best practices, and provides prioritised recommendations on how to close any gaps.
- Internal Compliance Audit Support: Internal compliance audit support services help strengthen, build, or supplement internal compliance audit functions within an organisation, and offer guidance on methodology, audit planning, technical support, and quality assurance for internal compliance testing activities.
- Corporate Compliance Review Services: We are a trusted corporate compliance audit provider offering services to non-regulated businesses and corporate groups, evaluating the effectiveness of internal control frameworks, adherence to policies and procedures, conduct, and governance across all material compliance dimensions.
Why Clients Choose Our Compliance Audit Services in Singapore
Specialist Regulatory and Compliance Expertise:
We have a solid understanding of Singapore’s regulatory compliance framework and a long history of completing compliance audits across a wide spectrum of licence types, industry sectors, and compliance programme designs, ensuring that every audit is technically sound, regulatory up to date, and practically meaningful.
Independent and Objective Approach:
Our compliance audit services in Singapore are conducted independently, without any conflicts of interest that could affect the internal audit, resulting in findings with the credibility needed for board reporting, regulatory compliance, or internal governance.
Comprehensive Knowledge of Regulatory Requirements:
As a professional compliance audit firm, we have a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of the regulatory requirements, guidelines and enforcement priorities for each major type of licence in Singapore throughout the compliance audit.
Quality, Rigour and Accountability:
We deliver high-quality, rigorous, and accountable regulatory compliance audit and assessment services, with our experienced professionals leading the entire compliance audit journey from start to finish for each client.
When You Need Compliance Audit Services
OrganisaRegulated organisations and corporate organisations use our compliance audit services and advisory in Singapore in a variety of scenarios, such as:tions are using our risk management consulting and advisory services and support in Singapore in a variety of circumstances, such as:
- Having to prepare for a regulatory inspection/examination, involving an independent compliance audit to identify and correct any areas of non-compliance in the compliance programme before the regulatory authority's review.
- Review the compliance programme on an annual or periodic basis, in line with internal governance and board oversight requirements, and test its effectiveness objectively and based on evidence.
- After a major change in the business, e.g., a product launch, licence variation, or system upgrade, a specific compliance gap analysis must be carried out to ensure that all new obligations are identified and appropriately addressed.
- Because of an audit, board concern, or regulatory inquiry finding that raises questions about the effectiveness of the compliance programme, an independent, structured compliance review is needed to address the issue.
- Benchmarking the compliance programme against relevant regulatory requirements and best practices, and conducting a compliance gap analysis to determine which areas of the programme need updating
- Meeting the needs of investors, parent entities, counterparties or other parties who need to have evidence of a strong and self-validated compliance programme as a part of their engagement or relationship.
Our Approach to Compliance Audit
Audit Scoping and Planning
A clear understanding of the organisation’s regulatory framework, the licence type, and the scope of the compliance audit engagement is established first. This involves examining the following: the regulatory conditions applicable to the organisation; the organisation’s current compliance documentation; and any areas of specific regulatory interest or previous compliance issues that need to be targeted in the scope of the audit. A risk-based approach to scope setting means the audit is targeted at the highest-priority areas of regulatory and operational importance.
We closely engage with the client’s compliance and management team to determine the audit scope, audit timeline, document request list, and key-person interview or consultation list. The collaborative planning stage ensures that the audit can take place efficiently, without disrupting current operations, and with clarity and a shared understanding of the process and outputs among all involved before fieldwork commences.
A structured planning phase of the audit process is a prerequisite for a thorough, focused and useful compliance audit. It guarantees that the methodology is tailored to the organisation’s risk and regulatory profile, that the appropriate evidence is collected to support objective findings, and that the audit is delivered on time without compromising its depth and quality.
Regulatory Requirement Mapping
Before any compliance testing or review activity, we map all regulatory requirements and the organisation’s current compliance policies, procedures, and controls. This mapping serves as the basis for the compliance audit and is intended to establish a benchmark against which the audit will be measured during fieldwork.
The regulatory requirement mapping includes all compliance obligations that the organisation is required to meet as part of its licence type and regulated activities, such as conduct and disclosure requirements, anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism obligations, regulatory reporting and notification obligations, capital resource obligations, and governance and oversight obligations. All requirements are evaluated against the compliance programme’s status, and a formal compliance assessment is conducted to identify gaps or weaknesses.
By following a structured mapping process, the compliance audit is thorough and rigorous, addressing all relevant regulatory requirements, and not just the most visible or frequently inspected. Also, the compliance gap analysis output is directly traceable to specific regulatory requirements. Hence, the findings are clear, actionable, and defensible in both the context of internal governance and regulatory engagement.
Document Review and Evidence Gathering
We undertake a systematic review of all relevant compliance documentation, including policies, procedures, compliance manuals, board and committee minutes, regulatory correspondence, training records, monitoring logs, and any other documentation relevant to the operation of compliance within the audit scope. The first piece of evidence in this documentary review is a basis for judging the compliance framework on paper and its adequacy and completeness.
We interview key compliance, management, and operational staff to gain insights into the practical implementation of compliance policies and procedures; compliance awareness across the organisation; and any practical issues with implementing the compliance framework that may not be evident from the documentation.
A documentary review and interview of personnel is a good combination for providing a comprehensive basis for compliance. Such a dual-source process is key to generating results that show both the formal compliance framework and its real effectiveness, and therefore the organisation’s compliance position in relation to the relevant compliance requirements.
Compliance Testing and Control Assessment
In addition to documentation review, we conduct targeted compliance testing to determine whether key controls are being implemented. This covers transaction and file sampling to ensure that CDD, transaction monitoring, and suitability processes are consistently adhered to; regulatory reporting records to test for accuracy and timeliness; and compliance monitoring outputs to ensure the organisation’s own compliance oversight activities are effective.
Each area of compliance testing is designed to yield objective, evidence-based results on the effectiveness of the compliance controls under consideration, identifying controls that are well-designed and functioning as intended, controls that are well-designed but inconsistently applied, and controls that are applied consistently but incorrectly. These differences are significant for obtaining results that describe the nature and the severity of any compliance problems found.
The compliance testing phase is the most challenging part of the regulatory audit and assessment process, and often, the most important findings are uncovered during it. Our professional compliance audit company provides the technical knowledge and test methodology needed to execute this stage of the audit with confidence and consistency across the audit scope, and with results that are well supported, accurately described, and directly linked to relevant regulatory requirements.
Findings Assessment and Rating
After document review, interviews, and compliance testing, all evidence collected during the audit is compiled, and the results are compared with the regulatory requirements identified during the regulatory requirement mapping phase. Each finding is described in terms of its nature, the regulatory requirement or standard addressed, the evidence collected to support it, and its regulatory and operational risk significance.
Findings are assessed using a uniform, well-defined rating scale that considers both the magnitude of the compliance gap or control weakness and the priority of the required remedy. This systematic rating method allows the organisation to prioritise its remediation work effectively and address the most significant findings first, whilst also providing a clear, documented overview of all compliance issues identified throughout the audit.
A draft finding is not final and is sent to the organisation’s compliance and/or management teams for review and comment to ensure that any additional context or evidence is taken into account before the audit report is drafted. This management response process ensures that the final report is fair and balanced and reflects the organisation’s compliance position, given all the evidence.
Reporting and Remediation Support
The audit report compiled at the end of the compliance audit is a formal, structured report in a format that suits the needs of the board, senior management, the internal audit team, and any external parties that may need proof of the compliance audit. The scope and methodology of the audit are clearly defined, regulatory requirements are well defined, key findings are identified and rated as either met or not met, and specific, prioritised recommendations for remediation and improvement of the compliance programme are provided.
Each recommendation includes practical, actionable guidance on steps to address the finding or control weakness, along with suggested remediation timelines based on the severity of the finding. This practical approach results in an audit report that offers the organisation tangible benefits, rather than a collection of observations. It provides a clear, structured roadmap for improving the compliance programme.
After reporting, we will continue to support you as a trusted compliance audit provider, helping the organisation to implement the improvements in the compliance programme recommended in the report, validate the effectiveness of the remediation actions taken and deliver updated compliance gap analysis when the regulatory landscape changes or the business evolves to result in new compliance obligations or testing requirements.
How We Approach Each Engagement
step 01
Engagement Scoping
We start by having a clear picture of the objective of the valuation, who will be dependent on the output, and the general environment in which the engagement will be. This involves establishing the standard of value to apply, the type of interest to be assessed and any special considerations that can impact the scope of work.
At this point, we collaborate closely with the client to agree on deliverables, timelines and the level of analysis that is needed. Regardless of whether the valuation is to be used in internal decision-making, transaction support, or a more formal reporting purpose, it is important to have early alignment to make the engagement efficient and purposeful.
Properly planned scoping phase enables us to tailor the engagement to the right level without introducing any unnecessary complexity, and ensures that all the factors are considered. This gives the analysis that follows a strong basis and helps to follow the same approach in a very clear and consistent manner.
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step 02
Business and Industry Analysis
We undertake an in-depth analysis of the business before using any valuation methodology to know how the business works and how it creates value. This involves an examination of the business model, source of revenue, cost base, customer base, positioning against the competitors and the experience and depth of the management team.
We also look at the strategic direction of the business, growth plans and opportunities, and operational constraints that can influence its future performance. This qualitative analysis is fundamental to the creation of a realistic and informed perspective of the business prior to the thorough financial analysis.
Simultaneously, we conduct industry and market research, including the analysis of the overall economic environment, trends in the sector, and similar transactions. It is this external view that assists in pegging the business valuation in the prevailing market conditions, and that conclusions are backed by reference points that can be observed.
step 03
Financial Analysis and Normalisation
We will conduct an in-depth analysis of the financial data of the company, such as past financial statements, management accounts, and future forecasts or business strategies. This would help us to evaluate the performance in the past, determine the trend underlying the performance, and determine the plausibility of the future.
Another important aspect of this step is the earnings normalisation, which entails the process of correcting non-recurring items, owner-specific expenses and any irregularities in accounting policy or presentation. Such changes are made to make sure that the financial performance is based on the underlying economics of the business on a consistent basis.
We also determine the quality and reliability of the financial information, question assumptions where necessary and make sure that all the adjustments are well justified and backed by clear explanations and evidence. Such rigorous methodology gives the conclusions on valuation that follow a solid financial basis.
step 04
Methodology: Choosing and Implementing
The valuation methodology selected is determined by the nature of the business, the use of the valuation, and the availability of market information. Various types of engagements and business nature might prefer different approaches and our valuation specialists in Australia are cautious in selecting the best approach in each scenario.
Some of the common methods are discounted cash flow analysis, earnings-based methodologies, and market benchmarking based on similar listed companies or transactions. Both methods provide an alternative understanding of value and their relative applicability is evaluated in the context of the engagement.
Practically, we tend to use several methodologies and compare the findings to come up with a well-grounded and balanced range of values. The reasons behind the methods chosen and the importance assigned to each are well explained to facilitate transparency and consistency in the conclusions.
step 05
Sensitivity Analysis and Concluded Value Range
The valuation conclusions are typically given as a range instead of a point estimate, indicating the uncertainty of forward-looking inputs and market assumptions. Such a method gives a more realistic value representation in various circumstances and enables more informed decision-making.
We take key assumptions such as revenue growth, profitability, and discount rates through structured sensitivity analysis to learn how the variation of these inputs can impact the valuation result. This aids in determining the most important value drivers and those assumptions that the conclusion is most sensitive to.
We allow clients and their advisers to know the variability of possible outcomes by providing a range with a comprehensive analysis. It is especially useful in the context of transactions and negotiations where knowledge of value limits can be used to make improved commercial decisions.
step 06
Reporting and Advisory Support
The end product is packaged to meet the target audience and purpose, be it internal stakeholders, external stakeholders or formal reporting needs. The report is designed in a manner that logically and accessibly presents the methodology, key assumptions, financial analysis, and the concluded value range.
We make sure that key value drivers, risks and sensitivities are shared in a manner that stakeholders can see not just the result but also the rationale. In Australia, our business valuation advisory is informed by the transparency, clarity, and practical relevance in all reporting.
In addition to the written report, we also offer continuous advisory services such as presentations to boards or management, answering of counterparty queries and help with further analysis as the transaction or decision-making process evolves. This continuity makes sure that clients are supported to the end.
Key Considerations in Compliance Audit
- Compliance audit independence and objectivity: The value of a compliance audit depends on its independence and objectivity, ensuring it is conducted by auditors with no conflicts of interest regarding the compliance programme under review or the organisation's management.
- Risk-Based Scope and Focus: A compliance audit scope is well designed and prioritises the areas with the highest regulatory exposure, prior compliance concerns, and operational complexity, and does not apply the same level of testing to all parts of the compliance programme, irrespective of their value.
- Operational Effectiveness versus Formal Adequacy: Compliance audit should not focus solely on paperwork to ensure that the compliance programme appears adequate, but also on whether operational controls and procedures are actually followed, as this is equally relevant as paper testing.
- Current Regulatory Benchmark: Regulatory currency is an important element of compliance audit quality, as the regulatory requirements and guidelines used as the audit standard must be current and accurately reflect the applicable standards at the time of the audit.
- Findings Clarity and Actionability: Compliance audit findings would be of greatest value if they are described clearly, precisely evidenced, and supported by specific, actionable recommendations that allow the organisation to understand what needs to be done and take action to remedy identified issues efficiently and effectively.
- Management Response and Ownership: Management's response to findings and implementation of the recommended remediation actions after the audit are important parts of the value delivered by the audit and processes that need to be engaged with and owned by management.
Compliance Audit Requirements
Conducting a compliance audit effectively requires the organisation being audited to provide full and timely access to relevant information and personnel. The key requirements for a well-conducted and productive compliance audit engagement include:
Access to Compliance Documentation:
The organisation must provide complete access to all relevant compliance policies, procedures, manuals, and governance documentation within the audit scope, enabling a thorough documentary review against the applicable regulatory requirements and internal compliance standards.
Key compliance, management, and
Key compliance, management, and operational personnel must be made available for structured interviews as part of the compliance audit fieldwork, as their knowledge of day-to-day compliance practices is essential to assessing the operational effectiveness of the compliance programme.
Access to Transaction and Client File Records:
- Representative samples of transaction records, customer files, due diligence documentation, and monitoring outputs must be accessible for compliance testing, enabling an objective assessment of whether key controls are operating effectively in practice across the audit scope.
Regulatory Reporting and Correspondence Records:
All recent regulatory reporting submissions, notification records, and regulatory correspondence must be provided to enable a complete review of the entity’s regulatory reporting compliance and its engagement with the applicable oversight authority during the period under review.
Training and Monitoring Records:
Compliance training records, compliance monitoring logs, and the results of any prior internal compliance testing must be made available to support the assessment of the entity’s compliance monitoring programme effectiveness within the scope of the compliance audit.
Timely Responsiveness and Cooperation:
The organisation must commit to promptly providing requested information and documentation, facilitating access to required personnel and systems, and engaging cooperatively with the audit process to ensure the compliance audit can be completed within the agreed timeframe and to the required standard.
Industries We Serve Across Singapore
Our Singapore compliance audit service is available to a wide range of regulated businesses and corporate organisations in the financial services, payments and corporate worlds, such as:
- Licensed fund managers, capital markets services licensees and registered fund management companies Independent regulatory compliance audit services and MAS compliance audit solutions for all elements of the compliance programme and all licence conditions.
- Payment Service Providers and Fintech Operators: Standard and Major Payment Institution licensees and fintech businesses that need financial compliance audit services to include payment services compliance obligations, the effectiveness of anti-money laundering programmes, accuracy of regulatory reporting, and technology risk controls.
- Financial Advisers and Wealth Management Firms: Regulated financial advisers and wealth management firms that need regulatory audit and assessment services that include conduct and disclosure, client suitability, product due diligence documentation and the effectiveness of compliance monitoring.
- Banks and Deposit-Taking Institutions: Banking institutions that require professional compliance audit firm services for a complex, multi-layered compliance programme encompassing anti-money laundering, conduct, capital adequacy, regulatory reporting, and governance across all regulatory dimensions.
- Non-Regulated Businesses: Non-regulated businesses that need corporate compliance review services for adherence to internal policies, standards for governance and conduct, compliance with third parties and effectiveness of internal compliance controls and oversight arrangements.
- Foreign Financial Institutions with a Singapore Presence: External financial institutions and cross-border financial operators based in Singapore that will need compliance gap analysis consultants' services to assess their compliance programme against the regulatory requirements and industry standards in Singapore.
Illustrative Engagement Examples
Situation: A Singapore-licensed payment institution received notification of an upcoming regulatory investigation and needed a third-party compliance audit to assess the status of its compliance programme before the investigation. The management team had confidence in the effectiveness of their internal compliance procedures. Still, they realised that an independent external review could help them identify any gaps that the regulatory inspection may have detected and also demonstrate that they have taken a proactive approach to compliance governance.
Action: We performed a structured independent regulatory compliance audit, which included an examination of the payment institution’s anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism programme, transaction monitoring controls, customer due diligence records, regulatory reporting submissions, safeguarding arrangements and documentation of the governance of the compliance programme. Compliance testing was performed on a sampling of transactions and customer files, and the results were graded based on the severity of the compliance issue and the need for prompt remediation.
Outcome: The audit report contained a list of findings and recommendations that the entity had rectified during the audit period preceding the regulatory inspection, and identified several compliance gaps and control weaknesses. A well-documented, independently validated compliance programme, along with a clear record of proactive steps to mitigate weaknesses identified, enabled the management team to approach the regulatory inspection with a credible, mature compliance governance approach.
Situation: Singapore has experienced significant regulatory change, resulting in new conduct, disclosure, and reporting requirements being imposed on the licence type held by the licensed fund manager.Solution: A targeted compliance gap analysis was requested following this period of significant regulatory change. The management team required a third-party assessment of the effectiveness of the existing compliance programme to ensure it had been fully updated to meet the new requirements and to identify any gaps that could lead to regulatory exposure if not addressed.
Action: We mapped all new and updated compliance requirements in the fund manager’s licence and compared them with the current status of the compliance programme through document review, interviews with key individuals, and compliance testing of the most material new compliance obligations. The regulatory importance of each identified gap was determined, along with the effort required to close it, and remediation actions were prioritised in the compliance gap analysis report accordingly.
Outcome: The compliance gap analysis highlighted areas where the compliance programme needed to be updated to meet new regulatory requirements and presented a clear, prioritised remediation plan to the management team. The structured report allowed the board to gain confidence that the compliance programme had been reviewed independently against current regulatory requirements and that the organisation had a clear, well-defined plan in place to ensure compliance with all new requirements in a structured and timely fashion.
What Clients Receive
Each compliance audit engagement produces a specific set of outputs, depending on the organisation’s regulatory requirements, audit scope and compliance programme maturity. Some of the common projects that we provide under our compliance audit services in Singapore are:
- A formal compliance audit report that outlines the scope of the audit, the methodology used, the mapping of regulatory requirements, the main findings, the impact-rated main findings, and specific and prioritised recommendations for compliance programme remediation and improvement.
- A regulatory obligation mapping document that comprehensively and systematically identifies the regulatory obligations that are in place and those that are not as part of the compliance programme.
- A compliance gap analysis report that identifies specific gaps between the existing compliance programme and requirements of applicable regulation and describes each gap in terms of its characteristics, evidence, significance and provides practical recommendations for remediation.
- Compliance test outputs for the methodology, sample selection, testing results, and findings from all transaction, file, and control testing completed as part of the compliance audit fieldwork for the scope of the engagement.
- A findings and management response matrix presenting all the audit findings, ratings, evidential basis, the recommended remediation actions and the response to the management and agreed remediation timeline for each finding.
- A remediation tracking schedule that includes a clear, time-bound remediation program to remediate all identified compliance gaps and control weaknesses with clear ownership and time frames for each remediation action.
- Support and guidance for internal compliance audit, including audit methodology suggestions, testing approach enhancements, and programme enhancement suggestions for organisations wishing to improve their internal compliance audit capability.
- Continuing support with a trusted compliance audit provider for follow-up compliance audit testing, validation of remediation actions taken and additional compliance gap analysis as new compliance actions or testing requirements arise from business changes or regulatory updates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is a compliance audit, and what does it assess?
A compliance audit is a systematic and independent evaluation of an organisation’s compliance programme, policies, procedures, and controls against regulatory requirements and internal standards relevant to the organisation’s business. It evaluates the effectiveness of the compliance programme design, the key controls in practice, and the compliance programme’s ability to fulfil regulatory requirements across all material compliance aspects. A compliance audit in Singapore provides organisations with a neutral, evidence-based assessment of their compliance position and what they should do to enhance it.
Q2. How is a compliance audit different from an internal audit?
A compliance audit will focus specifically on the organisation’s compliance with the regulatory requirements applicable to it and the compliance policies it has established. It will base its findings on the regulatory framework. Compliance is a part of an internal audit, but it is not the only part. Internal audit has a broader scope, covering governance, risk management, and the effectiveness of the organisation’s processes. The two fields of study share some commonalities. Still, a compliance audit conducted by an external regulatory compliance consultant adds a further layer of independence and expertise in the regulatory arena, especially relevant for regulated bodies in Singapore’s financial services sector.
Q3. When should a compliance audit be conducted?
Compliance audits should be performed periodically as part of the organisation’s routine governance and oversight responsibilities, and also when there are certain triggers, including where a regulatory inspection is imminent, a major business or regulatory change, there is a concern regarding the effectiveness of compliance or where there is a stakeholder requirement for independence in compliance assurance. In Singapore, the majority of regulated entities conduct a formal compliance audit at least once a year, and further targeted compliance gap analysis is conducted when there are regulatory developments or changes in business.
Q4. What is a compliance gap analysis,s and how does it differ from a full compliance audit?
Compliance gap analysis is a more specific assessment that compares the organisation’s current compliance programme against a set of regulatory requirements, usually in the wake of new regulatory developments or a specific compliance issue, to identify gaps and the remediation needed. A full compliance audit is broader in scope and will review all elements of a material compliance programme, including both documentary review and operational testing of controls. Our compliance gap analysis consulting services can be provided as a standalone service or as part of a compliance audit engagement.
Q5. What does the compliance audit process involve for the organisation being audited?
The compliance audit process generally includes the organisation submitting compliance documentation, policies and records to the audit team upon a document request from the audit team, inviting key compliance and management staff to participate in interviews, allowing the audit team to have access to the systems and records necessary to conduct audit testing activities, and reviewing and responding to draft findings before issuance of the final audit report. We deliver regulatory audits and assessments efficiently, without significantly impacting the organisation’s day-to-day activities.
Q6. What are the most common compliance issues identified in financial services compliance audits in Singapore?
Financial Services compliance audit issues in Singapore are likely to involve anti-money laundering programme documentation or operational application, inconsistencies in application of both customer due diligence and enhanced due diligence procedures, weaknesses in the design of the transaction monitoring and alert management, inaccuracies or delays in regulatory reporting submission, inadequate compliance training records, or gaps in documenting compliance monitoring and testing activities. Our solutions for compliance audits of the MAS are particularly created to evaluate all these areas comprehensively and objectively.
Q7. Can compliance audit services be provided for non-regulated corporate entities?
Yes. Our corporate compliance review services can be provided to non-regulated businesses or corporate groups that want to review the effectiveness of their internal compliance controls, governance arrangements and policy compliance in the absence of a regulatory framework. These reviews are designed to be specific to each corporate entity’s compliance obligations and internal standards. They will give management and boards an objective assessment of compliance effectiveness and where they need to focus and improve.
Q8. How are compliance audit findings rated and prioritised?
The findings of compliance are rated using a structured, consistently applied scale that considers both the severity of the compliance gap or control weakness identified and the regulatory or operational risk associated with the compliance gap. The findings are usually ranked in order of priority, from high to low, with high-priority findings needing to be remedied now and lower-priority findings being addressed within a timeframe set for an improvement program. The approach is structured to enable the organisation to focus its remediation resources and tackle the most critical compliance issues and concerns first.
Q9. What support is available after the compliance audit report has been delivered?
After delivering the compliance audit report, we will continue our support as a trusted compliance audit provider, assisting with the implementation of the actions recommended in the remediation section, helping to validate testing to ensure that identified gaps have been addressed, and conducting additional testing or compliance gap analysis as required by the regulatory changes or business developments. This post-audit support ensures that the compliance audit not only provides a snapshot but also serves as a valuable, actionable tool.
Q10. How do I engage your compliance audit services in Singapore?
Please visit our professional compliance audit firm for a complimentary consultation, where we will discuss your compliance audit needs, the regulatory framework, the type of licence, the scope and objectives of the audit, and the best approach for conducting it. We will present an unambiguous, practical plan of work for the compliance audit/gap analysis engagement and provide you with a solid foundation to begin your compliance review process with an independent, thorough audit of your organisation’s compliance programme in Singapore.
Discuss Your Compliance Audit Requirement
Whether you are in the process of preparing for a regulatory inspection, reviewing your periodic compliance programme, carrying out a compliance gap analysis due to the introduction of regulatory changes, or you are looking for ongoing trusted support for the compliance audit of your organisation’s regulatory compliance programme in Singapore, our experienced compliance audit consultants are on hand to help. Call us, and we will talk about your needs and provide you with clear, practical advice on how to design and undertake a rigorous, independent, and practically useful compliance audit for your organisation.
