1864 - 2014 150 years of existence

The Romanian Court of Accounts’ external public auditor Good Practices in Application of INTOSAI GOVs Meeting of the INTOSAI Subcommittee on Internal Control Standards 27-28 May 2014, Vilnius, Lithuania Svetlana Muresan external public auditor RCoA

Agenda The activity of the RCoA The audit standards of RCoA The implementation of the INTOSAI GOVs Agenda 4. Good practices 5. Collaboration with institutions and professional organizations 6. Conclusions

Activity of the RCoA International cooperation Financial Audit Gives advisory opinions Reporting Performance Audit Member of the European Court of Auditors Compliance Audit upon request by the Senate or by the Chamber of Deputies, on External public audit of EU funds the state budget draft; draft laws in the field of public finances and accounting; Documentary actions Monitory actions to comply with the measures set

The Audit Standards of the RCoA The Constitution of Romania (art. 140) PLENUM Law no. 94/1992 on the organization and operation of the Court of Accounts The Audit Standards of the RCoA SECONDARY LEGISLATION GUIDELINES for the audit of internal control and internal audit functions;

The Implementation of the INTOSAI GOVs In March 2011 a Guidelines for the assessment of public entities internal control system was issued by the professional staff of the RCoA and made available to all external auditors in the form of a brochure; it was also posted on the website. The INTOSAI Guidance for Good Governance (INTOSAI GOV 9100 - 9150) translated into Romanian was incorporated in this brochure and also posted on the website.

The concept of Public Internal Control in Romania For the purpose of promoting good governance, public internal financial control was implemented in the public sector and includes: internal/managerial control system; internal audit; centralised coordination and harmonisation of the two components above.

GOOD PRACTICES The RCoA made proposals for legislative improvement in the field of internal control and internal audit in the public sector (CHU) . Submitted to the Romanian Parliament and recently embodied in the changes of normative acts.

Some changes: Training and certification for internal auditors Internal auditors have the obligation to obtain a national certification, within five years from the entry into force of the law. The national system for the certification of internal auditors, administered by the CHU PIA, is based on the recognition of the competences, capabilities and values acquired by the auditors during their basic training and lifelong professional training, within the nationally acknowledged higher education institutions, in accordance with the ‘Competence framework of public sector internal auditors’, as approved by the Public Internal Audit Committee (PIAC).

Public Internal Audit Committee (PIAC) In Romania, the PIAC operates, in accordance with law, as a consultative body organised under the CHU PIA (MoPF) that carries out actions with a view to defining the strategy and improving the public internal audit activity in the public sector. The law provides for the establishment, at the level of those main authorising institutions within the public central administration that have an annual budget exceeding RON 2 billion, of audit committees made up of three to seven members, with tasks similar to those of the PIAC within the MoPF.

The relationship between public internal audit and public external audit The RCoA is in charge of the external evaluation of the public internal audit activity of the verified legal persons. The opportunities for cooperation and collaboration between public internal audit and external audit are valorised through a protocol concluded between the AAIR and the RCoA. While safeguarding the independence and objectivity of the public internal audit and external audit, the protocol regulates the relations between the two institutions according to the complementarity principle with regard to increasing the efficiency of the audit activity, aligning the methodological framework, ensuring the professional training of the auditors and exchanging information.

SOME ACHIEVMENTS 1. Development of a Questionnaire for external public auditors to asses the internal audit activity regarding: independence, human resources sufficiency activities, competence, recommendations etc. 2. Regular meetings/workshops between experts of RCoA, AAIR and MoF in order to harmonize the views or identifying solutions to issues/difficulties in internal control (at least quarterly). The results of these workshops will result in the issuance of some clarifications regarding the application of internal control standards. 3. Regular exchanges of experience between internal and external auditors on techniques, methods and tools used in audit missions on similar themes.

Some internal regulations reviewed for the implementation of the INTOSAI GOVs in the activity of the RCoA Updating : Norms for evaluating the work of external public auditors; Recruitment policy; Delegation rules; Developing procedures on the specific activities; Policy of sensitive functions; Reviewing the organizational structure etc. The Statute of the External Public Auditor It regulates the career, rights and obligations of external public auditors, as well as the labor relations between them and the Court of Accounts. The Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct of the Court of Accounts’ Staff It sets ethical and professional conduct norms and establishes principles to be followed to increase the authority and prestige of the RCoA as a supreme audit institution.

Collaboration with institutions and professional organizations Ministry of Public Finances Competition Council Internal Audit Association National Institute of Statistics State Construction Inspectorate National Trade Register Office

In the period 2009-2013 were checked 12.098 entities

Certificates of compliance issued by the Court under the period 2009-2013

CONCLUSIONS The implementation of the INTOSAI GOVs into the national audit standards and guidelines was made in accordance with the Court of Accounts´ mandate and with the national legislation and regulations; The ISSAI framework is used as a common frame of reference for public sector auditing; 3. The staff of the RCoA will be trained on the International Standards for Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs) and the INTOSAI Guidance for Good Governance (INTOSAI GOVs) in order to share experience, good practice and challenges regarding the implementation.

Thank you for your attention!