I would like to raise one other challenge that internal auditors are likely to face, particularly in smaller institutions, where there is not sufficient talent to go around. This challenge has to do with maintaining the independence of the internal auditor. Internal auditors are in a unique position to obtain an informed perspective of the organizations for which they work.
As such, they are in the best position to assist and advise Management on developing the broad principles that should govern the risk management and internal control environment. On the other hand, to be effective, internal auditors need to be independent and cannot assume a line-management role for control activities, including those they helped to design.