2017 Sessions

Businesses are constantly disrupted by emerging technologies and evolving business models. Internal audit must be at the forefront of these winds of change and the choice is simple: adapt or disappear. This session will highlight the dilemmas of traditional internal audit and fraud functions in a rapidly changing business environment. It will also discuss the measures that internal audit and fraud leaders must take to move beyond current thinking and position audit and fraud functions in a way that maximises value and leads organisational thinking.

You Will Learn How To:

• Revolutionise the internal audit and fraud functions in the light of changing business models
• Understand the paradigm shift needed in the audit and fraud leaders' approach towards the profession
• React to the dynamic business environment and rethink ways of aligning with the changes
• Adopt a future-focused audit approach to be more impactful

Level: Advanced
Recommended Prerequisites: Management Services
Field of Study: Knowledge and experience of the audit and fraud examination process

Just when you thought it was safe to stop using the phrase, “tone at the top” is back and more important than ever. Recent cases have cited poor control environments as the cause of fraud and other wrongdoing, not merely as a contributing factor, but the issue goes well beyond management simply setting a tone. This session will explore recent cases such as Toshiba, VW, Hertz and others to define exactly what is expected in a good control environment. From each of these cases, the session will describe best practices for meeting expectations and how each, when not sufficiently in place, impacts other aspects of internal controls. As the COSO model says, the five components of internal control are interrelated. See what this really means and how to protect your organisation from substantial liability due to failures in the tone at the top.

You Will Learn How To:

• Explain how recent cases illustrate important risk areas in a control environment
• Identify specific aspects of a control environment most prone to failure
• Relate specific aspects of a control environment to other components of internal control
• Implement best practices in a control environment to mitigate risk in your organisation

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: An understanding or top down management and how it affects the control environment of an organisation
Field of Study: Specialised Knowledge

Big data, data mining, artificial intelligence and machine learning are popular concepts, and practical use in all sectors is increasing day by day. In this session, you will learn more about these concepts and how they can be used as part of your fraud detection activities. This session will also explore a real-world example of how one organisation integrated data mining and machine learning algorithms to detect anomalies, score transactions on fraud risk and refer suspicious transactions.

You Will Learn How To:

• Use data mining and machine learning for fraud detection
• Assign a fraud risk score for each transaction by using clusters and learning models
• Identify and use financial and non-financial links among employees and customers
• Detect which employees are the highest fraud risk

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: Understanding of data analytics and how the data can be used in real time
Field of Study: Auditing

The rise of the internet offers new possibilities for fraud examiners globally. It has been estimated that roughly 90 percent of valuable intelligence comes from open source intelligence (OSINT) compared to traditional covert intelligence. The emergence of new technology, from surface devices to wearable technology, has provided fraud examiners access to information at a rate like never before in real time. This session will show you how OSINT provides access to a plethora of intelligence and can be the life blood of a modern day fraud investigation — if you know where to look.

You Will Learn How To:

• Use the internet as a fraud investigation tool
• Employ advanced search techniques
• Use geo-location tools for social media
• Explore metadata in photos
• Protect and hide your identity when online

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: An understanding of internet search methodologies and resources
Field of Study: Information Technology

When a company goes bankrupt or liquidates, a second company can start up overnight with the same management directors without any obligation to pay for the failed company’s losses. Fraud happens when these directors abuse the company arrangement by transferring the assets of the failing company below their market value before insolvency. This session will take a deeper look at liquidation or bankruptcy fraud and the impact it may have on creditors.

You Will Learn How To:

• Highlight the auditor’s responsibilities
• Determine who benefits from bankruptcy and why
• Recognise the power of an appointed provisional liquidator

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: A fundamental understanding of the business model and how businesses can become bankrupt
Field of Study: Specialised Knowledge

Learn sound best practices with ISO 27001, ISO 20000 and the United Arab Emirates' Information Assurance Standards. This session will provide a road map to successful compliance implementation and achieving these standards. You will learn how to exceed expectations, avoid speed bumps that will derail implementation including fraudulent landscapes, schemes and challenges, and depart with the tools for a successful governance, risk and compliance programme as noted by the Middle East and expected by the UAE.

You Will Learn How To:

• Implement standards while understanding risk associated with compliance, both from a process perspective as well as an IT and fraud perspective
• Achieve compliance with ISO 27001, ISO 20000 and UAE Information Assurance Standards
• Navigate real-world challenges and proactively exceed expectations

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: Familiarity with the ISO regulations and IA Standards
Field of Study: Regulatory Ethics

Ignoring material facts, an absence of internal controls and a “one-man show” management style may all contribute to a successful fraud in the financial statements. The external auditor’s role requires him to review and report on financial statements with transparency and fairness while supporting the management integrity. This session will explore how to examine financial statements to detect potential issues, determine mistakes from intentional wrongdoing and how to proceed once a fraud is uncovered.

You Will Learn How To:

• Recognise from the figures if there is something unusual, unreal or mistaken
• Read the external auditor report and identify the type of such reports
• Determine your own methodology to uncover manipulation in the company books and records
• Collect evidence to support offences you have uncovered
• Carry out interviews for management, personnel and auditors
• Write your report to communicate the offence, evidence and who is responsible

Level: Advanced
Recommended Prerequisites: Knowledge of the organisational responsibilities for developing financial statements and experience with financial statements
Field of Study: Auditing

When it comes to fraud risk management, one major constraint faced by organisations of all sizes is the budget. In this session, you will discover effective fraud prevention and detection tools which can be implemented with low cost and almost zero capital expenditure. You will also learn the advantages and disadvantages of such tools, challenges in their implementation, and how to effectively implement a plan to prevent and detect frauds.

You Will Learn How To:

• Introduce cost-effective fraud prevention and detection tools
• Choose the appropriate tools
• Overcome challenges in the implementation of tools

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: An understanding of the fraud examination process
Field of Study: Specialised Knowledge

Do ethics really matter, especially when you know that many ethical decisions fall under what is defined as “gray areas?” Gray areas are situations that don't fit neatly into an existing mode of ethical analysis, but could be argued appropriately either way. This session will focus on identifying the value of being ethical and how it reflects on the development of individual success as well as the business. It will define the importance of business ethics, debate several ethical scenarios, and introduce means to reach the best ethical decision.

You Will Learn How To:

• Define “business ethics” and provide an overview
• Identify what defines a person’s ethics and how we reach an ethical decision
• Explain the potential seriousness of having a conflict of interest and how it affects the ethical decision
• Measure the value of conducting business with the highest ethical and legal standards

Level: Overview
Recommended Prerequisites: None
Field of Study: Behavioral Ethics

Fraud examiners routinely encounter difficult situations when interviewing suspects and knowing how to effectively deal with them is critical. After a quick review of interview and interrogation basics, this session will provide you with proven interview techniques needed to obtain admissions and confessions. You will also gain insight into what to do during a difficult fraud interview situation and how to do it.

You Will Learn How To:

• Interview a hostile suspect
• Manage multiple suspects on an inside job
• Apply pressure legally
• Prepare physical evidence for an interview and use it effectively
• Take notes during an interview without making the suspect nervous
• Obtain a signed and written confession

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: Understanding of the fundamentals of the interviewing process
Field of Study: Specialised Knowledge

Over the past five years, local Gulf Cooperation Council newspapers have featured more and more stories related to corruption and financial fraud. This has led many organisations and government entities in the Middle East to establish special investigation departments to deal with fraud cases, and establish prevention and detection controls. Through a discussion on actual fraud cases in the Middle East, this session will explore the gaps that caused the fraud to happen, the methods that led to the discovery, the techniques used to resolve the case and the controls that were established afterward.

You Will Learn How To:

• Understand recent fraud trends in the Middle East
• Conduct effective fraud examinations in the Middle East
• Establish controls to prevent and detect future fraud

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: Knowledge and understanding of the fraud examination process
Field of Study: Specialised Knowledge

Here's a quick test of your current knowledge: What is a nonce bit? You have heard of Bitcoin, but how many cryptocurrencies are there? What is questing? This session will provide the answers to these questions and reveal why they are relevant to fraud fighters around the world. If you don't know the answers to the above, you need to update your knowledge because fraudsters always make the most of emerging and intrusive technology. This session will guide you through online, virtual and cryptocurrencies, and explain why they are preferred by criminals.

You Will Learn How To:

• Understand the differences in online, virtual and cryptocurrencies
• Change real money (dollars) to virtual currency and vice-versa
• Explain why virtual currencies are preferred by criminals
• Discuss why virtual worlds are optimal for covert communications

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: Knowledge of the current state of technology as it applies to fraud
Field of Study: Specialised Knowledge

Businesses are constantly disrupted by emerging technologies and evolving business models. Internal audit must be at the forefront of these winds of change and the choice is simple: adapt or disappear. This session will highlight the dilemmas of traditional internal audit and fraud functions in a rapidly changing business environment. It will also discuss the measures that internal audit and fraud leaders must take to move beyond current thinking and position audit and fraud functions in a way that maximises value and leads organisational thinking.

You Will Learn How To:

• Revolutionise the internal audit and fraud functions in the light of changing business models
• Understand the paradigm shift needed in the audit and fraud leaders' approach towards the profession
• React to the dynamic business environment and rethink ways of aligning with the change
• Adopt a future-focused audit approach to be more impactful

Level: Advanced
Recommended Prerequisites: Management Services
Field of Study: Knowledge and experience of the audit and fraud examination process

Just when you thought it was safe to stop using the phrase, “tone at the top” is back and more important than ever. Recent cases have cited poor control environments as the cause of fraud and other wrongdoing, not merely as a contributing factor, but the issue goes well beyond management simply setting a tone. This session will explore recent cases such as Toshiba, VW, Hertz and others to define exactly what is expected in a good control environment. From each of these cases, the session will describe best practices for meeting expectations and how each, when not sufficiently in place, impacts other aspects of internal controls. As the COSO model says, the five components of internal control are interrelated. See what this really means and how to protect your organisation from substantial liability due to failures in the tone at the top.

You Will Learn How To:

• Explain how recent cases illustrate important risk areas in a control environment
• Identify specific aspects of a control environment most prone to failure
• Relate specific aspects of a control environment to other components of internal control
• Implement best practices in a control environment to mitigate risk in your organisation

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: An understanding or top down management and how it affects the control environment of an organisation
Field of Study: Specialised Knowledge

Big data, data mining, artificial intelligence and machine learning are popular concepts, and practical use in all sectors is increasing day by day. In this session, you will learn more about these concepts and how they can be used as part of your fraud detection activities. This session will also explore a real-world example of how one organisation integrated data mining and machine learning algorithms to detect anomalies, score transactions on fraud risk and refer suspicious transactions.

You Will Learn How To:

• Use data mining and machine learning for fraud detection
• Assign a fraud risk score for each transaction by using clusters and learning models
• Identify and use financial and non-financial links among employees and customers
• Detect which employees are the highest fraud risk

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: Understanding of data analytics and how the data can be used in real time
Field of Study: Auditing

The rise of the Internet offers new possibilities for fraud examiners globally. It has been estimated that roughly 90 percent of valuable intelligence comes from open source intelligence (OSINT) compared to traditional covert intelligence. The emergence of new technology, from surface devices to wearable technology, has provided fraud examiners access to information at a rate like never before in real time. This session will show you how OSINT provides access to a plethora of intelligence and can be the life blood of a modern day fraud investigation — if you know where to look.

You Will Learn How To:

• Use the internet as an investigative fraud investigation tool
• Employ advanced search techniques
• Use geo-location tools for social media
• Explore meta data in photos
• Protect and hide your identity when online

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: An understanding of internet search methodologies and resources
Field of Study: Information Technology

Companies with an ethics- and compliance-focused culture are readily prepared to deal with issues of corruption when they arise. The FCPA and U.K. Bribery Act have proven to be valuable tools to fight bribery and corruption. How has this translated to companies based in the Middle East doing business around the world? Implementing anti-bribery and anti-corruption controls (ABAC) has provided a good start, but how successful have these efforts been and what more is there to do? Hear this panel of experts explore the issues facing Middle East organisations, discuss the successes they have experienced and determine what more needs to be accomplished.

You Will Learn How To:

• Determine if the FCPA, U.K. Bribery Act and other similar legislation are working as sufficient deterrents to bribery and corruption in the Middle East/North Africa region
• Identify some of the major issues that remain to be addressed
• Implement effective solutions using examples from other organisations

Level: Overview
Recommended Prerequisites: None
Field of Study: Specialised Knowledge

What is happening around the world in the field of bribery and corruption, and what are Middle East companies doing to manage it? With the increasing emphasis on corporate compliance with international bribery regulations and governance, this session will focus on the importance of conducting corruption risk assessments, the importance of considering both top-down and bottom-up approaches, and different ways to conduct such risk assessments.

You Will Learn How To:

• Conduct corruption risk assessments
• Use data to identify key anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) vulnerabilities
• Monitor ABC risks

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: Knowledge of the risk assessment process and understanding of what comprises bribery and corruption
Field of Study: Management Services

The Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) act as the guardians of the public purse through their regulatory, financial and performance audits. In order to keep up with fast-changing methods used by fraudsters in the public sector, many of the institutions need to have a clear mandate to undertake forensic investigations in collaboration with the local law enforcement agencies. This session will discuss the concept of forensic audit in the public sector and lists out various key issues on the subject, including differences between forensic audit and statutory audit, digital forensics and detection methods.

You Will Learn How To:

• Describe the role of the SAIs in ensuring accountability through the prevention and deterrence of frauds
• Describe the requirements or characteristics of forensic auditors
• Distinguish between the traditional audits and forensic audits
• Identify the strengths and weaknesses in the mandates of the SAIs for conducting forensic audits
• Describe different steps involved in forensic auditing in the public sector

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: Auditing
Field of Study: A working knowledge of how to conduct a financial audit

Do ethics really matter, especially when you know that many ethical decisions fall under what is defined as “gray areas?” Gray areas are situations that don't fit neatly into an existing mode of ethical analysis, but could be argued appropriately either way. This session will focus on identifying the value of being ethical and how it reflects on the development of individual success as well as the business. It will define the importance of business ethics, debate several ethical scenarios, and introduce means to reach the best ethical decision.

You Will Learn How To:

• Define “business ethics” and provide an overview
• Identify what defines a person’s ethics and how we reach an ethical decision
• Explain the potential seriousness of having a conflict of interest and how it affects the ethical decision
• Measure the value of conducting business with the highest ethical and legal standards

Level: Overview
Recommended Prerequisites: None
Field of Study: Behavioural Ethics

Fraud examiners routinely encounter difficult situations when interviewing suspects and knowing how to effectively deal with them is critical. After a quick review of interview and interrogation basics, this session will provide you with proven interview techniques needed to obtain admissions and confessions. You will also gain insight into what to do during a difficult fraud interview situation and how to do it.

You Will Learn How To:

• Interview a hostile suspect
• Manage multiple suspects on an inside job
• Apply pressure legally
• Prepare physical evidence for an interview and use it effectively
• Take notes during an interview without making the suspect nervous
• Obtain a signed and written confession

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: Understanding of the fundamentals of the interviewing process
Field of Study: Specialised Knowledge

Over the past five years, local Gulf Cooperation Council newspapers have featured more and more stories related to corruption and financial fraud. This has led many organisations and government entities in the Middle East to establish special investigation departments to deal with fraud cases, and establish prevention and detection controls. Through a discussion on actual fraud cases in the Middle East, this session will explore the gaps that caused the fraud to happen, the methods that led to the discovery, the techniques used to resolve the case and the controls that were established afterward.

You Will Learn How To:

• Understand recent fraud trends in the Middle East
• Conduct effective fraud examinations in the Middle East
• Establish controls to prevent and detect future fraud

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: Knowledge and understanding of the fraud examination process
Field of Study: Specialised Knowledge

Here's a quick test of your current knowledge: What is a nonce bit? You have heard of Bitcoin, but how many cryptocurrencies are there? What is questing? This session will provide the answers to these questions and reveal why they are relevant to fraud fighters around the world. If you don't know the answers to the above, you need to update your knowledge because fraudsters always make the most of emerging and intrusive technology. This session will guide you through online, virtual and cryptocurrencies, and explain why they are preferred by criminals.

You Will Learn How To:

• Understand the differences in online, virtual and cryptocurrencies
• Change real money (dollars) to virtual currency and vice-versa
• Explain why virtual currencies are preferred by criminals
• Discuss why virtual worlds are optimal for covert communications

Level: Intermediate
Recommended Prerequisites: Knowledge of the current state of technology as it applies to fraud
Field of Study: Specialised Knowledge