Internal Audit Worldwide

Keith Wade MA CPFA PIIA FIIA MIRM As well as running Keith Wade Consulting, Keith is Founder and Training and Development Director of CATS International (now a division of Kingdom Management Limited). Keith has over 30 years' experience world-wide in internal audit as practitioner, academic, professional adviser, lecturer, consultant and trainer, and has organised several top level conferences in addition to running courses and providing expert advice on virtually every aspect of the subject.

His consultancy work includes advising individuals, organisations and governments on developing the internal audit function, analysing training needs, introducing standards, improving audit practices, and working with managers to help establish appropriate frameworks of risk management and control.

Keith is a qualified accountant and is recognised as both a leading authority on audit matters and a skilled and enthusiastic trainer, working to the highest standards of quality and professionalism. Over the years he has guided hundreds of auditors, accountants and managers at all levels, counselled scores of students, organised countless courses, seminars and conferences ranging from local to international events, pioneered audit thinking, worked closely with various professional bodies in developing the audit function, helped introduce best audit practice in numerous organisations – and inspired many with the joys, opportunities and value of auditing.

Author of several publications, he has presented numerous papers and conducted extensive research. Way back in the seventies and eighties he was instrumental in the development of the risk-based systems approach to internal audit and has encouraged many to extend the scope and boundaries of audit work beyond the traditional and mundane. He is co-author of the definitive text “Control Self-Assessment”, first published by Wiley in April 1999.

His international experience is considerable. Worldwide, Keith has worked with many professional, academic, government, industry and other bodies in drafting audit standards, preparing guidance and seeking to enhance the discipline and practice of internal audit. In recent years he has undertaken assignments in Africa, the Caribbean, the Gulf region, India, China and South East Asia, as well as nearer home in UK, Ireland and most other parts of Western, Central and Eastern Europe.

Keith works closely with international bodies, other training providers and consultancies in developing and delivering seminars and courses; partners include UK Crown Agents, IIA chapters and local companies around the world.

He has strong links with the professional bodies. Before founding CATS he was Secretary of CIPFA's Audit Panel, and he devised CIPFA's original audit qualification schemes. He has been closely involved with the IIA in many capacities: in 1996 he was elected a Fellow of the UK and Ireland Institute in recognition of his contribution to the internal audit profession. In 2006 he became a Member of the Institute of Risk Management.

Recent activities: selectively they include

Running a risk management workshop for Dubai International Airport

Designing, overseeing and assisting in the delivery of training of 2000 government auditors in Poland

Helping to establish a government internal audit service and providing associated training in various other European countries, including Latvia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Romania and Gibraltar

Involvement for the past 12 years in running numerous audit courses in Dubai and elsewhere in the Gulf with IIR and in-house

Designing and delivering courses on Risk Management and Risk-Based Auditing in Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Mumbai, UAE, Nairobi, Istanbul, Jordan, Qatar and Iceland as well as in various locations in UK.

Providing internal audit training for financial institutions in various Caribbean islands, Lebanon, Rwanda, and London

Delivering procurement audit training in Malawi

Working with UK NHS audit bodies to develop standards and increase competence

Advising various parties on the relationships between internal audit and risk management

Designing and delivering training on Public Sector Audit at various locations in the Caribbean

Providing exclusive modular internal audit training for government departments in Ireland over a continuous period of 12 years, accredited by CIPFA

Providing a similar programme , based on 6 inter-linked courses, assessed assignments and a project, for other sectors, including local government in UK

Designing a regulatory regime for the control of the oil industry

Designing and helping deliver annual UK-based audit and control courses for overseas officials

Organisation of a series of seminars for IIA on the interpretation and implementation of the Standards.