Dr Igors Ludboržs
Member of the European Court of Auditors (ECA)
INTOSAI Working Group on Public Debt
Helsinki, 11 September 2012
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Stipulated by the Protocol of the Statute of
the European System of Central Banks and of
the ECB which states:
“The provisions of Article 287 of the Treaty
on the Functioning of the European Union
shall only apply to an examination of the
operational efficiency of the management of
the ECB”.
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Annual task;
Topics selected based on:
◦ results of previous audits;
◦ assessment of value-added of proposed audit
task;
◦ availability of audit staff with appropriate
skills and knowledge;
◦ other considerations.
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2011: The new ECB premises project;
2010: Risk management of the ECB;
2009: The management of human resources
at the ECB;
2008: The systems and procedures
established by the ECB for managing its
Business Areas' activities;
2007: ECB’s management of IT projects;
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2006: The operational efficiency of the ECB’s
budgetary management;
2005: The new ECB premises project;
2004: The efficiency of human resources
policy at the ECB;
2003: The decision-implementation process
and the reliability of data processed by the IT
system for financial and management
accounting.
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To assess the adequacy of the ECB’s
operational and financial risk management
framework.
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Did the ECB establish an appropriate and
comprehensive governance framework for
risk management?
Did the ECB manage its operational risks in
an effective manner?
Did the ECB manage its financial risks in an
effective manner?
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Review of the overall risk management
framework at the ECB including review of the
best practices in other similar international
organisations in the area of risk management;
Review of the operational risk management
framework and testing of six selected
business areas;
Review of the financial risk management
framework and detailed testing.
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ECB has established a comprehensive
organisational structure, roles and
responsibilities are clearly assigned;
BUT
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there is a strong demarcation between the
management of financial and operational
risks in the ECB.
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Adequate operational risks management
policies outlining ECB’s approach to
assessing, monitoring and
controlling/mitigating risks;
No integration of planning and operational
risk management cycles;
Sound framework for Business Continuity
Management, but no full Business Impact
Analysis made since the start of the financial
crisis.
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Adequate framework and sound financial risk
management methodology for the
management of investment and policy
operations;
However, improvements required in the
practical application of the methodology.
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To consider setting-up a hierarchically
independent, single, risk management
function, that would concentrate solely on
risk management and ensure a
comprehensive view of the ECB’s exposures;
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To further improve ECB’s public disclosure of
risk management practices to external parties
in the annual accounts by applying best
practices, such as IFRS 7.