KARACHI: Tech­no­lo­gical advancements have transformed financial services but challenges including cyber security issues, social media, data privacy and third party risks have emerged strongly, participants at a seminar hosted by the State Bank observed.

The ‘Internal Audit: Emerging Challenges and Effective Practices in Central Banks’ seminar hosted by the SBP under the aegis of Saarc Finance Forum at the National Institute of Banking and Finance was held between March 27-29, a press release issued by the bank on Saturday said.

Officials from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) central banks participated in the event.

Addressing the inaugural session, SBP Executive Director Qasim Nawaz said that until a few years ago, business process reengineering was at the core of innovation in banks.

While advancements in technology have further transformed the horizon of financial services, these innovations are also raising challenges of their own, he added. The Board and the senior management of State Bank are cognisant of the need to align its internal operations to the changing environment, and to promote innovation in the financial sector in a regulated environment, he stressed.

Keynote speaker Horst Simon discussed technological risks faced by businesses around the world. He highlighted the importance of risk culture inculcated within the organisation. He emphasised on the roles and responsibilities of the board, senior management and the employees to maintain a robust risk management mechanism.

Senior manager Pricewater­houseCoopers. Zayeem Bin Alam discussed the risks of cyber security, social media, data privacy and third party risks while offering an IT auditor’s perspective of how to address those risks by discussing controls.

SBP Director Payment Systems Department Syed Sohail Javaad shared the ongoing developments about digital payments, benefits of disruptive technologies to regulators, emerging risks and appropriate responses to these issues from the perspective of internal audit.

Delegates of Saarc central banks also presented their country papers at the event.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2019