Independent auditors for banks' outsourcing vendors

Singapore

SINGAPORE-BASED firms handling outsourced work from banks involving sensitive data and material businesses must soon hire an independent auditor to go through their internal controls every year, and in effect, meet a set of guidelines outlined by the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS).

This overturns the current set-up, where financial institutions have their auditors show up to go through the controls of their third-party vendors. There have been, until now, no clear standards stating how regular these audits should be, or key factors that should be evaluated.