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Digital acceleration, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), the increase in cyberattacks, and the evolution of emerging risks are driving a profound transformation in the internal audit models of the financial system, experts and representatives of the banking sector agreed at the opening of the Latin American Congress of Internal Audit and Risk Assessment (CLAIN 2026).
During his conference “Strategic Vision of Auditing: Evolution towards a Strategic Role and Generator of Organizational Value”, Cosme Juan Carlos Belmonte, former director of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic and former Superintendent of Financial and Exchange Entities, stated that internal auditing can no longer be limited to a traditional control function, but must evolve towards a more strategic, anticipatory model supported by technology and data analytics.
"The internal audit that banks need today is not the one that looks at the past, but the one that anticipates the future," said Belmonte, when addressing the need to strengthen institutional capacities in the face of increasingly dynamic and complex financial and technological environments.
In that same vein, in her opening remarks, the executive president of the Association of Multiple Banks of the Dominican Republic (ABA), Rosanna Ruiz, pointed out that organizations are currently experiencing "an unprecedented transformation driven by digital acceleration, artificial intelligence, the growing sophistication of financial and cyber fraud, as well as by new regulatory requirements and greater expectations in terms of transparency, sustainability and corporate governance."
Ruiz maintained that, in this new environment, internal auditing is rapidly evolving towards a more strategic and preventive role, where the auditor is expected to have the capacity for anticipation, understanding of emerging risks, and effective support in making critical decisions.
Likewise, the ABA president indicated that internal audit functions need to be increasingly agile, integrated, and technology-supported, capable not only of identifying vulnerabilities, but also of generating early warnings, strengthening institutional resilience, and accompanying the transformation processes of organizations.
Superintendency of Banks promotes more preventive schemes
The opening act of CLAIN, organized by the ABA and the Latin American Federation of Banks (FELABAN), also included the participation of the Superintendent of Banks, Alejandro Fernández W., who stated that the increase in financial and non-financial risks, as well as the digitalization of processes, the intensive use of data and the incorporation of new technologies require more robust corporate frameworks, which support the strength demanded by the new audit profile, with its due independence. "From a supervisory perspective, this reality has reinforced the need to move towards more preventive and focused schemes. Therefore, it is necessary to go beyond an approach focused solely on compliance and verification and move towards a more comprehensive vision of risks, how organizations operate, and how effective their controls are," he stated. During his keynote speech, which was attended by the presidents and other senior executives of the country's multiple banks, Fernández W. pointed out that for the Superintendency of Banks, supervising responsibly not only implies identifying risks, but also anticipating them and promoting good practices, as well as encouraging internal audit to operate with the highest level of independence and objectivity within the structures of the entities. For his part, the Secretary General of the Latin American Federation of Banks (FELABAN), Giorgio Trettenero, stated that artificial intelligence and new technologies, far from displacing, reinforce the role of the auditor with tools and technical skills, who at the same time faces emerging risks associated with cybercrime and new market realities. Regarding this, Trettenero highlighted that in the banking business, trust represents an intangible and indispensable asset, and therefore, updating, training, and supporting the auditing professional is of vital importance to preserve the strength of the sector. CLAIN 2026 is organized by the Asociación de Bancos Múltiples de la República Dominicana (ABA) and the Federación Latinoamericana de Bancos (FELABAN) and brings together in Santo Domingo experts, regulatory authorities, and leaders of the financial system and internal audit of Latin America.
