Managing data security and privacy is the main challenge CFOs face, given corporate reporting requirements, according to an audit firm. That subject was rated first by more than half of respondents (56pc) to the latest report by EY Financial Accounting and Advisory Services (FAAS), titled Can innovative corporate reporting build trust in a volatile world?
When looking at findings by country, CFOs (chief finance officers) in India (68pc), China (65pc) and the US (63pc) are the most concerned about data security and privacy. This compares to 55pc of respondents from the UK.
More than 1,000 CFOs or financial controllers of large organisations with revenue greater than US$500m across 25 countries participated in EY’s annual global survey. Forty respondents were from the UK. The survey found that lack of clarity over data ownership and governance has a significant impact on reporting effectiveness for 64pc of respondents globally.
Eighty-five percent said that they found it either “very challenging” or “somewhat challenging” to actively manage data flows based upon different jurisdictions’ privacy laws. The same percentage of respondents also said that assessing the different security standards for data centres versus cloud computing was a key challenge to data protection, privacy and compliance. The survey also found that 49pc of respondents say concerns over security and compliance risks of the cloud are seen as a major barrier to technology transformation and the implementation of innovative new technologies. This view was echoed by 48pc of respondents from the UK.
Chris Brown, EY’s UK Head of Business Assurance, says: “There is a high level of uncertainty among the finance community on how to approach the issues of data security and privacy. CFOs need to ensure that they have clear governance processes in place for how they look after financial information and ensure that data is both compliant with relevant local laws and is secure – which can be a huge challenge in large and complex organisations. Responding by using advanced data analytics and integrated technologies as well as artificial intelligence, cloud computing and robotic process automation will be key to avoiding reputational and other costs that come with a mismanagement of financial data.”
CFOs are under increasing pressure to rethink traditional approaches to corporate governance. Forty-two percent of those surveyed say their audit committees and boards are asking for more insights and information from corporate reporting on data protection and privacy, with the same percentage of respondents also saying they are providing corporate reporting on the risks from regulatory change. You can download the full report at http://www.ey.com/gl/en/services/assurance/ey-can-innovative-corporate-reporting-build-trust-in-a-volatile-world.
