To prevent corporate frauds, more needs to be done: EY survey

Many senior executives feel that more needs to be done, such as increasing the use of forensic tools, to detect as well as prevent frauds at Indian organisations, says a survey.
The findings come at a time when the instances of corporate misdoings and mismanagement are on the rise.
"...65 per cent of senior executives surveyed also agree that they need to do more to improve their anti-fraud and anti-bribery procedures, including the use of FDA," the survey by consultancy major EY said today.
In India, the survey said that regulatory compliance with respect to global anti-corruption laws, recent enforcement trends and increased focus on data privacy are the main factors pushing the use of forensic data analytics (FDA) by organisations.

The conclusions are based on views of senior executives across internal audit, finance, compliance and legal functions, among others, about the use of FDA in anti-fraud and anti-bribery compliance programmes.
As per the survey, organisations have aligned their FDA efforts to address key areas related to these risks.

While about 80 per cent of respondents agree to using FDA to investigate risks around bribery and corruption, around 83 per cent said they deploy it in instances of asset misappropriation.
EY India's Partner (Fraud Investigation and Dispute Services) Mukul Shrivastava said that changes in the Indian regulatory landscape, rapid digitisation and rising cases of cyber crime and data theft has increased business risks manifold.

"...Deployment of cutting edge, disruptive technology solutions and advanced forensic data analytics will be instrumental in safeguarding organisations from the detrimental effects fraud and corruption," he added.
Regarding FDA, 98 per cent of the Indian respondents felt that using it would be a significant factor in improving risk assessment processes.
"FDA is a key catalyst in improving fraud risk decision making as stated by 85 per cent of the respondents, because of its capabilities to offer a better comparison of data," the survey said.
Besides most executives anticipate spending by organisations on FDA to increase over the next three years.