Rens Vermeer

Audit

Group Audit helps the bank achieve its objectives 

"Before joining ABN AMRO, I worked for a Big 4 accounting firm. I was an external auditor and had a large portfolio of clients. I learned a lot there, but went from client to client. This made it difficult to make a real impact. What I did know for sure was that I wanted to work in finance. I had a number of financial institutions as clients, and found that very interesting. It is such a dynamic world. That's how I ended up at ABN AMRO.”

Group Audit

"The Group Audit department helps the bank achieve its objectives. We do this by carrying out audits: periodic checks on key processes. This is done on the basis of our annual planning or on an ad hoc basis at the request of senior management. Such an audit takes about ten weeks."

"We interview colleagues, inspect process documentation and talk to senior management. In the end, we draw up a report. This lists the risks we have encountered and the actions that need to be taken to reduce the risks. Through our audit system, we check whether these actions are carried out properly and on time."

Laws and regulations

"The Group Audit department employs about 145 people, including our foreign colleagues. My team, Group Audit Wealth Management NL, consists of ten colleagues. In addition, within Group Audit Wealth Management there are about 15 foreign colleagues, spread across Belgium, Germany and France. We look primarily at the processes involving clients and client experience, focusing specifically on activities within Wealth Management. Think investments and lending."

"We check, for example, whether relevant laws and regulations are complied with within the investment process, but also whether there is room to make a process more efficient for clients and colleagues. Currently, the introduction of new sustainability legislation is an important topic. We follow a process like that from the sidelines and make adjustments where necessary during the process."

More impact, more results

"Where as an external auditor I used to look after several clients, now I work for one single organisation. You oversee almost the entire organisation and are close to the fire. As a result, my work now has more depth and results are more visible."

"I learn every day and am also encouraged to continually develop both in terms of content and personally. There are budgets available with which we can do training. I got my Chartered Accountant (RA) and Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) titles through the bank, for example. But I also took a course in leadership qualities and a workshop in presentation techniques. Next year, I would like to immerse myself in data analysis." 

Personal and professional

"I also learn a lot from my colleagues. Everyone has a different background and therefore brings their own experience and knowledge. We are a very open organisation, and we all work together well. The contact is informal and personal, yet also serious. I am really treated as a professional."

"Despite the fact that a drink after work is now out of the question, we try to keep in touch outside of work hours. Once a year we organise the Group Audit Conference, to which our foreign colleagues also come."

Sports in the Olympic Stadium

"Every year, a whole delegation from Group Audit goes to the ABN AMRO Foundation Day. We have already accompanied school classes during sports lessons in the Olympic Stadium a few times. Every year we receive Banking for Better days, which we can use for a study day, but also for volunteering. I like the fact that ABN AMRO looks further and considers social impact important."