Status of Establishment of Internal Control System in Iranian Banks

A system of effective internal controls is a foundation for the safe and sound operation of banks and helps management to safeguard bank's resources and interests. Since improving performance of internal control system requires recognizing its current status, in this study, an attempt has been made to evaluate the current status of establishment of internal control system in Iranian banks. For this purpose, through the designed questionnaire, experts have been asked to evaluate the current status of effective indicators in establishing internal control system of banks, taking into account the importance of these indicators. Received answers were analyzed using fuzzy delphi method, fuzzy gap analysis, importance-performance analysis and paired sample test. According to experts, the current status of all effective indicators in the establishment of the internal control system of banks was assessed as unfavorable. Findings from fuzzy gap analysis also indicate that except for 3 indicators, there is a significant gap between the current status (what is) and the desired status (what should be) of indicators. Also, according to the findings of importance-performance analysis, out of 119 indicators studied, 113 indicators do not have acceptable performance despite their high importance. In addition, based on the results of the paired sample test, it can be concluded that there is a significant gap between current status and desired status of effective indicators in establishing the five dimensions of the internal control system of banks: control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information and communication and monitoring activities.