CHICAGO, Mar. 14, 2011 – A new survey of more than 300 chiefaudit executives (CAEs) by Grant Thornton LLP finds that whilenearly half believe that the shifting regulatory landscape posesthe greatest threat to their company, a vast majority (88%) do notbelieve that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) should be repealed. Ofthose that believe SOX should be repealed, the cost of complianceis the main reason for doing so.

“Since the passage of SOX, organizations have had to dedicatesignificant resources to comply with a host of new laws andregulations,” noted Warren Stippich, a Chicago-based partner andGrant Thornton's national Governance, Risk and Compliance solutionleader. “Based on discussions with various CAEs during the surveyprocess, many believe that SOX brings a continued focus bymanagement on financial and governance-related controls. However,CAEs believe that compliance audit processes are now well-definedand are currently exploring ways to contribute value creation tothe organization well beyond compliance monitoring andreporting.”

Cloud computing
Although 69% of CAEs report that their organization uses cloudcomputing and 45% expect their organization's use of the cloud forhosting applications to increase in the next 12 months, 64% alsoreport that cloud computing is not part of their organization'sinternal audit plan. In addition, 43% of CAEs have yet to give anythought to security, governance, risk and controls in a cloudenvironment.

“These results indicate room for improvement in planning,auditing and risk mitigation efforts as cloud computing evolves,”said Paul Kanneman, Dallas-based national managing principal ofGrant Thornton's Business Advisory Services. “Surprisingly, thesecurity and controls implications of cloud computing are notforemost in the minds of the CAEs we surveyed. However, as more ITactivities take place in a cloud environment, CAEs will need to beprepared to address the inherent risks and plan their internalaudit approach accordingly.”
Other survey findings include:

• 66% of CAEs report that they are using data analytics toenhance the internal audit function
• only 72% of CAEs say that their organizations have formalanti-fraud policies and procedures in place
• 46% of the internal fraud investigations are led by CAEs

Grant Thornton conducted its first annual survey of chief auditexecutives (CAEs) to provide insights into current trends andidentify how internal audit professionals are responding to thechanging demands of their profession. The survey covered a range oftopics:

• Internal audit organizational structure and career paths
• Use of international internal audit resources
• Board relationships
• Internal audit technology
• Risk management
• Internal audit anti-fraud efforts

To read or download a copy of Grant Thornton's Chief AuditExecutive survey, please visit www.GrantThornton.com/CAESurvey.

About Grant Thornton LLP's Chief Audit Executivesurvey
The 2011 survey of U.S. chief audit executives aimed to uncover howinternal audit is adjusting to the changing demands of its role.The survey, conducted in November and December of 2010, had 350internal audit professional respondents. Respondents came frompublic and private companies with a wide range of revenues fromacross the United States. The respondents work in a mix ofindustries including professional services, consumer products,technology, health care, not-for-profit and manufacturing.

About Grant Thornton LLP
The people in the independent firms of Grant Thornton InternationalLtd provide personalized attention and the highest quality serviceto public and private clients in more than 100 countries. GrantThornton LLP is the U.S. member firm of Grant ThorntonInternational Ltd, one of the six global audit, tax and advisoryorganizations. Grant Thornton International Ltd and its memberfirms are not a worldwide partnership, as each member firm is aseparate and distinct legal entity.
In the U.S., visit Grant Thornton LLP at www.GrantThornton.com.