THE RELIANCE OF EXTERNAL AUDITORS ON THE WORK PERFORMED BY INTERNAL AUDITORS AND ITS IMPACT ON AUDIT ON BANKS: A CASE OF THE FIRST ABU DHABI BANK, UAE

The primary purpose of this research is to study the impact of external audit’s reliance on the work performed by an internal audit and its impact on The First Abu Dhabi Bank in UAE, as the case study. Despite the major advances made in the profession of Internal Auditing Function (IAF) and the many benefits of relying on the work performed by these professionals, the collaboration between the profession and external auditing is still a less popular practice in developing countries; as the UAE; many organizations have not picked up. It is important to investigate the reasons that led to this situation. Also, among the few instances where there is reliance on the work of Internal Auditing Function, it is vital to investigate the attribute of the Internal Auditing Function work that guarantees reliance. Lastly, the study aimed to understand the different areas where external audit and internal audit collaborate. By using descriptive and ANOVA analysis, the results derived that external auditors do not actually depend on the internal auditors’ inputs; however they rely on the work performed by the in-house auditors. Regarding organizational attributes of internal audit function depends on the audit process and that an audit committee comprised of external member inaugurated. However the audit area reliance on work performed by Internal Audit Function focused mainly on the internal control mechanisms, audit stockholders’ equity, and audit of fixed assets.