Audit services for banks, insurance companies, asset management and other financial services providers

Banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions have a special responsibility towards their customers and society. For this reason, legislators and regulators ensure their financial stability by imposing stricter requirements, and the audit of financial services companies’ annual accounts is also subject to specific regulations. 

These include, in particular, internal control mechanisms, risk management and the valuation of financial instruments. Compliance with regulations on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing is also an important part of the audit of banks, insurance companies, asset managers and other financial firms.

Numerous regulations, such as the German Banking Act (KWG), the German Commercial Code (HGB), the Insurance Supervision Act (VAG), the Securities Trading Act (WpHG), the Capital Investment Code (KAGB), the Minimum Requirements for Risk Management (MaRisk), as well as new regulatory frameworks such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) form the basis for the specific requirements for audits in the financial sector.

These requirements are continuously developed and refined by national supervisory authorities such as BaFin and by international institutions such as the European Central Bank (ECB).

Banks and other financial services providers are now also technology companies. Modern data analysis methods, for example, play a major role in the auditing of their operations. The aim of such tools and solutions is to optimise audit quality, continuously improve audit efficiency, ensure transparency and enable real-time reporting.

KPMG continuously invests in modern and intelligent audit tools, including solutions based on artificial intelligence. Our digital audit and communication platform, KPMG Clara, promotes efficient collaboration and provides a clear overview of the current audit status and the issues affecting it – across teams, internationally and in accordance with uniform standards.

We use our audit tools to analyse your data in a targeted manner: from risk-based auditing with AI Transaction Scoring, through to the independent re-evaluation of your financial instruments portfolio with KPMG iRADAR, and on to modern, context-based reporting. This provides you with a structured summary of the audit results and valuable insights that go beyond the auditor’s report.