Ashima Banks-Smith

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT ASHIMA BANKS-SMITH

SummaryAn experienced, dedicated and accomplished senior Internal Control/ SOx and Internal Audit professional with 11 years Control and Audit experience of successfully managing financial and IT control frameworks, adding value to organisations through subject matter leadership and advice. Demonstrable experience in effectively leading teams across Finance, Audit and Control functions in various industries. Consistently inspiring through collaborative communication and leadership style. Highly competent in Control Governance delivering financial reporting assurance through managing robust frameworks and leveraging technology with a hands-on flexible approach.Achievements• Internal Control Transformation - designed strong financial controls, and governance working with business owners through process walkthroughs, risk assessments, training and monitoring/ testing. • Provided subject matter leadership and advice on UK and US regulation covering SOx, ICFR and FCPA, driving a compliance mindset.• Created the ICFR framework based on COSO principles including ITGCs and embedded Anti-Corruption. • Driving the automation and simplification strategy through increased IT controls and using technology to explore Continuous Control Monitoring, driving efficiencies by brining all financial controls together from various regulatory frameworks such as SOx/ FCPA/CCO.• Successfully managed change, following mergers on several occasions. Efficiency focused, streamlined processes to enable reduction in combined control volumes, also re-designed a proportionate ICFR programme following Walmart’s sale of Asda.• Trained finance and IT colleagues on core compliance subjects including the development of a SOx E-Learning module.• Advocate of L&D, supporting wider finance colleagues as a Finance L&D member and sponsoring the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Level 7 apprenticeship programme as one of two Senior Manager sponsors at Asda.