Raju Raman Keelveedhi
Senior Control Domains Professional
Safat,Kuwait
Summary
~ Accomplished senior banking professional with 25+ years of progressive experience and proven record of significant, successful contribution in the Controls domain encompassing Internal Control, Audit, Governance, Risk, Compliance, Information Security and Business Continuity Management (BCM).
~ Strong Banking domain knowledge with multi-dimensional career with experience in Banks, Banking Regulator and Consulting firms.
~ Proven track record of building and leading effective cross-functional, multisite, and multi-business teams in control domains, both in Banks and in Consultancy firms.
~ Continuous professional learner through certifications in the fields of Audit, Security, Governance and Risks.
~ Abreast with latest standards and key developments on subjects relating to General Management (IIA and COSO) and technology (COBIT, PCI DSS, Risk IT Framework, ITIL V3, IT Assurance Framework, ISO/IEC 27001, BS 25999, etc.).
Overview
35
35
years of professional experience
Work History
AGM – Group Internal Control
Burgan Bank
07.2017 - Current
- Group includes Kuwait and subsidiaries at Turkey, Algeria and Tunisia.
- Ø Responsible for managing group’s annual internal control reviews performed by independent external auditors. In seven years since I took over this responsibility, number of open issues has been brought down from very high number to Nil (as of Q4-23). Overall rating of Bank’s internal control improved to “Satisfactory”, best possible rating. It was well appreciated by Board and Executive Management.
- Ø Responsible for handling and monitoring Bank’s incidents. Streamlined entire process, end-to-end, which resulted in significant increase in reported incidents; root-cause analyses were performed to ensure underlying risks are addressed. This resulted in significant reduction in Bank’s operational losses, well below Board approved Risk Appetite thresholds, in last few years.
- Ø Established Bank’s Fraud monitoring function within Management, to oversee potential fraudulent transactions and to implement controls to mitigate fraud risks. This resulted in very minimal reported fraud cases – external and internal, in last few years.
- Ø Continuous monitoring of all open issues (ICR, audit, regulators, etc.,) and address them in timely manner, which is helping our Bank in bringing residual risks to acceptable levels.
- Ø Secretary for management committees covering internal controls and audits. I was able to build consensus, resolve conflicts and ensure actions commensurate with risks that has significantly enhanced control posture of Bank.
- Ø Leading team of highly motivated staff to ensure that department is closely monitoring risk and control issues in order to bring down overall risk.
Deputy Unit Head – QA & Compliance, Gr OPS & Tech
National Bank Of Kuwait
10.2012 - 06.2017
- The Group included 14 Business areas (in Operations), Information Technology, Optimization & Controls and Projects Division. Besides 9 international locations, including 2 subsidiaries.
- Ø Established Controls Framework and Operating Model within Group covering Audit Support, Risk reviews, Regulatory compliance, External Audits, Security Compliance and Policy Compliance.
- Ø Primary responsibility was to provide assurance to Management on adequacy of controls, through establishment of periodical reviews covering design and operating effectiveness of controls. This was achieved through Self Risk Assessments within Group.
- Ø Ensured that issues raised by various audit entities and action plans identified through risk assessments are addressed appropriately and in timely manner and minimize/avoid repeat issues.
- Ø Provided Management reports through heat maps and dashboards on state of controls within Group. Managed set of 200+ KRIs for IT and another 160+ KRIs for Operations, including its validation.
- Liaison officer with External entities such as Central Bank of Kuwait, Big-4 audit firms, Consultants as well as internal control entities such as Audit, Risk Management, Security, Regulatory Compliance and Legal.
Senior Manager – Audit
National Bank Of Kuwait
07.2006 - 09.2012
- Ø I was responsible for developing risk based annual audit plans, revise audit charters, strategy and was primarily responsible for technology audit reports.
- Ø Carried out several Fraud reviews and Special investigations; identified several control gaps and provided practical recommendations with objective of minimizing such incidents in future.
- Ø Carried out reviews of bank’s overseas branches namely New York, Jordan and Bahrain using COBIT framework and local regulatory guidelines.
- Ø Established risk assessment criteria to score systems, processes and units and created Audit Risk Universe to facilitate Risk Based Audit Plan.
- Ø I was responsible for reporting on KPIs, KRIs, KCF and other management information on Technology related matters to Audit Committee, through Chief Auditor.
- Ø Handled audits of Bank’s IT systems and business processes, through adoption of integrated audit model. Areas audited include following:
- Major banking business processes and applications covering key Business functions, Front-end teller systems, Core banking, Cards, Payments, Treasury Dealing and Settlement, Trade Finance, General Ledgers, HR, Alternate Delivery channels (internet, SMS, mobile banking, etc.).
- Management, Process audits and Regulatory reviews covering BCM, IT Strategy and Governance, COBIT 4.1 Reviews, Software Development Life Cycle, IT Organization and Management, Change Management, Information Security, User Access Administration, Regulatory reporting (ICAPP, Basel, VISA, etc.) reviews, etc.
Senior Supervisor, Inspection Department
Central Bank Of Kuwait
07.2003 - 06.2006
- Ø Established on-site IT audit inspection process of technology related areas and developed detailed audit program to carry out such inspections.
- Ø Established guidelines on Business Continuity Management (BCM) standards to be adopted by Banks and Exchange companies.
- Ø Led team of Inspection officers and carried out several on-site reviews of local banks' IT systems and their BCM/DR arrangement
- Ø I was key member of Central Bank’s BCM committee and actively contributed in establishing Regulator’s recovery processes.
- Was active member of committee on Central Bank’s Operational Risk Framework, which was formed, adopting Basel Standards.
Senior Consultant, Information Risk Management
KPMG Al-Nisf & Partners
11.2001 - 06.2003
- Key assignments included following:
- Ø Carried out current state assessment of IT setup in banks, identified gaps in processes and designed processes and procedures, using COBIT and ITIL frameworks.
- Ø Technical audits such as Network security using tools, Operating Systems and Database security and controls review, Data Center review, etc. for several banking clients
- Ø Review of Business Continuity Plans and Disaster Recovery arrangements for several clients to verify its relevance and workability, through desktop review exercises.
- SAS70 (SSAE16) reviews covering Type I and Type II reports for clients. As part of Type II reviews carried out extensive substantive checks on existence and validation of controls of clients' critical application systems.
Multiple Roles
Multiple Financial Services Organizations
04.1989 - 10.2001
- Ø Worked as consultant for a year and reviewed major banking business applications, developed IT Security Policies and Procedures, performed several gap analyses of IT security managements, using COBIT and BS 7799 frameworks and standards.
- Ø Worked in leading depository services organization for 7+ years in different roles such as Data Security Officer, Manager-Custodial services and in Operations.
- Ø Worked in leading Financial Services organization for 3+ years as Branch Manager and successfully managed business and operations.
Education
MBA - Finance
Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies
Mumbai 04.2001 -
Master of Arts - Commerce
Bharathidasan University
Tamilnadu 04.2001 -
Skills
Audit
undefinedAccomplishments
Burgan Bank
· Significantly improved the control posture, through continuous monitoring and timely actions, resulting in a better CAMEL rating from the regulator, since assuming the role of group head of internal control function.
· Ensured that the operational losses and fraud incidents were well within Board Risk Committee approved appetite levels.
· Reliable advisor to the Management on Internal control matters.
· Established Management Control Self-Assessments to assess residual risks, which was aligned to Basel guidelines.
National Bank of Kuwait
· Being part of steering committee and a key stakeholder, facilitated the Bank in getting PCI DSS certifications.
· Established COBIT 5 and ITIL V3, as the de-facto framework for Governance and Service Management of technology division.
· Created Audit Risk Universe to establish Risk Based Audit Plans.
Central Bank of Kuwait
· Instrumental in establishing on-site inspection methodology for technology and BCM functions, with Unit Head, and developed detailed audit program to carry out such inspections.
· I was a key member of CBK’s BCM committee and contributed in formulating Operational Risk Framework (adopting Basel Standard).
Timeline
AGM – Group Internal Control
Burgan Bank
07.2017 - Current
Deputy Unit Head – QA & Compliance, Gr OPS & Tech
National Bank Of Kuwait
10.2012 - 06.2017
Senior Manager – Audit
National Bank Of Kuwait
07.2006 - 09.2012
Senior Supervisor, Inspection Department
Central Bank Of Kuwait
07.2003 - 06.2006
Senior Consultant, Information Risk Management
KPMG Al-Nisf & Partners
11.2001 - 06.2003
MBA - Finance
Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies
04.2001 -
Master of Arts - Commerce
Bharathidasan University
04.2001 -
Multiple Roles
Multiple Financial Services Organizations
04.1989 - 10.2001
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