Experts & Advisors
Austin Rudman
Senior Managing Director
Synergy, East Building, Level 1, Al Malqa
Riyadh 11683, Saudi Arabia - Regional Headquarters for MENA
Austin Rudman is a Senior Managing Director at Ankura based in Riyadh. He is focused on governance, risk, and compliance (GRC). Austin has over 30 years’ experience working in both professional practice and government throughout the Middle East and UK.
Austin has extensive experience in GRC, financial, and internal auditing. He has worked with organizations across different sectors including government, central banks, financial services, audit regulators, and complex family groups.
Prior to Ankura, Austin was a Big 4 partner and held several Middle East leadership roles in professional practice, risk management, and financial services. He delivered a range of GRC, external audit, internal audit, regulatory, and capital market services. His broad professional experience involved living and working in over 30 countries.
Austin is an active member of the Middle East business community and has held positions with the ICAEW Middle East Advisory Board and British Chamber of Commerce in Bahrain.
Throughout his career, Austin has coached and mentored Saudi, Emirati, and Bahraini nationals, many of whom now hold C-suite leadership and partner positions.
Experience
Austin’s diverse professional experience includes:
Governance: Conducted governance reviews across groups, including subsidiaries and joint ventures, encompassing boards, audit committees, and board secretariat effectiveness. Developed governance charters and Delegation of Authority matrices across a range of businesses aligning to end-state governance models. Undertaken advisory engagements for family groups navigating through generational succession planning complexities.
Risk: Austin held a Big 4 Middle East leadership role responsible for quality and risk management. Conducted COSO Internal Controls over Financial Reporting assessments and supported management preparedness projects to strengthen existing internal control frameworks and maintain pace with underlying regulatory change. Enterprise Risk Management framework reviews and preparation of policy documents. Undertaken risk appetite assessments and effectiveness reviews of risk registers, prioritization/evaluation of risk mitigation, and control enhancement plans.
Compliance: Extensive policy development, including Code of Conduct, testing and updates for regulatory changes, and ongoing strategy alignment. Assessments of compliance function capability, capacity, and agility to stay abreast of national and regional regulatory changes. Development of whistleblowing policies and financial accounting support with investigations.
External Audit: Partner lead for multiple complex IFRS financial statement audits across several Middle East jurisdictions and evolving regulatory environments. Engagements covered central banks, Sovereign Wealth Funds, listed GCC banks, international bank subsidiaries, insurance companies, and complex family groups.
Internal Audit: Preparation and assessment of internal audit charters, audit methodologies, and risk assessments aligned to the Institute of Internal Auditors professional standards. Delivered engagements for key projects in Saudi Arabia and Middle East financial services organizations.
Regulatory and Capital Markets: Big 4 partner appointed Middle East professional practice leader, which entailed overseeing an IFRS desk and setting up a capital markets capability to support organizations accessing regional and international debt/equity markets. Developed and supported through to the enactment a regulatory law for a Middle East government covering audit oversight of certain regulated entities.
- Education
- BSc (Hons), Accounting and Management Information Systems
- Certifications
- Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
- Chartered Member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (UK)
- Affiliations
- Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
- Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (UK)
