Paulus Kei – Partner

5 years ago

Audit, Risk Management and Corporate Governance

Paulus is a CPA with over 22 years’ experience in finance, audit, risk management and corporate governance. Currently based in Australia, Paulus has worked in Papua New Guinea, Australia and Singapore initially with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as audit and assurance manager and later as head of Audit, Risk and Compliance for New York listed multibilliondollar oil and gas company reporting directly to the Boards Audit and Risk Committee, based out of Singapore.

Core expertise

Paulus specialises in implementing best practices Enterprise Risk Management systems and Internal Controls using globally renown COSO ERM (Enterprise Risk Management) and COSO internal controls – Integrated Framework and Information Technology Standard COBiT. Both COSO and COBiT are best practice frameworks on which multinational public reporting companies utilize for Corporate Governance, Risk Management and Internal Controls.

Paulus possesses in-depth and intimate understanding of various organizational functions and its related processes ranging from IT and business systems and applications to supply chain, human resources, treasury and finance, health and safety and other critical operational functions as well as executive management, board and board committees. This enables him to understand and analyse effectively all key organisational risks, in respect of operational, compliance and financial reporting. Furthermore, defines and segments risks, design effective internal control to manage the risks, and establish robust monitoring activities to ensure controls operate as intended in managing risks and/or exceptions are effectively reported to those with oversight responsibility. Core objective is to ensure that risks that threaten strategic organizational objectives including those that affect business efficiencies, regulatory and statutory noncompliance and error and fraud in financial reporting processes are always proactively managed.

Relevant experiences

2006 to 2017 – General Manager in charge of Audit Risk and Compliance for New York listed InterOil Corporation (until its acquisition by Exxon Mobil Corporation in 2017), Paulus implemented and managed the entire Corporate Governance, Risk Management and Internal Controls for 11 years. Specifically, he established the framework for risk management and internal controls to conform with the requirement of US listed public companies and its listing requirements which then enabled the Board of Directors and executive management to meet public reporting and corporate governance obligations.

1995 to 2005 – Prior to InterOil, Paulus spent over 9 years with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Papua New Guinea, in its auditing and assurance practice responsible for managing client engagements from planning and execution of financial audits, internal audits, due diligence and risk management projects and other related assurance services across various industries. The industries range from oil and gas, mining, agriculture, banking, finance, insurance, retail and automotive, manufacturing and distribution, government agencies and state-owned enterprises.

Major projects highlight apart from traditional statutory financial reporting audit services, include:

PNGBC/BSP Review – Due diligence review of the Papua New Guinea Banking Corporation (PNGBC) loan book for bad and doubtful loans prior to Bank of South Pacific (BSP) takeover of PNGBC under the Mourata government’s privatisation plan.
Department of works Trust accounts – Review of Department of works various Trust accounts and reconcile the purpose, funding and disbursement of the trust accounts to the Department of Finance records.
NJSS review – Review of National Judiciary Staff Services (NJSS) internal control processes and implemented internal controls for operational efficiency and to prevent fraud and error.
NHC Review – Review of National Housing Corporation’s head office functions and revenue management systems, to enhance controls and revenue collections.
State Liability to Nambawan Super – Lead the review of state liability with the objective of quantifying state’s liability owed to Public Officers Superannuation Fund (POSF) now Nambawan Super on behalf of public sectors workers.
Review was necessary after changes to superannuation and central bank’s independent and oversight laws and enable government to meet its obligation to Nambawan super through subsequent annual national budget.
BAT PNG Review – Review of British American Tobacco PNG (BAT PNG) –Reviewed the manufacturing and distribution processes for BAT PNG to enhance internal controls and operation efficiency.