The AACI publishes opinions and contributions written by some of its employees, management, and directors. It also publishes contributions from other experts, academicians, and professionals.
Views and opinions expressed under “Opinions” of this blog or at The AACI’s website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or The American Anti-Corruption Institute (AACI).
Mike Masoud | September 28, 2026 An organization can invest heavily in cybersecurity and still lose money if a legitimate user is deceived into doing what a fraudster wants. This is where the human side of cyber fraud begins. Criminals do not always need to break into a system. Instead,...
Mike Masoud | September 14, 2026 Organizations devote considerable attention to deciding who should have authority. Boards appoint executives. Governments designate public officials. Institutions delegate approval rights. Committees receive mandates. Managers acquire discretion. But there is a more difficult question: What tells us that the person who has been given...
Mike Masoud | September 8, 2026 An organization may possess a robust internal control system—complete with clear approval rules, segregation of duties, due diligence, audit trails, and escalation procedures—yet remain dangerously exposed when a powerful executive can quietly switch those safeguards off. That is the true threat of management override:...
Technical Staff | August 20, 2026 An internal audit finding is not merely a technical observation to be recorded, assigned, and eventually marked “closed.” It may be an early warning that a control is failing, management is tolerating an exception, authority is being exercised without sufficient challenge, or a known...
August 17, 2026 Boards and senior decision makers are surrounded by information. They receive reports, presentations, risk assessments, legal opinions, audit findings, forecasts, dashboards, and recommendations. They also ask questions. Yet neither the volume of information nor the existence of questions guarantees a sound decision. A critical issue is often...
Mike Masoud | July 15, 2026 Money laundering risk is not limited to banks, casinos, or financial institutions. Ordinary businesses may also be misused to move, disguise, justify, or return illicit funds. The risk may appear in a customer payment, vendor invoice, refund request, third-party payment, or transaction that seems...
Mike J. Masoud | July 3, 2026 Governance failure does not always begin with silence. Sometimes it begins with questions that sound responsible but fail to test the substance of what matters. “Was it approved?”“Was the policy followed?”“Was the report submitted?”“Did management review it?” These questions may be useful, but...
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