Rad ne sadrži naslov na drugom jeziku.

Abstract

Internal Auditing (IA) as a profession has reshaped over decades in order to adapt to the constantly changing environment surrounding it. Internal auditors are ongoingly confronted with new technologies and need to be aware of complex digital risks, new fraud schemes, but also hot topics like Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain. For blockchain a lot of the spotlight was historically on the investment and capitalization aspects of cryptocurrencies whereas the technology itself has evolved from a mere means of payment and value storage to more complex business constructs managed by self-enforcing smart contracts and oracles. In this dissertation the established and internationally recognized standards of internal auditing are applied to the context of newly popping up blockchain-based Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) that operate on a series of smart contracts. The tokenized nature of ownership of these distributed ledgers as well as some law experts' assessments imply that they may have to be classified as public capital corporations and therefore be subjected to stricter rules and standards. Not only are internal audit functions highly recommended for large organizations but depending on the corporate laws of a country and the industry they are likely to be mandatory. While DAO-enthusiasts imply that the immutable nature of the blockchain, the recognized consensus mechanism, and strong preventive and automated controls will make internal auditing obsolete, this research sheds light on whether there are conceptual obstacles for IA in DAOs regarding compliance with internationally recognized internal auditing standards and therefore question the overall legality of this type of organization. After an initial analysis of professional and scientific publications as a basis, each IA standard is reviewed for obstacles, benefits, and challenges regarding the respective compliance in a DAO context utilizing an exploratory research method. Because it appears that there may be governance and operational collisions with regard to the strict standards of the Institute of Internal Auditors on the one hand and the conceptual unique setup of blockchain-based DAOs on the other, we evaluate the hypothesis by which standard compliance is impossible and therefore the legality of a DAO in itself may be in question. In addition, we analyze whether and how the use of a DAO can benefit and/or complicate the compliance with each internal auditing standard. This foundational research dissertation may offer guidance on what safeguards DAOs need to implement to comply with certain laws and standards but also addresses policy and standard makers with the assignment to update their rules and offer guidance for implementation. The dissertation may also offer guidance for the mandatory external and internal quality assessments (IIA Standards 1311 and 1312) of internal audit functions in DAOs. Overall, it presents additional insights to related professions like accountants, compliance officers, external auditors, anti-fraud professionals, IT auditors and others while offering a glimpse into what the role of an internal auditor of the future might realistically look like.