Controllo finanze
It is the body that verifies the effectiveness and efficiency of the Administration's activities.
Director: Mathias Marzorati
The Controllo finanze (Audit Office) assists the City Council and the Departments in achieving their objectives through a systematic approach, which adds value by aiming to evaluate and improve control processes, risk management, and corporate governance.
Controllo finanze is an autonomous and independent body that reports directly to the City Council. Its autonomy and independence refer to the ability to define the methods of programming and conducting controls without specific directives or influence from the Executive. Its scope of action extends to the entire municipal administration and - upon request by the City Council - can be extended to public and private entities to which the Municipality delegates a public task, grants financial aid, or participates financially.
As of 2022, Controllo finanze is registered in the Swiss auditors' registry and recognized as an Audit Expert by the Federal Audit Oversight Authority (FAOA), qualifying the Service to conduct ordinary audits without limitations and registered as a public law entity in the Commercial Register.
Tasks and activities
The Controllo finanze examines and evaluates activities by verifying administrative procedural aspects and their compliance. Its objective is to assist all components of the Administration in effectively and efficiently fulfilling their duties. To this end, it provides analyses, evaluations, recommendations, and expert feedback on activities.
Controllo finanze is also active in the external audit sector, certifying the annual accounts of entities connected to the City of Lugano (including affiliated companies, external entities, and foundations).
The activities of Controllo finanze are characterized by two distinct types of interventions:
- Planned: audits are conducted according to an annual work program. In principle, over a medium-term period (one or two legislative periods), at least one audit is performed for all entities and/or topics spanning multiple Services, following intervention priorities established by a prior risk analysis. For this series of interventions, a work program is submitted to the City Council at the beginning of each calendar year. This program may also be shared with the Commissione della gestione (Management Commission) upon request and with the prior consent of the Municipal Executive.
- Unplanned: specific audits may be assigned to Controllo finanze by the City Council due to its needs or, with municipal agreement, for specific requirements of the Commissione della gestione of the City Parliament. Such tasks must consider the available resources and the planned annual activities.
To develop its expertise and stay informed about sector developments, the Controllo finanze participates in the following working groups and associations:
Confederation and Cantons
- Swiss Conference of Cantonal Finance Controls
- Conference of Finance Control Directors of the Latin Cantons
Associations
- Swiss Association for Internal Auditing (ASAI - IIAS)
The Controllo finanze issues three types of reports:
- Internal report: prepared ex officio as part of the general duties assigned to the Controllo finanze by the City Council. Reports on internal audits or thematic reviews related to specific areas of financial management are also treated as internal audit reports. These reports are transmitted to: the Head of the entity and the respective Division Director; the Head of the Department to which the entity under review is assigned.
- External report: prepared following an external mandate or a specific mandate from the City Council. It is transmitted to the recipients designated by the client and, where applicable, to the Services concerned by the audit, subject to any provisions from judicial authorities.
- Special report: prepared at the request of the City Council or the Commissione della gestione. It is transmitted to the recipients designated by the client and to the Services concerned by the audit, subject to any provisions from judicial authorities or the client.
- Regolamento comunale della Città di Lugano, art. 62 ter
- Ordinanza municipale sul Servizio di Controllo finanze Città di Lugano
- Code of Obligations (CO)
- Federal Law on Federal Audit of Finances
- Federal law on the licensing and supervision of auditors
- Legge sulla gestione e sul controllo finanziario dello Stato (LGF)
- Regolamento sulla gestione finanziaria dello Stato (RGF)
- Regolamento del Controllo cantonale delle finanze (RCCF)
- Legge organica comunale (LOC), art. 171b
The English version of this page was created with the aid of automatic translation tools and may contain errors and omissions.
The original version is the page in Italian.