Paul J. Sobel

Chairman of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), former Chairman of the Institute of Internal Auditors, Thought Leader on ERM, Internal Control and Governance

CIA, QIAL, CRMA

Paul Sobel is currently serving as the Chairman of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). He was appointed to this role in February 2018.  He is leading the Board for a three-year term in the development of guidance and thought leadership on enterprise risk management, internal control, fraud and governance.

In 2020, Paul retired from Georgia-Pacific, LLC, a privately-owned forest and consumer products company based in Atlanta, GA, where he served as Vice President/Chief Risk Officer after being in the Vice President/Chief Audit Executive (CAE) role for seven years.  He previously served as the CAE for three public companies: Mirant Corporation, an energy company based in Atlanta, GA.; Aquila, Inc., an energy company based in Kansas City, MO.; and Harcourt General’s publishing operations based in Orlando, FL.

Paul has authored or co-authored four books: Managing Risk in Uncertain Times; Auditor’s Risk Management Guide: Integrating Auditing and ERM; Internal Auditing: Assurance and Advisory Services; and Enterprise Risk Management: Achieving and Sustaining Success.

In 2013-2014 Paul served as Chairman of the Board for The Institute of Internal auditors (IIA), and has served in other IIA leadership roles.  In 2012, he was recognized in Treasury & Risk Magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential People in Finance.  He currently sits on the Consultancy Advisory Group for IFAC’s International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IIASB) and International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA).  In the past, he served on the COSO ERM Advisory Council for the update to the COSO ERM framework and the Standing Advisory Group of the PCAOB. In 2017, he received The IIA’s Bradford Cadmus Memorial Award for distinguished service to the profession and was inducted into The IIA’s American Hall of Distinguished Audit Practitioners.