The stability of financial institutions is crucial for economic resilience, particularly in volatile political and financial cli mates. Internal controls are therefore essential for effective risk management and operational safeguards. However, current literature lacks a nuanced understanding of how specific components of internal control systems contribute to risk minimization, especially during crises. This study investigates the impact of internal control systems (ICS) on risk management in Palestinian banks during crises since 2020. Employing a mixed-methods explanatory sequential design, 160 internal audit and risk management personnel participated via structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The five ICS components—control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information and communication, and monitoring—were analyzed using multiple linear regression. Results indicate that a robust control environment, effective risk assessment, and strong information and communication systems significantly enhance risk management effectiveness during crises. Con versely, control activities and monitoring demonstrated no significant impact, suggesting limitations in their adaptability to rapidly changing crisis conditions. This research uniquely contributes to the literature by focusing on banks operating within politically and economically unstable contexts. The findings highlight the critical role of specific ICS components in strengthening risk management and organizational resilience. The mixed-methods approach provides both quantitative evidence and qualitative contextual understanding, advancing knowledge of corporate governance and risk mitigation in high-risk environments. This study provides a picture of the potential benefits to firms, policymakers and professional bodies from considering internal control system on banking risk management during crises. The findings of such an examination can help them to set up suitable policies and enhance the role and the quality of implementing an internal control system on banking risk management during crises.s Keywords Internal control system · Control environment · Risk assessment · Control activities · Information and communication · Monitoring · Risk management · Banking sector · Palestinian context

Title

International Journal of Disclosure and Governance

Publisher

Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Publisher Country

United Kingdom

Indexing

Scopus

Impact Factor

2.9

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

--

Year

2025

Pages

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