Board Risk Oversight

Jun 1, 2010

Nine Hallmarks of Successful ERM

As organizations seek to strengthen their risk oversight, they are interested in learning from others about effective practices that ensure risk oversight provides strategic value. The Aon Global Risk Consulting report explored how ERM is being used, the extent to which it has been implemented and its effect on organizational goals. It provides an overview of nine distinguishing characteristics of successful ERM approaches. This report expands on the detailed results from the survey, including the point that ERM has continued to evolve as an accepted and required process to create value.

Nov 4, 2009

Strengthening Enterprise Risk Management for Strategic Advantage

COSO's Strengthening Enterprise Risk Management for Strategic Advantage focuses on specific areas where the board of directors and management can work together to improve the board's risk oversight responsibilities and ultimately enhance the entity's strategic value. This thought paper expands on COSO's Effective Enterprise Risk Oversight: The Role of the Board of Directors and provides further detail on the four specific areas discussed in that document.

Oct 1, 2009

Risk Governance: Balancing Risk and Reward

In October 2009, the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) issued a Blue Ribbon Commission report containing guidance for board members regarding how to strengthen their risk oversight practices. The report describes the importance of risk governance and strategic risk alignment, and highlights that the board should be fully responsible for risk oversight, only delegating tasks that might need a more specialized focus. At the end of the day, the board as a whole should be in charge of ensuring that management has aligned their strategy and risk appetite for the company.

Sep 1, 2009

Effective Enterprise Risk Oversight: The Role of the Board of Directors

COSO's Effective Enterprise Risk Oversight: The Role of the Board of Directors is focused on aiding boards of directors in strengthening their enterprise risk oversight responsibilities. The current economic crisis has caused the role of the board of directors to become far more challenging than in the past. The thought paper highlights critical board responsibilities by using four specific areas in COSO’s Enterprise Risk Management – Integrated Framework that contribute to board oversight of enterprise risk management.

Mar 1, 2009

Key Areas of Concern in Corporate Governance

Strong corporate governance is essential for boards as they are positioned to lead the way in implementing measures that contribute to economic growth and sustainability. There are four areas of corporate governance the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) has identified as being the most important and of immediate concern: risk oversight, corporate strategy, executive compensation, and transparency. Within each area of concern, the NACD provides recommendations from their Key Agreed Principles to Strengthen Corporate Governance for U.S. Publicly Traded Companies document as well as addresses future challenges boards will face in improving governance practices in each area.

Dec 1, 2008

Aligning Risk Management and Executive Compensation

Boards of directors are charged with corporate governance tasks that include setting executive compensation and developing the corporation's strategic agenda in light of its risk tolerance. Using short-term performance metrics, like stock price or earnings per share, to determine executive compensation may encourage executives to make decisions that are not aligned with the corporation's strategic plan or overall risk appetite.

Jun 1, 2008

Board-Level Risk Committees

Traditionally, senior risk executives have managed risk at the operational level of organizations. Boards have had general oversight responsibilities for risk, with audit or finance committees taking on more specific risk responsibilities. Now, with the heavy workloads of audit and finance committees and a trend towards implementing enterprise risk management (ERM) processes, many organizations are finding it beneficial to form separate board-level risk management committees. The risk content of an organization is often still addressed at the board level across many committees, while risk process is the focus of the separate risk committee.

Sep 1, 2004

COSO’s “Enterprise Risk Management – Integrated Framework”

"This Enterprise Risk Management – Integrated Framework expands on internal control, providing a more robust and extensive focus on the broader subject of enterprise risk management. While it is not intended to and does not replace the internal control framework, but rather incorporates the internal control framework within it, companies may decide to look to this enterprise risk management framework both to satisfy their internal control needs and to move toward a fuller risk management process. Among the most critical challenges for managements is determining how much risk the entity is prepared to and does accept as it strives to create value. This report will better enable them to meet this challenge."