The credit crisis and global recession exposed seemingly stable companies to the shortcomings of their financial planning and strategy, which in many cases led to loss of business, reduced earnings and bankruptcy.  Instead of simply accepting that bad economic times are to blame, stakeholders and investors are reevaluating the cause by questioning the relationship between the board and the business, the strength of corporate governance and the oversight of risk.

In September 2009, The Economist Intelligence Unit issued its report based on a survey of senior executives from over 350 global organizations in a variety of industries and regions to explore the extent to which companies are changing their approach to risk governance in the wake of the financial crisis. Its findings, along with insights from industry experts and commentators, are included in the ACE-sponsored report, “Beyond Box-Ticking – A new era for risk governance.” 

The report shows that despite acknowledging that gaps exist in risk knowledge, a significant number of global businesses have no plans to recruit a chief risk officer and many don’t intend to give overall responsibility for risk management to a board level executive. In addition, most risk managers report spending most of their time on compliance and controls rather than on identifying emerging risks, while many lack the financial resources to invest in improving risk data quality or acquiring talent with risk expertise.

Read the report.