Optimal risk management starts at the top and with sound corporate governance practices. Whenever a financial institution runs into a significant problem, it can be traced to poor governance and oversight by the board of directors and senior management. Proper board and senior management governance involves:

• Setting corporate objectives
• Aligning corporate objectives, activities and behavior with the expectation that the institution will operate in a safe and sound manner and in compliance with applicable rules
• Understanding what are the risks involved with the business and making sure the risks are managed
• Making sure the day to day business is operated in a safe and sound manner to protect depositors
• Making sure there is transparency in financial and operational reporting for stakeholders

Quick links to the other Top 5 Risk Issues

Risk Management Best Practices – How do you Rate?
If you answer Yes, that means you are utilizing the best practice. A No answer will indicate a missing best practice at your institution:

1. Has your board of directors established a board level Risk Management Committee to oversee senior management's activities in managing credit, compliance, operations, market, liquidity, reputation and other risks?
2. Does your board mandate that all key senior management decisions are made by more than one person (i.e. the "four eyes principle")?
3. Does the board approve new products or lines of business and consider impact to risk management?
4. Does the board and senior management utilize the work conducted by the internal audit function, external auditors and internal control functions such as compliance?
5. Is the board and senior management trained periodically on risk management and regulatory compliance topics?

How can Compliance Coach assist you?

1. Consulting Services – We can provide you with a team of our nationally recognized experts to review your corporate governance and risk management system, process and practices. We will provide you with industry best practices and recommendations for improvements.
2. Board & Senior Management Training - We can provide you with an in-person or online training program specifically tailored for board of directors and senior management. If it is in-person, we can assign one of our nationally recognized experts to deliver the training on the latest risk management board best practices or compliance topics via a presentation at your next board meeting or via a webinar. If you prefer online, we can provide you access to our suite of online courses specifically for board and senior management. The training can be taken anytime from anywhere, plus reporting for the examiners.

Below are three sample pages from the Director's Suite - Compliance Risk Management training module. Tailored specifically for board members, the content covers board responsibilities relating to compliance risk management.

For further information on how we can assist you and pricing, please e-mail info@compliancecoach.com