Read the January issue of StrategicRISK first online before it lands on your desk, includes: Dealing with unknown unknowns and how resiliency is the only way, a Special Report on supply chain risks and how you can actually learn something about risk from the banks

I was reading blogs online recently and came across one called ‘Software Disasters Blog’. It has a nice strap-line, which I think is equally as relevant for risk managers as it is software engineers: “Prevent what you can, prepare for everything else.” Pretty neat, huh?

It sums up the approach that the best organisations take to risk management. You do the best you can to manage down risks to an acceptable level, while at the same time preparing for what might be around the corner.

That’s certainly the message I got recently when we arranged for the UK’s top risk managers to get together for the Risk Retreat, a one-day event for peer-to-peer networking, learning and socialising. We’ve had some fantastic feedback, and thanks to everyone who made it along. You can read about it here.

We’re planning to launch similar events elsewhere in Europe soon, so watch this space.

It’s not exactly trendy to learn from the banks at the moment. Not only did their shocking risk management capabilities lead to a crisis that almost destroyed the fi nancial system in 2008, but they are also partly to blame for the sovereign debt problem shuddering through Europe right now.

Yet I suspect there are still some things that companies can learn from fi nancial services fi rms. This could include making sure the levels of controls put in place to manage a risk are actually proportionate to the threat it poses to the business.

We asked Giles Triffitt, formerly head of risk services at The Royal Bank of Scotland (admittedly one of Britain’s failed banks, but we can’t blame it all on him), to explain how to match control spending with the underlying risk. Hope you enjoy the issue (read it below).

 

Open publication - Free publishing - More risk 

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