Nearly half of company audit committee members believe their employer's risk management programme needs substantial work, according to research published by KPMG yesterday.
30 JAN 2013 | THE ACTUARY NEWSDESK: NICK MANN
The consultancy's Global audit committee survey, which covered 21 countries, found that, while 37% believed their company risk management programme was 'robust and mature', 45% believed much more work was required on it. In the UK, 39% said substantial work was needed.
Only one in four (23%) of respondents said their company's risk management process 'extends fair enough into the horizon', while one in three (29%) said they were not satisfied with the company's crisis readiness and response plan or believed it was inadequate.
Similarly, only a third (31%) of those surveyed said they were satisfied that their company's risk management process is dynamic enough to cope with a rapidly changing risk environment.
Timothy Copnell, chair of KPMG's UK Audit Committee Institute, said: 'Considering how dramatically technology, globalisation and government regulation are reshaping the business and risk environment, we're not surprised to see significant concerns about risk and compliance.
'Audit committees are still coming to terms with the higher regulatory expectations placed upon them and the ever-increasing range of risk oversight falling within their remit. The challenges of keeping ahead in a fast-moving risk environment are clear.'
Over 50% of audit committee members surveyed were completely satisfied with the quality of information they receive in areas such as legal and regulatory compliance, government regulation and the impact of public policy initiatives and operational risks.
But, only 26% of respondents were satisfied with the information they receive on cyber security, while just 31% felt they received enough good quality information on global systemic risks such as social unrest and political instability.
Meanwhile, almost one third (32%) of those surveyed said their board held discussions with the company management at least every three months on the risk of significant disruption to the company's business model. Just 12% said they never had those discussions.
