Risk in the Boardroom

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Course Overview

In an era of increasing concerns regarding reputational risk and with companies under greater scrutiny by their stakeholders (including regulators), boardroom competency in the area of risk management is now seen as a core skill.

As part of their role Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) in particular should exercise independent oversight by positively challenging and asking tough questions about executive decisions. It is no coincidence that two of the key criteria the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) applies in considering the suitability of candidates for NED roles are independent judgement and the relevant skills to challenge executives. More and more, this involves understanding and shaping the organisation’s risk culture enabling the board to examine how risks are managed and decisions are made in order to meet and exceed strategic objectives.

The IRM’s Risk in the Boardroom, which we offer as a one-day course, gives you a practical overview of what board members and stakeholders need to know about managing business risk and how it is a key element of good corporate governance. It demonstrates the importance of risk management as a regular, strategically-focused activity – and not merely a compliance-driven add-on.

Suitable for all board members and those who support the board, extensive prior knowledge of the subject is not a prerequisite for this course. You will be guided by an experienced risk professional who has both sat on and advised boards on corporate governance, and helped companies to enhance their risk management systems.

In interactive workshop sessions we cover:

• the latest trends and developments, particularly those relating to strategic risk management
• a step-by-step walkthrough of risk management, including identification, managing, monitoring and reporting - from a board perspective
• reference to the relevant frameworks and guides
• an appreciation of concepts such as risk appetite, risk culture and the ‘extended enterprise’ – based on IRM studies of these areas.

You will improve your ability to:

• promote risk management as a key element of good governance
• dentify, measure and assess the critical business risks
• determine the strength of the control environment
• make (or question) decisions based on appropriate risk treatment

You will leave the course understanding:

• why risk needs more attention
• how to bridge the gap between a ‘top down’ (board) and a ‘bottom up’ (operational) approach
• make the link between risk and assurance needs, with the potential to use ‘assurance mapping’ and other related techniques
• how technology can be used to better enable risk management

Back at your organisation you will:

• provide better risk leadership and be the key sponsor of activity in this field
• take an enterprise-wide, strategic approach to risk management
• review and proactively challenge your organisation’s current process
• benchmark your approach to recognised standards
• develop the knowledge to help you ensure that risk management is on a cycle of continuous improvement
• benefit from access to the latest IRM knowledge

Course Dates

 For all enquiries please contact the training team on +44 (0)20 7709 9808 or at training@theirm.org

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Who should take this course

• Executive Board Directors.
• Non-Executive Directors.
• Board Trustees.
• Company Secretaries.
• Heads of Department.
• Senior Managers.
• Chief Risk Officers.
• Risk Directors.
• Risk Managers.
• Compliance Managers.

Learn about

• The risk management process from a board perspective.
• Concepts such as risk appetite, risk culture and the ‘extended enterprise’ – based on IRM studies of these areas.
• Promoting risk management as a key element of good governance.
• Identifying, measuring and assessing critical business risks. 

About the trainers

Louis Cooper

Louis is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (‘ICAEW’) and a member of the Institute of Risk Management (‘IRM’), the Institute of Internal Auditors (‘IIA’) and the British Standards Institution (‘BSI’). He is also qualified teacher with a Bachelor of Education Honours degree.

He has over 20 years’ experience in governance, risk and assurance services and in public practice has worked for all of the ‘Big 4’ Accounting firms and for 6 years was a partner at the UK top 10 audit firm Crowe Clark Whitehill, where he led the Risk & Assurance team. He is retained as a consultant having retired from the firm in 2013, and acts as an Associate with three risk, assurance and strategy consultants, including the risk management software firm Magique Galileo.

Specialist work and experience has included:

Acting as ‘subject matter expert’ advising boards of directors and senior managers on:

• the strategic evaluation of their corporate governance frameworks – undertaking “health-check” reviews comparing the current state to best practice benchmarks and industry standards, with the development of improvement plans and ‘Gap’ analysis;

• facilitating board performance evaluations working with individual executive and non-executive directors, boards and their committees to determine their levels of performance based on current and future needs as part of operating as an ‘effective board’;

• advising on risk management systems to help establish new approaches or to revitalise and enhance policies and procedures. Activities include: formulating new frameworks; training and educating management and staff; running risk profiling workshops; helping to implement new technology-based systems (roll out of the leading Magique system); and helping determine appropriate monitoring and reporting processes.

• linking risk management and internal control systems to assurance requirements in order to determine internal audit needs – services provided through both partnering and outsourcing arrangements. Range of experience in providing internal audit Quality Assessments, benchmarking reviews and undertaking assurance mapping activities.

Commercial and professional advisory roles have included:

• Financial Accountant within the P&O Group. Secondment as a part-time Finance Director of two UK quoted Investment Trusts (2004-07) and as a part-time financial adviser to an AIM-listed European Oil and Gas company (2007-08). Between 2009 - 2013 acted as Head of Internal Audit & Risk at ten commercial and not-for-profit organisations on outsourced arrangements.

• Chief Executive (part-time) and one of the founders of the Non-Executive Directors’ Association (‘NEDA’) – the members Association that was set up in 2008 to support the specific needs and demands of Non-Executive Directors and Trustees across all sectors and at each stage of their ‘life-cycle’. NEDA to publish the ‘NED Handbook’ 4th Edition - March 2016.

• Committee memberships include:
— the Institute of Risk Management Special Interest Group for ‘Innovation’ – in 2014-15 co-wrote the innovative Risk in 2020 study; and

— the Quoted Companies Alliance (‘QCA’) Corporate Governance Committee (co-wrote the QCA Guide on Corporate Governance for Small and Mid-size Quoted Companies 2013 and the updated QCA Guide for Audit Committees in 2014).