Risk

Managing disruption in 2022 and beyond will require robust oversight and a more holistic understanding of the supply chain itself – including looking beyond traditional partners, methods and technologies. Oscar Wilde famously said: “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” Considering the past 12 months, the global supply...

Emerging risks are those that cannot yet be fully assessed but could, in the future, affect the viability of an organization’s strategy and business model. A risk savvy culture sometimes calls for an informal adhocracy to identify emerging risks in a timely manner.

Third-party risk management (TPRM) has grown in prominence as organizations increase their reliance on external parties, from cloud providers to credit card processors. As more enterprises invest in this critical business function, certain best practices are becoming key to a successful TPRM program. The authors of this article, a consultant and third-party risk manager for the international retailer AutoZone and...

Much has occurred in the world of ESG over the past few years, and the momentum behind sustainability reporting continues to increase exponentially. Significantly, several moves by regulators from late 2020 through 2021 have brought ESG reporting to a point of no return.

Stamping out the impacts of climate change, along with child and forced labor, has long been the purview of national governments. But as investors and consumers wake up to the realities of a globalized world, regulators have begun shifting the onus, and a new principle of caveat emptor is taking shape. At the end of the long tail of these...

The Omicron variant has now spread around the world and, in many regions, has brought about revamped restrictions. Those factors are leaving their mark on third-party risk management, which continues to require nimble and dynamic handling. Travel restrictions, nationwide lockdowns and worldwide instability have resulted in complex supply chain disruptions that highlight multiple underlying risk factors between business relationships. While...

Is it possible that the more pandemics change, the more they stay the same? 2021 began with enthusiasm and high hopes for the efficacy of recently approved vaccines. The year ends with a fresh set of challenges and concerns but familiar uncertainty, risk and exposure for businesses around the world.

When businesses do wrong in the current climate of regulatory enforcement, they often find themselves under scrutiny from federal, state and local agencies. In this eventuality, one can take some steps (and avoid others) to mitigate the impact. All companies dread the idea of a federal, state or local regulator investigating their business practices. These days, instead of a single...

The threat of new ransomware models was the top concern facing executives in the third quarter of 2021, according to Gartner's Emerging Risks Monitor Report. Concerns about ransomware topped pandemic-related concerns, including supply chain disruptions, according to the survey of 294 senior executives across industry and geography. “The negative impact of evolving ransomware attacks is seen as so severe by...

The Fed, OCC and FDIC took an unprecedented step this summer in proposing a joint third-party risk management and information security framework that could apply broadly across the financial industry. In 2013, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) provided guidance to national banks for assessing and managing risks associated with third-party relationships. Shortly thereafter, the Federal Reserve...

The SEC is exploring new possible mandates around workforce disclosures. That may prove a tall order for businesses in the short term. But with increasing data tying alpha to employee well-being, leaders would do well to preempt these requirements.

Navex Global VP Karen Alonardo has worked in the ESG space for decades. She has a simple message for companies just beginning to report: Start small and focus on what matters. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) is finally in the spotlight with the recent increase in investor interest. According to the 2020 biennial “Report on U.S. Sustainable and Impact Investing...