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10 Enterprise Risk Management Criteria

Mash Risk Television has put together a new video documenting what it considers to be “The 10 Key Enterprise Risk Management Criteria.” I’m not going to pretend that this as engaging as an episode of Mad Men or anything, but Sim Segal, the guy doing the talking, does use some examples from the Titanic, AIG and others to drive home some insightful points about ERM.

Here are the 10 critieria:

  1. Enterprise-wide
  2. Includes all risks
  3. Focuses on key risks
  4. Integrates across risk types
  5. Aggregates metrics
  6. Includes decision making
  7. Balances risk and return management
  8. Makes appropriate risk disclosures
  9. Measures value impacts
  10. Focuses on primary stakeholders

Enjoy the show.

Financial Institutions Further Embracing ERM: Deloitte

The failure of numerous banks and financial institutions during the past several years has shown, in its harshest fashion, that such institutions did not fully embrace a strict risk management regimen. Things have changed since then, however, and Deloitte’s Global Risk Management Survey shows just that.

Deloitte surveyed 131 financial institutions from around the world with total assets of more than trillion. The following are a few key findings from the report:

  • Roughly 90% of institutions had a defined risk governance model and approach, and 78% reported that their board of directors had approved their risk management policy or ERM framework
  • 86% of institutions had a CRO or equivalent position, up from 73% in 2008 and 65% in 2002
  • 79% of institutions reported having an ERM program or equivalent in place or in progress, an increase from 59% in 2008 (see below)

  • For insurance institutions subject to Solvency II, 70% or more said they plan to focus over the next 12 months on program initiation, gap analysis, and planning; risk governance; and Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA)
  • 88% of institutions used stress testing for risk factors affecting their credit portfolio, an increase from 79% in 2008, while 74% conducted stress testing for market risk in their trading book
  • 60% of executives considered their operational risk assessments and internal loss event data to be extremely or very well developed, an increase of 40% in 2008 (see below)

In all, Deloitte’s report is optimistic. It clearly shows financial institutions (finally) taking certain aspects of risk management, such as ERM, capital reserves, governance and, to an extent, technology risk assessments, very seriously. This is promising and can provide a certain amount of relief to those worrying about another catastrophic financial collapse of the U.S. economy. Of course, we can never say never, but with financial institutions continuing to fully embrace risk management in all its forms, we can all sleep a little better.

Superbugs in Your Supermarket Chicken

The use of antibiotics in animal feed has been widely publicized in recent years, with studies presenting alarming evidence of the amounts and types of drugs used and their effect on consumers. A new study, however, sheds an even more alarming light on the situation.

Canada’s CBC TV recently launched an investigation, which found that a whopping two-thirds of samples of chicken found at major grocery stores in some of Canada’s biggest cities has bacteria resistant to at least one antibiotic. As the study asserts, this is not unusual. What frightened researchers was the fact that some of the bacteria found were resistant to six, seven or eight different types of antibiotics.

“This is the most worrisome study I’ve seen of its kind,” said Rick Smith, the head of Environmental Defence, a consumer advocacy group.

But, as Wired science blogger Maryn McKenna points, out, this is not a problem with only Canadian meat, it is a worldwide problem. She points to an annual report published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which “monitors the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among foodborne bacteria, specifically, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Enterococcus and Escherichia coli.” Their findings are not far off from those of Canada’s CBC TV.

The following is just one chart from the report showing the prevalence of resistant bacteria in store-bought meats:


The problem for us humans lies in the fact that routine use of antibiotics on farms contributes to the surge in antibiotic-resistant infections among people. And, as Grist writer, Tom Philpott points out, “MRSA — an antibiotic-resistant staph infection — now kills more Americans than AIDS.”

This topic seems to be of little concern to the FDA, and seems even less worrisome to the CDC. So if the two organizations that are supposed to fight for food safety and disease control and prevention are putting forth little, if any, effort, who will protect us?

The 500 Worst Passwords

For all the talk about high-tech advancements that organizations can make to improve cybersecurity, the best solution is often the simplest of all. Even in 2011, most people use shockingly weak passwords to protect their accounts. I get that it can be difficult to remember all the different passwords for all your different accounts and that this makes using “Red Sox” or “password” much easier than “yzxtwq8492$$**” but it also leaves you a lot more vulnerable.

To illustrate the weakness of most passwords, one designer has made a poster of the 500 worst, according to Mark Burnett’s book Perfect Password: Selection, Protection, Authentication. (via Craziest Gadgets)

Since this is a family site, the naughty passwords have been blacked out. You can click through to the original to see the NSFW version.