Managing through Persistent Volatility: Changing role of the CRO
The ongoing proliferation and continuous evolution of risks in the banking industry – highly volatile, intricately linked and
emerging from seemingly everywhere – have made today’s market and operational realities uniquely challenging
for chief risk officers (CROs). At the same time, CROs are expected to command finite resources wisely and support transformation efforts designed to unleash innovation and satisfy rapidly evolving customer expectations.
IRMSA Risk Report – South Africa Risks 2019
Risk managers are in a unique position to connect the proverbial dots – finding the linkages and trends in information, vertically and horizontally, from a number of different planes that enables you to navigate the level and pace of complexity of what we are going through in the world and certainly in South Africa.
We live in a complex world with high levels of uncertainty and constant change. The scale and pace of global and domestic change profoundly influence the nature and dynamics of our politics: either in the manner in which certain disputes will be resolved expeditiously and or in how new obstinate problems are actually created.
IRMSA Risk Report 2026/27 – UmphakathiVuka
Southern Africa is entering the 2026–2027 period with risk as a defining feature of how we govern, invest and lead, yet the IRMSA Risk Report argues that this moment is also rich with possibility. At the heart of this edition is UmphakathiVuka – Awakening the Forest – a people‑first mindset that positions organisations, sectors, communities and institutions as interconnected trees within a single living ecosystem. The Report shows how governance failures, economic fragility, infrastructure decline, inequality, climate stress, systemic crime, cyber vulnerability, water scarcity and energy insecurity have converged into an interconnected meta‑crisis that shapes every development choice. But it also frames each of the Top 10 Risks as an opportunity pathway, i.e. to rebuild a capable state, unlock inclusive growth, modernise critical infrastructure, invest in climate resilience and digital security, and restore social cohesion through ethical leadership and accountable governance. Through scenarios, sector and regional lenses, and a practical Call to Action grounded in King V and a 5W1H framework, the Report invites leaders to treat risk intelligence as a strategic asset and resilience as a collective national project. The future forest will be shaped less by the shocks we face than by the courage, foresight and collaboration we choose to exercise now.
A Survey of Artificial Intelligence Risk Assessment Methodologies
Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are increasingly being deployed in a wide range of applications. For many of these, a failure of the system would be embarrassing and inconvenient, but otherwise harmless. Failures in other applications, such as credit assessments, recruitment, medical diagnostics, (semi-)autonomous vehicles and
power grid load distribution systems, however, would have significant.
EMEA Model Risk Management Survey – 2023
On behalf of Deloitte we are pleased to present the latest edition of the EMEA Model Risk Management Survey. This report presents the latest insights regarding current model risk management practices and challenges faced by banks across Europe, the Middle East and South Africa.
IRMSA Risk Report – South Africa Risks 2020
At this stage in our country’s history, risk management has never been more important. Already, many risks have materialised but in their wake a whole new set of risks have emerged. We, as a nation, as organisations and as individuals must identify these risks clearly, and put the necessary strategies in place to mitigate them.
This was the overall theme of the address to the IRMSA Risk Conference in October 2019 by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.
He said that we need “to prevent new risks from emerging while we manage those that already exist – with a view to reduce them or minimise them and to hopefully eliminate or leverage them in the long run.”
The Chief Justice set the context by correctly noting that our approach to risk must be informed by the shared national vision embodied in our Constitution. He emphasised that this vision incorporates the fact that there were injustices in the past, and that they need to be redressed or they will continue to constitute risks to our democracy and erode the social capital on which every nation depends:
What is it that we are called upon to do as individuals and as the citizenry of South Africa? How will we make sure that those injustices of the past do not continue to pose the risk they posed in the past? How do we eliminate them so that we can become the stable, peaceful and prosperous nation that we all desire to be?
State of Trust Report – 2024
Trust is critical to the success of every business. But building, scaling, and demonstrating trust is getting harder for organizations. To meet customer expectations, security leaders and their teams must address complex threats, a growing compliance burden, and increasing risk from their third party vendor footprint. The rapid adoption of AI technologies only adds to the challenge, requiring more oversight and governance.
Assessment of Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Proliferation Financing Risk in the Banking Sector
The Prudential Authority (PA) of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is responsible for anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism
(AML/CFT) supervision of banks, mutual banks and life insurers. As such, the PA
assesses the risks related to these aspects. It embarked on its second banking
sector risk assessment by surveying 34 banks in March 2021.
Allianz Risk Barometer – Major Business Risks 2024
The top risks in this year’s Allianz Risk Barometer reflect the big issues
facing companies right now – digitalization, climate change and an uncertain geopolitical environment.
IRMSA Risk Report – South Africa Risks 2021
There is no doubt that 2020 will go down as a year to be remembered. While the Covid-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact,
the year brought many challenges, from the forest fires in Australia at the beginning of the year to the volcano eruption in the Philippines, followed by a long list of hurricanes and widespread social unrest in the US. All of these have highlighted the reality of
persistent and disruptive volatility. There is no reason to think that volatility will decrease - in fact, it is only likely to increase.
James Lane Allen said, “Adversity does not build character, it reveals it”. The adversity we are operating under is continuing to reveal
the importance of risk management and business resilience. It has changed the way we are, the way we work, the way we think
and the way we act. It has accelerated innovation and digitalisation, and created an imperative for companies to transform their
operations. It’s no longer the big fish eating the small – it’s the fast fish eating the slow fish (World Economic Forum). It’s now about
agility and how quickly we respond to changes, and the making of better-informed, faster decisions to survive in a rapidly changing
environment.