ECCI took center stage at the 69th Institute of Internal Auditors Philippines Conference in Bacolod City last October 22, 2016. Kamesh Ganeson, who represented the company, took inspiration from the conference’s theme this year ‘Embrace and Lead Change with a Smile’ by presenting recent trends in the Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) framework.
Risks are moving away from businesses’ control
“There is a need to be proactively aware of risks that are appearing outside our sphere of influence,” Mr. Ganeson stated while he shared alarming statistics about the nature of threats and risks facing businesses today. The Allianz Risk Barometer disclosed that most risks have shifted away from the control of businesses. The number one risk for the second consecutive year is Business Interruption which may arise from Natural disasters and macroeconomic developments.
Because of the nature of risks, a growing number of businesses are beginning to see the importance of personifying risk management. The Current State of Enterprise Risk Oversight published a study which shows that 32% of firms have recently designated a Chief Risk Officer to spearhead efforts in identifying and mitigating risks.
Governments are forcing businesses to increase GRC Maturity
Alarmingly, Mr. Kamesh urged the private sector to take a closer look at the rising involvement of government regulatory institutions. Taking the case of the US Government, statistics show that President Obama has approved twice as many regulations compared to his predecessor, George Bush. Back home, Mr. Ganeson proceeded to share how government bodies like the Department of Transportation and Communication, Bureau of Food and Drugs are more stringent with how businesses work. For example, there was heavy resistance from the DOTC in allowing ride-sharing apps Grab and Uber to operate in the Philippines.
Learning best practices from Shell, Fiserv and Wallmart
After discussing trends, case studies from three giant corporations were discussed to get best practices which can be applied by Philippine companies. One notable case was Shell, who in spite of having a seemingly robust and sophisticated framework for managing risks, discovered that some of their processes are not aligned and optimized.
Some key takeaways that were stressed by Mr. Ganeson were
- empowering risk oversight committees
- instilling a risk culture
- shifting focus towards strategic risks
- regularly measuring risk appetites and
- investing in GRC technologies.
This years PRAC Conference was hosted by one of the Philippine’s premier law firms Sycip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan
