RIMS event 6 August 2025
In a today's presentation, Ross Liston (RIMS-CRMP) shared invaluable insights on how effective controls can drive risk and compliance excellence. Here are some key takeaways for practitioners:
◼ Historical Influence on Controls: Understanding the origins of compliance requirements and controls, shaped by significant incidents like Enron and the global financial crisis, is crucial for ensuring their relevance today.
◼ Regulation Lag and Compliance Theatre: Compliance efforts often focus on past risks, leading to a false sense of security. It's essential to address emerging threats and avoid the checkbox mentality.
◼ Case Studies: Real-world examples, such as the CBA anti-money laundering failure and the Toyota recall crisis, highlight the importance of effective risk assessments and a culture of safety and accountability.
◼ Control Effectiveness: Designing and implementing effective controls is key. Evaluate control design adequacy and performance to ensure they are clear, achievable, and consistently applied.
◼ Human Factor and Soft Controls: Human behaviour plays a critical role in control effectiveness. Focus on culture, psychological safety, transparency, and accountability to strengthen controls.
◼ Moving Beyond Compliance: Shift from a compliance-based approach to a risk-based approach. Understand risks, design integrated responses, and continuously monitor effectiveness.
◼ Building Better Controls: Conduct control archaeological assessments, identify 'zombie' controls, integrate controls across the business, and assess cultural factors to improve control frameworks.
◼ By adopting a holistic and proactive approach to risk and compliance management, organisations can move beyond checkboxes to drive excellence and resilience. Let's strive for a culture of continuous improvement and accountability!
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