Risk committees: designing a horse and getting a camel?

When we examine what’s required of them, do risk committees hold water, asks ex-SEC risk oversight chief

It is often said that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. It has all the parts required – and then some – but the result does not necessarily meet the objective.

A risk committee is an integral component of an overall risk management programme – long viewed as a necessary forum for complex risks to be identified, evaluated and managed by experienced committee members.

Yet, as we attempt to respond to a global pandemic – which we were arguably ill-prepared to prevent or manage – it is