Risk management should be more than just a decoration

Despite massive investment in human capital and technical resources, risk managers failed to warn about the dangers of toxic assets and excessive leverage in the run-up to the global financial crisis. Their lack of authority is partly to blame, writes Vincent Kaminski

In Silver Blaze by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Gregory have the following exchange:

Gregory: "Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?"
Holmes: "To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time."
Gregory: "The dog did nothing in the night-time."
Holmes: "That was the curious incident."

Sherlock Holmes aficionados know the answer to this mystery: the dog encountered its master and probably wagged its tail. Rereading this novel one more time