Curbing controls

Alex Cheung is one of a rare breed - a chief risk officer who has cut the number of controls in place at his institution. When he joined Bank of China Hong Kong (BOCHK) in March 2005, Cheung found himself supporting front-line staff calls for more flexibility and innovation. "Initially, I thought I would probably need to strengthen control measures, but I found we had too many controls in place," he says. "The business side had all sorts of complaints, and I found their complaints were justified