Deloitte study finds 25% of financial firms have no risk oversight

More than a quarter of the world's financial institutions - primarily commercial and retail banks and insurers - have no independent risk oversight function, according to a new survey by professional services firm Deloitte & Touche.

The relatively high proportion of firms with no designated risk oversight function is surprising given the collapse of Houston energy trader Enron late last year.But 62% of financial institutions surveyed had implemented a centralised risk management process, for example, by having a chief risk officer responsible to the main board of directors.

Meanwhile, half the survey respondents did not have capital allocation approaches in place to support the new proposed credit risk requirements in Basel II.

The survey also found that firms were challenged by risk technology, with 55% reporting their chief concern regarding risk technology was the inability to integrate disparate risk management systems. A total of 35% of respondents cited limitations on the functionality of current risk systems as a major concern.

There was also evidence of an increased emphasis among respondents on business continuity and disaster recovery planning since September 11.