A new KPMG assessment of risk governance at systemically important banks finds that the board risk committees face significant challenges in analyzing the entire array of risks that face the entity.

Since the global financial crisis, the Financial Stability Board have been focused on the measures relating to capital, liquidity, leverage and recovery and resolution provisions. However, policy alone will not achieve the overall objective of greater financial stability. Strong decision-making with good quality data and high quality people are also required.

Policymakers are now focused on the importance of having a proper environment in place such that Boards and senior management teams are able to land the new requirements. In late 2015, KPMG partners with deep knowledge of 20 systemically important banks (SIBs) completed a risk governance assessment, supplemented by discussions with the SIBs where necessary, to determine what progress has been made in strengthening risk management functions and risk governance at the Board Risk Committees (BRCs) of these institutions.

Our new report, Risk governance: A benchmarking analysis of systemically important banks, provides insight into the challenges faced by the SIBs, specifically around quality and timeliness of information, automation of stress-testing, and aligning their risk appetite with decision-making at a business unit level.