Risk Management in the News

Some days there are a plethora of risk management topics in the news, other days, not so much. Today we are in luck as I’ve come across quite a few risk management-related news stories that I hope you find interesting.

As risk management continues to evolve, we will continue to see compelling news articles focusing the various ideologies encompassing the discipline. More discourse regarding risk management means more thought about the topic and, hopefully, more real-world implementation.

The 10 Best Industry Blogs

Bloggin’ ain’t easy. Doing it well takes commitment, research, accuracy and regular postings. And, of course, a knack for writing. The staff of Risk Management has a few favorite blogs that we visit on a regular basis for their insight, knowledge and timeliness. The following are 10 of our favorite risk management and insurance blogs:

  1. The Call: Foreign Policy magazine’s blog posts are authored by Ian Bremmer, president of the global risk research and consulting firm Eurasia Group. The blog uses political science to analyze the future of politics and the global economy. When it comes to industry blogs, this one is my personal favorite.
  2. Terms + Conditions: The Insurance Information Institute’s blog covers current disasters, risks, laws, regulations and market conditions, among other topics. Claire Wilkinson, vice president for global issues at III, has done a great job of posting timely articles first thing in the morning, and it seems she’s been joined recently by James Lynch, a veteran insurance professional and blogger.
  3. Clear Risk: The company itself works with organizations to help improve their risk management techniques and the blog, managed by Craig Rowe, covers the various aspects of risk management and insurance in a well-organized and easy to read manner.
  4. Schneier on Security: Bruce Schneier, a security technologist and author, manages this blog, which focuses on security and security technology. He has testified on security before the United States Congress and has written articles for some of the worlds biggest publications. Schneier, an opinionated tech man, knows what he’s talking about — and it shows in every post.
  5. Workers’ Comp Kit Blog: This blog covers (you guessed it) everything relating to the world of workers’ comp. It acts as a discussion forum for employers to learn about workers’ comp cost containment, techniques and strategies. The blog is managed by Rebecca Shafer, and attorney and risk consultant, and features posts by more than 30 other professionals. Though the format of the blog can be somewhat distracting (ads galore), the content is useful.
  6. GC Capital Ideas: The website, a part of reinsurance intermediary Guy Carpenter, refers to itself as more of a platform from which it disseminates information that has been published through reports, briefings and bylined articles. I refer to it as a blog and its information is has proved valuable to our team on more than one occasion.
  7. Calculated Risk: This blog offers a sophisticated analysis of economic data, from consumer sentiment to the mortgage and housing industry to the banking industry. Managed by Bill McBride, a full-time blogger with a background in finance and economics, Calculated Risk proves successful at turning complicated technical data into useful information for the masses. McBride publishes several posts per day.
  8. Political Risk Explored: Brian Hasbrouck, a man with a serious interest in the international political economy, manages this blog. PRE’s short and sweet posts pull from other publications or reports that the blog’s readers may have never come across on their own. The blog’s simple format makes it easy to navigate and read and the Twitter feed embedded on the right-hand side is an added bonus.
  9. Product Liability Monitor: This blog was created by attorneys in the Weil product liability practice and discusses key trends, developments and events that have shaped and are shaping the product liability landscape. The blog’s clean format is something to be imitated.
  10. The FCPA Blog: Its simple name leaves no guesses as to what it covers — news and views about the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Managed by Richard Cassin, the multiple daily posts gives readers a grim reminder of the oft-corrupt corporate world and analysis of the FCPA’s actions.

If you think we have left off an important blog related to the industry, please let us know in the comments section below.

Financial Institutions Further Embracing ERM: Deloitte

The failure of numerous banks and financial institutions during the past several years has shown, in its harshest fashion, that such institutions did not fully embrace a strict risk management regimen. Things have changed since then, however, and Deloitte’s Global Risk Management Survey shows just that.

Deloitte surveyed 131 financial institutions from around the world with total assets of more than trillion.

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The following are a few key findings from the report:

  • Roughly 90% of institutions had a defined risk governance model and approach, and 78% reported that their board of directors had approved their risk management policy or ERM framework
  • 86% of institutions had a CRO or equivalent position, up from 73% in 2008 and 65% in 2002
  • 79% of institutions reported having an ERM program or equivalent in place or in progress, an increase from 59% in 2008 (see below)

  • For insurance institutions subject to Solvency II, 70% or more said they plan to focus over the next 12 months on program initiation, gap analysis, and planning; risk governance; and Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA)
  • 88% of institutions used stress testing for risk factors affecting their credit portfolio, an increase from 79% in 2008, while 74% conducted stress testing for market risk in their trading book
  • 60% of executives considered their operational risk assessments and internal loss event data to be extremely or very well developed, an increase of 40% in 2008 (see below)

In all, Deloitte’s report is optimistic. It clearly shows financial institutions (finally) taking certain aspects of risk management, such as ERM, capital reserves, governance and, to an extent, technology risk assessments, very seriously.

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This is promising and can provide a certain amount of relief to those worrying about another catastrophic financial collapse of the U.S. economy. Of course, we can never say never, but with financial institutions continuing to fully embrace risk management in all its forms, we can all sleep a little better.

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Corporate Malfeasance From Enron to Lehman

The world has seen its share of bad business ethics ever since citizens began offering goods or services for a stipend. The effects of such wrongdoings have been magnified, however, as businesses have prospered and the greed of some has grown. Greed which can sometimes drive people to forget their morals. Some may think of Lehman Brothers as the the worst case of corporate malfeasance to ever rock the business world, while others may claim it was Enron.

One website has published what it claims are the “10 Great Moments in Corporate Malfeasance.” I’m not so sure the word “great” aptly describes these 10 moments. I would guess “worst” or “reputation-ruining” would be more appropriate. Nevertheless, after introducing the piece with the Enron scandal, the site says “what follows are 10 more examples of what a person might do if given the chance to make more money.”

It lists pharmaceutical maker Roche (#10) as refusing to sell its HIV drug Fuzeon at $18,000 (what it was valued at by South Korean health officials) as opposed to $25,000. Even though the drug maker would still make a hefty profit, it refused to sell at the discounted price with the head of Roche’s Korean division claiming, “We are not in the business to save lives, but to make money. Saving lives is not our business.” That’s one people won’t soon forget.

WellPoint (#7) didn’t fair so well in the spotlight after the U.S. health care debate raged this year. It was found that the insurance company was severely abusing recission (the policy of finding ways to cancel insurance contracts). Whose contracts were they canceling?

Women who were diagnosed with breast cancer.

WellPoint was using a computer algorithm that automatically targeted them and every other policyholder recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The software triggered an immediate fraud investigation, as the company searched for some pretext to drop their policies, according to government regulators and investigators. Once the women were singled out, they say, the insurer then canceled their policies based on either erroneous or flimsy information. WellPoint declined to comment on the women’s specific cases without a signed waiver from them, citing privacy laws.

Getting to what most people think of when they think “corporate malfeasance,” the list mentions Goldman Sachs (#5) and its “doomed-to-fail” fund.

Investment banking house Goldman Sachs created Abacus 2007-ACI, a fund of mortgages it sold to investors. What Goldman didn’t tell Abacus fund investors was that the mortgages they were betting would succeed had been handpicked by a favorite Goldman investor to actually lose.

That investor was John Paulson, who eventually made $1 billion from the fund.

IBM (#1) and its tech support garnered the unattractive top spot on the list. The tech giant sold some of its earliest model computers to Nazi Germany, with its founder, Thomas Watson, receiving the highest honor the country could bestow upon non-Germans, the Grand Cross of the German Eagle.

IBM admits that the company’s computers were used to carry out the logistics of the Holocaust, but denies awareness of this use at the time.

Thankfully, there are organizations in place that act as watchdogs for major corporations. CorpWatch is a nonprofit that works to expose corporate malfeasance and “advocate for multinational corporate accountability and transparency.” And probably more well-known is Corporate Accountability International, an organization that has fought against abusive corporations for more than 30 years. They have an impressive track record; from the infant formula campaign of the late 70s and early 80s to the nuclear weaponmaker’s campaign that spanned a decade, they work to bring to light wrongdoings of big businesses. Something Lehman and Enron could have used.

We are a capitalist society, which is only wrong when greed comes before humanity.