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Global: Top 10 Op Risks 2021

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Baker McKenzie partnered with Risk.net in its annual ranking of the top operational risks for 2021. The report is based on a survey of 100 chief risk officers, heads of operational risk and senior practitioners at financial institutions, including banks, insurers, asset managers and infrastructure providers. These stakeholders chose their five most pressing op risk concerns for the year ahead. With digitization accelerating, it’s not surprising to see IT disruption and data compromise at the top, together with a new entrant this year, employee wellbeing, in tenth place.

The Top 10 Op Risks for 2021 are:

  1. IT disruption
  2. Data compromise
  3. Resilience risk
  4. Theft and fraud
  5. Third-party risk
  6. Conduct risk
  7. Regulatory risk
  8. Organisational change
  9. Geopolitical risk
  10. Employee wellbeing

In our editorial and Q&A, we cover some of the rapid technological changes under way brought about by, and in the wake of, the COVID-19 pandemic. We also talk about important topics around governance, change management, incident readiness, cloud-based infrastructure, and the importance of continued investment and change.

Top 10 Op Risks 2021

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Author

Jonathan chairs the firm's Financial Institutions Global Industry Group and is a partner in the London Dispute Resolution practice. Jonathan has deep experience in advising boards, executive teams and individuals dealing with issues of market integrity, ethics, brand and reputation impact, conduct risk, whistleblowing, market misconduct, systems and controls failings and remediation, public statements and investor relations, financial crime, fraud, regulatory investigation and enforcement, public policy, public law and civil and criminal litigation. Jonathan's substantial in-house experience delivers a highly strategic and commercial focus aimed at re-establishing confidence in the brand and individuals. Jonathan joined Baker McKenzie from Barclays Bank PLC. Spanning a decade of unique pressure in the financial sector amidst the global financial crisis, he led the global litigation, investigations and enforcement function and established the bank's financial crime legal team. Jonathan was responsible for a series of high-profile regulatory and criminal investigations in EMEA, the US and Asia Pacific regions and led a significant portfolio of wholesale and retail litigation. Supporting the bank's risk and compliance functions, he implemented and improved systems and controls in respect of money laundering, bribery and corruption, fraud and international sanctions. Jonathan worked with UK and US law enforcement and government intelligence agencies on counter-terrorism, organised crime and other domestic and international security initiatives. Jonathan is the contributing author to a number of leading legal and sector publications, including: Banks and Financial Crime: International Law of Tainted Money (Oxford University Press 2008, 2016); Global Investigations Review - The Evolution of Risk Management in Global Investigations (GIR 2016, 2017, 2018); and Risk.net's annual Top 10 Operational Risks (2018-2022).

Author

Christoph Kurth heads the Investigations, Compliance & Ethics practice of the Swiss offices. Further, he is a member of the EMEA Steering Committee Compliance & Investigations and co-leads the EMEA Financial Institutions Industry Group. He has been recognized by Legal 500 as a leading individual for compliance, regulatory and investigation matters. Before joining the Firm, Christoph was global head of Litigation & Investigations and general counsel in Asia for a large Swiss bank. For over 10 years, he has led complex regulatory and criminal investigations as well as high stakes litigation across the US, Europe and Asia, and has advised on transformational regulatory developments and wealth management products and services across Switzerland and Asia. In his roles, Christoph has worked closely with business leaders, government authorities and the media, navigating businesses through regulatory and other challenges. Prior to this, Christoph was a litigator in leading practices in Switzerland and the US. Christoph also teaches post-graduate courses in 'Crisis Management' and 'Risk Governance' at the Europa Institute at the University of Zurich.

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