Principles for Improving Board Risk Reporting

The most common types of risk reporting received at least annually by boards include a high-level summary of top risks for the enterprise, as a whole, and its operating units; a periodic overview of management’s methodologies used to assess, prioritize and measure risk; and a summary of emerging risks that warrant board attention.

Within many organizations, board risk reporting is a subject of debate. We often hear such statements as “the reports we get are too detailed,” “reports are not actionable or focused on the right issues,” “we’re not sure what the board wants,” and the all-time classic, “we’re not sure the board knows what it wants.” This issue of Board Perspectives discusses six principles for delivering the focused risk reporting the board needs.