โAs we grow and develop our financial sector to serve the needs in the real economy, we must take proper risk management. At the macro level, to maintain our resilience, we must also be prepared for major disruptions in the global financial markets,โ Singapore Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said in an industry event.
โโAn ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.โ This sentiment is the reason that risk management exists. In global markets that are increasingly marked by volatility and subject to complex social, political and economic change, risk management is more crucial than ever to keep companies out of the red and into the black. Risk management teams identify, evaluate and prioritise risks and act to minimise and control adverse events or maximise opportunities that come with disruption.
Following the global financial crisis, risk management teams have become increasingly important to help protect financial markets and prevent firms experiencing further fines and sanctions. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) fined 42 financial institutions a total of S$16.8 million for the period between July 1, 2017 and Dec 31, 2018 for market abuse, financial services misconduct and money laundering-related breaches. Important trends suggest that risk management is set to experience even more sweeping change in the next decade.
A recent report by McKinsey & Company explains how the role of risk management will change in the coming years. Today, about half of the risk management employees are dedicated to risk-related operational processes such as credit administration, while 15% work in analytics. The reports forecasts that by 2025, these numbers will be closer to 25 and 40%, respectively.
The growth in the numbers employed within risk management looks to be significantly higher than other industries.
