COSO publishes new risk management framework

Airmic has welcomed the newly published ERM Framework by the US-based Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Airmic's deputy CEO and technical director, Julia Graham, said the guidance is "an important recognition of the strategic importance of enterprise risk management".

The new document, Enterprise Risk Management - Integrating with Strategy and Performance, was published last month, and is designed to help organisations "create, preserve, and realize value" while improving their approach to managing risk, COSO said.

The framework, which updates the existing version dating back to 2004, highlights the importance of ERM in strategic planning, while stressing the need to embed ERM throughout an organisation.

"The complexity of risk has changed, new risks have emerged, and both boards and executives have enhanced their awareness and oversight of enterprise risk management while asking for improved risk reporting," said Robert B. Hirth Jr., chairman of COSO.

Ms Graham said the new framework places more emphasis on the importance of ERM than the previous version, which tended towards a compliance focus. "We very much welcome this shift and it is testament to how far risk management has developed in the past decade".

Julia Graham - deputy CEO and technical director, Airmic

"What he have from COSO is a truly useful tool for risk managers wanting to take risk management to the next level - one that supports all levels of strategic decision making and takes into account today's fast-paced and complex business environment."

The COSO guidance sits alongside risk management guidance from the International Organization for Standardization - ISO 31000, which is currently being updated. The ISO new guidelines are due to be published in the first quarter of 2018.

Visit www.coso.org to download the framework's executive summary.