Use case · Board reporting
A documented basis for risk decisions at board level.
Boards are expected to take risk decisions on an adequate information basis. We provide that basis for integrity risk: rated, sourced and written so that it still makes sense when someone reads it in three years.
The situation
The management board has to decide on markets, partners or compliance resources; the supervisory board or audit committee has to monitor the effectiveness of risk management and compliance. Both need information they can rely on, and both may later have to show what they knew and when.
Internal reports tend to describe the compliance programme. What is often missing is an independent view of the external risk the programme is meant to address.
Questions the analysis answers
- Where is our integrity exposure highest, by country, sector and focus area?
- How has the enforcement environment changed since the last review?
- Which risks are new, which have grown and which have receded?
- Are compliance resources allocated in line with the risk profile?
- What do recent cases at competitors mean for us?
Typical scope
The group's material markets and sectors, often all seven focus areas. Adding the internal module gives the board a combined view of external exposure and internal indicators such as cases, partners, sponsorships and donations.
- A management summary that fits a board pack
- A heatmap that can be compared year on year when the analysis is repeated
- A results session with the board or committee, if requested
What you get
- Management summary with the key exposures and recommended priorities
- Risk heatmap across countries, sectors and focus areas
- Rationale and sources behind every rating, for later reference
- XLSX annex that feeds into your enterprise risk register
- Presentation of the results to the board or committee
Frameworks this supports
German corporate law links board decisions and oversight to an adequate information basis and to functioning risk systems.
- § 93 (1) sentence 2 AktG – business judgment rule
- Board members are protected when they reasonably believe they acted on the basis of adequate information in the interest of the company. A documented risk analysis supports that information basis.
- § 91 (3) AktG
- Since the FISG, management boards of listed companies must establish an internal control and risk management system that is appropriate and effective given the scope of business and the risk situation.
- IDW PS 980
- Compliance risks are one of the basic elements of a compliance management system; their systematic identification and assessment is a precondition for an appropriate programme.
We provide risk analysis, not legal advice. Questions of board liability remain with your legal counsel.
Questions on board reporting
Can the results be presented directly to the board?
Yes. The management summary is written for board readers, and the results session can be held with the management board, the supervisory board or the audit committee.
Can the analysis be repeated to show change over time?
Yes. A repeat analysis uses the same scale and criteria and marks which ratings have changed and why.
Tell us the decision you are preparing.
Send us your countries, sectors and the context of the decision. We come back with a scope proposal: fixed scope, timeline and price.