Risk According to Hawke

John D. Hawke, Comptroller of the Currency, urged banks to strengthen their internal audit and compliance programs. In his speech to the attendees of BAI's Security, Audit, and Compliance Conference, Hawke reminded banks that they are in the business of risk management rather than of taking risks. According to Hawke, bungee jumpers take risks and banks manage risks.

The art of risk management is to maintain risk controls and procedures that are proportional to the bank's exposure to risk. Hawke is concerned that in a banking environment of rising risk, banks are not increasing their risk controls in the forms of audit and compliance programs.

Copyright © 1999 Compliance Action. Originally appeared in Compliance Action, Vol. 4, No. 5 & 6, 5/99