By Bobby Charalambous, Head of Operational Risk Europe, ANZ Banking Group.
Bobby will also be speaking at the upcoming New Generation Operational Risk: Europe 2019 Summit in London (12-13 March).
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Bobby, can you please tell the Risk Insights readers a little bit about yourself and what your current professional focus is?
I have worked in financial institutions for my whole professional career mainly in Capital and Global Markets operations and Middle office roles, and then a new and exciting opportunity came up within risk about 5 years ago, when I made the transition into my current role. I have been lucky to have been involved in a number of initiatives including project leading the GDPR project last year and now my primary focus is project leading Brexit.
What, for you, are the benefits of attending a conference like the ‘New Generation Operational Risk: Europe’? What can attendees expect to learn from your session?
I find attending a conference such as “New Generation Operational Risk” really insightful as it highlights the challenges other organsiations face on the day to day management of operational risk and how other institutios approach different elements. It is a good platform to gain knowledge and from other like- minded professionals.
In your opinion, how do you think the role of operational risk manager is changing?
The role has to continuously change to reflect the external environment. Known static risks can be managed and mitigated, but emerging risks such as cyber require constant focus.
What are the key considerations that need to be made when demonstrating value to secure resources for operational risk?
Operational Risk if not managed properly can have catastrophic consequences. Just by looking at the recent external events, the losses incurred by Banks and fines imposed on institutions should assist in demonstrating how important it is to ensure correct resourcing requirements to manage and mitigate risk.
How is the competitive market increasing risk?
The digital era is increasing risk daily. The more sophisticated the technology, the more sophisticated the op risk professionals need to be in managing and mitigating risk.
Looking ahead, what operational / emerging risk do you think will keep people up at night?
It has to be cyber-crime.
