Dear CRO: Behavioural risk management is the new thing for you
Abstract
Behavioural risk management (BRM) helps to better prevent risk events that can hurt financial services firms, their customers, shareholders and society. Underpinned by methods and insights from across the behavioural sciences (such as organisational and social psychology, decision making and cognitive science, etc), this forward-looking risk management approach is increasingly encouraged by regulators and invested in by financial institutions globally. This paper provides a practical three-step approach to manage behavioural risk, illustrated with financial services case studies. Future developments are then discussed. The paper closes with common implicit beliefs that may hinder senior risk management professionals initiating BRM in their organisations and a manifesto for action to help get started.
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Author's Biography
Wieke Scholten is a social and organisational psychologist with 20 years of experience in behavioural analysis and change in organisations, including 12 years in financial services. She is a former Head of Behavioural Risk in the Group Internal Audit division of NatWest Group, Senior Supervisor of Behaviour & Culture in the Dutch Central Bank and (Co-)Lead Partner of Behavioural Risk at &samhoud consultancy. She obtained her PhD, which was focused on preventing conduct issues in teams in trading and sales businesses, from Leiden University. She lectures at the Institute of Banking and Institute of Directors in Ireland on behavioural risk management and has published papers in leading journals, including the `Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance` and the `Harvard Business Review`, on how organisations deploy behavioural science to better prevent poor outcomes.
Alexandra Chesterfield has spent the past 15 years establishing and leading behavioural science teams to drive better outcomes in both regulatory and commercial contexts. Currently, she leads the behavioural risk team at NatWest, one of the UK’s largest banks. The team’s innovative work in transforming the Internal Audit function has been featured in `Forbes`. She has a MSc in cognitive and decision science from University College London and is currently a part-time PhD candidate at the London School of Economics. Her research integrates psychological science with advances in AI and digital data to understand institutional failure. Alex is also the co-author of ‘Poles Apart’, published by Penguin Random House in 2021 and developed into a course with Jesus College, Cambridge University. This content is authored by Alexandra in a personal capacity and does not reflect the views or positions of her employer, NatWest Group.
Citation
Scholten, Wieke and Chesterfield, Alexandra (2024, October 1). Dear CRO: Behavioural risk management is the new thing for you. In the Journal of Risk Management in Financial Institutions, Volume 17, Issue 4. https://doi.org/10.69554/TGJO9623.
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