Top 10 Operational Risks 2021.

5 April 2021
 

Baker McKenzie partnered with Risk.net in its annual ranking of the top operational risks for 2021. The report is based on a survey of 100 chief risk officers, heads of operational risk and senior practitioners at financial institutions, including banks, insurers, asset managers and infrastructure providers. These stakeholders chose their five most pressing op risk concerns for the year ahead. With digitization accelerating, it's not surprising to see IT disruption and data compromise at the top, together with a new entrant this year, employee wellbeing, in tenth place.

The Top 10 Op Risks for 2021 are:
 

1. IT disruption

2. Data compromise

3. Resilience risk

4. Theft and fraud

5. Third-party risk

6. Conduct risk

7. Regulatory risk

8. Organisational change

9. Geopolitical risk

10. Employee wellbeing
     

In our editorial and Q&A, we cover some of the rapid technological changes under way brought about by, and in the wake of, the COVID-19 pandemic. We also talk about important topics around governance, change management, incident readiness, cloud-based infrastructure, and the importance of continued investment and change.