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maintain a tight financial control environment with respect to accounting controls and process. Incorporate a strategic approach to IT architecture to ensure data integrity, consistency and process controls while reducing reliance on human, manual processes—a source of risk and errors;
ensure a robust budgeting and capital allocation process built on a strong financial planning & analysis team that is well integrated into the business. Push data transparency to business leaders. They are best positioned to make difficult trade-offs in the budgeting process, but often lack data granularity to make those choices and to see the imperative;
culture matters: a culture of honest, frank debate that challenges the status quo and avoids homogeneity of thoughts makes the job more fun and leads to better results. A broad range of experience, and even some battle scars ensures the organization recognizes patterns to foresee emerging risks. In that regard, a diverse team with respect to gender, race, and socioeconomic background brings differentiated perspectives, contributing to effective risk management.
Make tough calls early and ideally, once. Lead.
CFO is now also the firm’s most senior global manager for guardianship and risk management. Guardianship includes accounting ( the controller function) and overseeing a comprehensive approach to IT systems. Risk management requires identifying sources of vulnerability, stress testing and planning against them. The CFO has become a trusted adviser to the CEO, board and business leaders, which includes budgeting, capital allocation, and sensitivity analysis.
Three takeways from financial crisis relevant in both good and bad markets as well as across industries:
Understand your greatest sources of vulnerability and defend against them. For financial services, liquidity access to cash was a weak point. Liquidity is oxygen for a financial system and without it, you choke. Without sufficient liquidity, banks were forced into a negative cycle of selling assets to raise cash.
Build a robust control infrastructure ahead of needs, including financial and risk management controls, systems, and processes.
Recognize that time is your enemy. The glaring examples, in retrospect, were the clear signs of crisis in August 2007 and the March 2008 collapse of Bear Stearns, but reactions were slow and nonexistent. Even in good times, business leaders must focus on resource optimization to maximize the potential for highest returns on investment.
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