Traditionally, organisations have viewed risk management as a corporate requirement, and have often grouped it with audit and regulatory functions. Some have even empowered and titled corporate groups to “manage risk” along these lines. This has often centred on managing insurance policies and reviewing reports from rating agencies, which suggests that risk management was viewed more as the hedging of certain risks and the overall outsourcing of critical risk analysis, especially as related to credit risk.

The recent economic downturn has shown a new face and place for risk management. The strongest companies in this downturn are those that integrated risk management as a more comprehensive part of corporate strategy. The weaker companies depended on the traditional risk management school of thought mentioned above almost entirely. This is true in financial services and extends to nearly all industries reliant on credit, market, and operational risk management.