Operational Risk is a tricky highway, what does the Next 'T-Junction' look like for you?

This phase in our lives will go back in time as a critical phase in the shaping of the new normal for Operational risk. The decisions we take today impact the global industry for many years to come. The question that arises now is what does this mean for the way we look at Operational risk and what needs to change. I want to explore some themes here:

• 'I have everything I need to manage Operational risk' - this is the first comment one hears when meeting a number of clients…the more experienced CROs and OR Heads will of course be more candid and forthcoming as they are keen to get your perspective and insights. Blending the 'Inside-out' with the 'Outside-in' helps provide a more balanced and 'real' basis for firms to understanding meaningfully where they stand in their journey and what needs to be done.

A NEW INNINGS

The establishment of The Operational Risk Practice Pte. Ltd. in June 28^th was really the end of a period of restlessness driven by a strong desire to do something meaningful and diverse in the Operational risk industry. It also marked the beginning of Chapter 2 about which I will continue to write. The restlessness still continues. Oh, yes it does…but this is now on my terms and linked to the aspirations to do a lot within a short space of time in the Risk Advisory & Learning space.

It has been close to 8 mths since we started. We have had our successes on both fronts. As of date we have Advisory clients and have also launched industrywide learning courses and workshops for operational risk across Asia and Middle East.  We also represent the largest Association and Data Consortium for Operational risk in Asia.  We have had our moments of pain and discomfort as well. But at the end of the day there is a quiet sense of excitement, strange feeling of liberation and satisfaction. This, from the varied conversations one is able to have on a diverse set of topics and needs and also being out of the ‘comfort zone’. Every conversation throws up new ideas, thoughts that are noted and revisited every now and then to see how they fit into the broader business plan.

Being hands-on for everything is in its own way gratifying. You are way out of any ‘comfort zone’. Travelling to a new location is without the backing of any major corporate infrastructure. Feels strange, but there is a quiet sense of achievement and determination that comes with it. The entrepreneurial journey has allowed me to reconnect with friends, colleagues and peers who I had lost touch with for quite a while. Some of them are dispersed across the globe. Thank god for skype, email, crackberry’s and the rest of the gizmos. Thanks Steve Jobs for making things easier, linked and fun.  Thank you to my family for their never ending support and encouragement during my moments of reflection and hysteria. Thank you to my friends for sticking by me and throwing up ideas, thoughts and being there.

There is a road ahead. It has my name on it. It gets clearer with every lesson learnt, every success and every failure. There are several T-Junctions. Destiny and effort will show the way.

THE JOURNEY

My professional career started when I joined Standard Chartered in 1990 after graduating with a Masters in Management Studies from Sydenham Institute of Management in Mumbai. My first appointment in Standard Chartered was as line manager responsible for running the data centre for the eight branches in Kolkata (then known as Calcutta, India). Two years later, I was given two days notice to move to Mumbai as Operations Head for the Investment Management Unit in the Merchant Bank. I continued and grew in this role until 1997, when I got the opportunity to move into a newly created role to look at internal controls for specific Business and all the Support Functions for Standard Chartered India. The role reported into the CEO and CFO. This role grew and morphed into a Business and Operations Risk role for India and included responsibility for Insurance, BCP and Y2K.

Around 1999, I started getting restless and began looking out for new areas to venture into within the bank. The question that dogged me was – what is the logical next step for someone with my background. It was then that I became aware of a new function being set up in London called Group Operational Risk. I contacted the Head of the function to understand more. The more we spoke, the more I realized that this was the answer that I was looking for. I consulted with my colleagues in the Finance function and a few friends. Some were very supportive, but there were others who warned that I was taking a big risk….no one in India had heard of Operational Risk. Think twice, I was warned.