FICCI-GRMI set-up voluntary 'Model' Code on Risk Management for Indian businesses

Nov 24, 2021

• Constitute a taskforce under former SEBI Chairperson to help businesses institute risk management and risk mitigation systems

NEW DELHI, 24 November 2021: With the intent of helping businesses institute risk management and risk mitigation systems, FICCI and Global Risk Management Institute (GRMI) are collaborating to develop a Model Risk Code for the Indian businesses.

Highlighting the role of risk management in driving sustainable growth, this initiative will guide businesses to develop effective enablers for practical implementation and benefit from making risk-intelligent decisions.

Risk Management is now widely being acknowledged by both corporates and academia as having a significant role in business strategy. It is not only instrumental in preventing significant failures but also has a critical role to play in successfully exploiting business opportunities to create sustainable shareholder value. However, there has been lack of clarity on how corporate leaders can implement robust risk management practices that not only help deal with risks but also optimize risks. Addressing this gap, FICCI-GRMI have constituted a Risk Task Force under the chairmanship of Mr M Damodaran, Chairperson, Excellence Enablers and former Chairman, SEBI. Other eminent leaders from industry, consulting and academia include Mr Sunil Mehta, Non-Executive Chairman, Yes Bank; Mr Richard Rekhy, Former CEO of KPMG India, current Board Member of KPMG Dubai; Prof Madhu Vij, Former Senior Finance Professor at FMS Delhi and visiting faculty at IIM Raipur & IIM Jammu.

Speaking on the initiative, Prof Madhu Vij, Co-Chair of the Task Force said, "Our vision is to work towards making risk management real and creating a model risk code that enables better adoption by corporates; the adoption trigged by perceived value in risk intelligent decision making and not by virtue of the code being a potential regulation."

Mr Richard Rekhy, Co-Chair of the Task Force said, "Given the amount of effort that is going into preparing the Risk Code, I am sure it will come out as an extremely useful tool in the hands of Indian corporates. The success of the initiative will lie in the adoption of the code by both Indian corporates and regulators."

Explaining the rationale behind this initiative, which has participation of senior leaders of FICCI, Mr Arun Chawla, Director General, FICCI said, "FICCI is keen to help its member- companies derive value from implementing risk management practices and overcome key challenges in implementation of risk management framework. We are happy to collaborate with GRMI for developing a 'Model' Risk Code for Indian industry that guides business for effectively managing risks in all segments of business."

Mr Subhashis Nath, Founder & Mentor of GRMI and SVP & Enterprise Risk & Compliance - Service Line Leader, Genpact stated, "This initiative is an opportunity for Global Risk Management Institute (GRMI) to contribute and equip India Inc with practical risk management implementation standards and enable them to take bolder, faster, risk intelligent business decisions."

The Model Risk Code is targeted at a wide range of companies, cutting across sectors and going beyond the top 1000 companies which are mandatorily required to have a Risk Management Committee by SEBI.  The Code would also encompass the MSMEs and start-ups, for which the implementation of risk management practices is nuanced due to their dynamic nature of business, varying maturity levels and risk appetite. The Risk Code would be especially useful for the sectors witnessing multi-dimensional disruption across technological, demographic, financial and other external aspects such as Higher Education and Healthcare.

Taskforce Members include:

M Damodaran (Chairman)	Chairperson, Excellence Enablers and former Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
Sidharth Birla	Past President, FICCI & Chairman, Xpro India Limited
Subhrakant Panda	Vice President, FICCI and Managing Director, Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd
Prof. Madhu Vij	Academic Council Chair and President at GRMI, Former Senior Finance Professor at FMS Delhi and visiting faculty at IIM Raipur & IIM Jammu
Mukesh Butani	Founding & Managing Partner, BMR Legal
Prof. Rajan Saxena	Former Vice-Chancellor of the SVKM's NMIMS
Richard Rekhy	Former CEO of KPMG India, current Board Member of KPMG Dubai
Subhashis Nath	Founder & Mentor of GRMI, SVP & Enterprise Risk & Compliance - Service Line Leader, Genpact
Jenitha John	Former IIA Global Chairperson
Nawshir Mirza	Former Senior Partner at E&Y LLP (India)
P. Dwarakanath	Former Non-Executive Chairman, GSK
PR Ramesh	Former Deloitte India, Chairman
Prof. Paul L. Walker	James J. Schiro / Zurich Chair in ERM at St. John's University
Richard Evans	Former Chief Risk Officer, Citibank
Ritu Chawla Kochhar	Financial Services & PE India Practice Leader, Spencer Stuart
Satyavati Berera	Chief Operating Officer, PwC India
Shardul Shroff	Executive Chairman, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co Advocates & Solicitors
Sunil Mehta	Non-Executive Chairman, Yes Bank