GOVERNANCE OF RISK

EVENT OVERVIEW :

The changing landscape of risk is creating a global conversation about how principles of corporate governance need to evolve to respond more appropriately to the relationship with risk management. Although technology has created greater global interconnectivity which is an asset for most businesses, interconnectivity makes the perspective of risk-taking extremely complex. The world’s corporations and regulators are keeping a keen eye how large enterprises are managing and responding to risk failures so they can avoid the same mistakes. They are learning that companies tend to underestimate the cost of risk failures internally and externally. In many cases, corporations are also underestimating the cost of time that the Board and managers need to address the damage control. As the conversation continues, corporations are trending toward wanting to take a broader-based approach towards corporate governance to suit more diverse situations.
This 2-day masterclass addresses the correlation of corporate governance and risk management, and how to draw a concrete risk management framework that will aid in establishing a risk appetite statement, determining the risk framework, and managing and mitigating enterprise risks. The first day highlights the best practices of corporate governance and ways on strengthening it from the perspective of effective risk management culture while the second day focuses on enterprise risk management (ERM) and its frameworks according to ISO 31000:2018 and COSO.

Sharon Ditchburn has over 25 years of experience in the fields of accounting, law, corporate governance and compliance. In 2004, she formed one of the first Compliance and Corporate Governance specialist forms in the Middle East.

Sharon is qualified in accountancy and law and is an authorised individual with various DFSA regulated entities, including investment banks, brokerages, trust companies and wealth managers. She brings with her an extensive experience at senior management level, including CFOs and Company Secretaries to several boards in a variety of public and private companies in Australia and the UAE. She moved to the UAE as a Head of Finance for a national UAE bank. She is the Founder and Managing Director of Capital Advantage Consultants established in 2004, which is one of the largest local firms offering compliance, AML and corporate governance services.

Her experience ranges across financial services, information technology, mining, utilities and hospitality industries, covering advice and implementations of compliance and corporate governance programs, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital start-ups and investor programmes. She is a Fellow of CPA Australia, Governance Institute of Australia, ICSA (UK), a committee member of the Centre of Excellence for ESG for CPA Australia, a committee member of the Examinations and Awards Committee for the Certified Director programme by the GCC Board of Directors Institute, a member of the Australia Institute of Company Directors and holds an MBA (and a recipient of the Solvi Stenbro Prize), specializing in Corporate Governance and Entrepreneurship. Sharon is also certified to deliver the IFC (WorldBank) Director Development Programs.

Recent projects include a full governance assessment and development of the charters, policies and governance framework for a major listed international pharmaceutical company, a governance review and operational risk program for an international school group (family company), statutory lodgements including IRAP and ICAAP policies for a range of financial institutions (including investment banks, brokers and asset managers), and delivery of courses in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Mauritius on enterprise risk management (ERM), subsidiary governance, corporate governance and board secretarial skills.