In today’s new era of risk and permanent volatility, the chief financial officer–chief risk officer partnership (CFO-CRO) can promote a more effective, integrated approach to risk management, while driving further operational efficiencies in financial firms, helping to build agility and retain and attract talent.

This report reviews Accenture’s research findings on how global financial firms worldwide have been changing the way the risk and finance functions work togeth

A strong CFO-CRO partnership can set the foundation for a next-generation risk management initiative that is designed to align global strategy with risk, optimize the use of data and analytics and draw on sophisticated tools for coping with unknown and non-traditional risks.

CFOs and CROs in the financial sector, particularly in many advanced economies, are facing a “perfect storm” of volatility in the economy and financial markets, escalating regulatory demands and intensifying pressures on business profitability. Against this backdrop, and in a context in which the risk function increasingly has an independent reporting line, achieving the risk-finance coordination necessary to ride out this storm can place the CFO-CRO partnership under strain. Even as many financial firms have sought to ensure greater authority for the risk function, factors such as a move toward the use of risk-adjusted capital adequacy frameworks and regulatory pressure for more integrated reporting are creating pressure for greater operational integration.

Accenture undertook a blend of quantitative and qualitative research, including in-depth interview discussions with CFOs and CROs from 17 leading financial institutions worldwide, and analysis of the financial sector results from three major global surveys of senior executives—including more than 1,400 respondents in total—regarding risk management, finance and risk analytics.