SEC Borrows a Page from the ERM Playbook

In an acknowledgement of the need for improvement in their risk management practices, the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission ("SEC") has created a new division for risk and strategy.  The SEC is following a similar path that many corporations are taking by creating an enterprise risk management program that will integrate silos of risk practices across the agency.  Here is what was reported by the Associated Press yesterday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has merged several offices and functions to create a division of risk, strategy and financial innovation.  The new division will be headed by Henry T.C. Hu, a professor of banking and finance law at the University of Texas, the agency announced Wednesday. The division combines the SEC's Office of Economic Analysis, Office of Risk Assessment and other functions. It will assume those areas as well as strategic and long-term analysis, identification of new trends in financial markets, and risk to the financial system.

This is certainly a step in the right direction for an agency that is battling to regain its reputation for sound oversight and enforcement.  In addition, the goal of linking their risk assessment to long-term, strategic analysis will prove to be useful by proactively addressing problem areas before they become massive like the Madoff Ponzi debacle.