Rethinking Risk Management Strategy: Three Ways to Reinvent
Financial institutions have seen it all over the past 15 years: Heightened economic volatility, geopolitical instability, rapid technological disruptions and a shifting regulatory landscape have reshaped the risk environment. Risk management has climbed the executive agenda, yet the response has remained largely unchanged.
This mismatch has created a dangerous gap in readiness. According to our analysis, in just the last five years, global banks absorbed more than $15 billion in fines, even as they poured $60 billion each year into financial crime compliance.
The price of these penalties is more than financial – it reflects deeper structural issues.
Regulatory enforcement actions drive up operating costs, creating a burden for the big institutions and an existential threat for mid-sized players. Firms that have been taking a passive, reactive approach are on a treadmill of remediation, spending too much money and not seeing progress.
What’s clear now is that the old approach doesn’t work. The industry is nearing a tipping point. The path forward demands a smarter, more deliberate way of managing risk. It’s time to rethink the fundamentals and design risk into the business from the start.
Three Dimensions of Change
In June 2025, Accenture surveyed more than 200 senior finance, risk and compliance leaders from major North American banks. The results made a strong case for sweeping reinvention: Few respondents described their current risk management models as “future ready,” while about 40% admitted they’re not “fully prepared” for the next major crisis.
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