Risk managers in central and eastern Europe are failing to implement robust compliance procedures, according to Marsh.
In its survey, "Opportunities for competitive edge in Central and Eastern Europe", Marsh has highlighted a disconnect between the generally high awareness of risk and shortfalls in the quality of the companies' risk mitigation.
Neil Irwin, Marsh's European managing director of client development, said: “Many companies surveyed were very risk-aware and generally believed their compliance risks to be well managed.
"However, the high number of respondents not applying robust procedures to mitigate these risks indicates a lack of understanding of reporting standards in critical business areas. It appears many executives are unaware of changes to regulations that have a direct effect on their businesses and are thus operating under a false sense of security.”
Irwin added: “Most companies are aware of the need to establish a match between risk exposure and insurance, with 60% saying it is an important business move. However, fewer than 30% of respondents maintain a formal register of assessed risks.
“Central and eastern European companies are good at reviewing risks with almost half meeting quarterly to decide what issues may negatively affect the business. The worrying sign is that almost one-fifth of companies review risk issues on an ad hoc or post event basis. This is simply not enough or too late.
