Introduction

With heightened awareness of the need for corporate governance, American
boardrooms are immersed in increasingly intense discussions about the issues of
risk and compliance. With these new concerns, directors of public companies
are under the microscope more so than ever before. While financial risk remains
paramount, all systemic risks lead to financial risk in one way or another. This
survey explores not only financial risk, but the other important areas of risk
being discussed in boardrooms, such as regulatory compliance and reputational
risk, as well how boards gain insight on new topics of interest to their companies.
The survey results along with our analysis are presented in this report. These
insights could impact your thinking and, we hope, spur important discussions.

The executive summary outlines our survey results, but we invite you to read on
to understand more about what we are hearing from board members. Risk and
compliance are always hot topics. However with regulatory changes, the effect of
the recession and an uncertain recovery still very much top of mind; these topics
are commanding the agendas of boardrooms. We hope you find this report
useful and that you’ll share your thoughts and ideas with us.