Since the financial crisis, companies are focused on GRC; however, despite pressures for change, companies remain at the infancy stage of convergence. There is a lack of coordination around GRC which leads to inefficiencies and inconsistencies amongst departments within an organization.

Foreword
In our 2010 publication – The Convergence Challenge – we examined how large global companies dealt with the decision-making process within their organizations around governance, risk and compliance. What we discovered was that individuals took unnecessary risks that damaged their firms’ business and reputation.Fast forward, and we are now in a situation where many countries have recovered, or are trying to recover from the financial crisis, sovereign bailouts and an environment where businesses are under more regulatory scrutiny. Have we seen an evolution of governance, risk and compliance (GRC) management? That is a pivotal question for discussion in this research document.During the financial crisis, organizations were fearful about their longevity and the ramifications of non-compliance with regulatory demands. This environment led to a surge in GRC activities that were costly and had an uncoordinated approach, which nay-sayers believe has led to inefficiencies and a lack of improved performance.This report examines whether there has been an emergence of GRC at the Board level of big business and whether GRC has become an integrated group that permeates all departments and functional levels within an organization, putting risk at the top of the agenda, rather than as an afterthought.Specialists throughout the globe have provided commentary to the key questions of inefficiency, performance improvement, strategy direction, perceived costs of GRC, and where we need to go from here.

John Farrell
Global Governance Risk & Compliance Leader - KPMG

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