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Enterprise-Wide Risk Assessment

Identify risks across your organisation, see where controls fall short, and focus action where it matters most.

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    About Enterprise-Wide Risk Assessment

    A business can look healthy while problems are building quietly behind the scenes. One department may see a supplier issue. Another may notice late payments. Management may not realise that both problems come from the same weakness.

    An enterprise-wide risk assessment, or EWRA, joins those pieces together. Instead of looking at departments one by one, Vertex Compliance follows risk across the organisation. We look at the decisions people make, the controls they depend on and what happens when something goes wrong. The work can include strategy, operations, finance, technology, people, third parties and regulatory responsibilities.

    The result is a clearer picture of where the business stands. You’ll know which risks are already well managed, which ones are being underestimated and where action is needed before a manageable issue becomes an expensive one.

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    What Our EWRA Reviews

    Every organisation faces a different mix of risks. We focus on the areas that matter to your business and see how they connect.

    1. Risks and Appetite

    A risk register may contain dozens of items. That does not mean the business understands which ones could cause real harm. We begin with the organisation’s goals and work backwards. What could stop those goals from being achieved? Where could the business lose money, customers or its ability to operate? The answer may involve strategy, regulation, technology, security, people, suppliers or reputation. We also look at risk appetite. In plain terms, how much risk is the organisation prepared to accept? We check whether that limit is clear enough to guide real decisions—not just written in a policy that few people use.

    2. Controls and Ownership

    A familiar problem appears in many organisations: everyone knows about a risk, but nobody is sure who owns it. That uncertainty can leave important work undone. One team assumes another is checking a supplier. A manager believes Finance is monitoring a payment risk, while Finance believes the operational team is responsible. We trace these responsibilities and look at the controls around them. That may include approvals, access rights, reporting lines, delegated authority and segregation of duties. Written procedures are useful, but they tell only part of the story. We also speak with the people doing the work to understand what happens on an ordinary day—and what changes when the team is under pressure.

    3. Reporting and Response

    Senior management cannot act on risks it never sees. We look at how concerns travel through the business. Are incidents reported quickly? Do recurring problems reach the people with authority to fix them? Can management tell the difference between a minor control issue and a risk that needs immediate attention? The review also considers business continuity, contingency plans and follow-up actions. If the organisation has faced a previous incident, we check what changed afterwards. Recording that something went wrong is not enough. The useful question is whether the organisation learned from it and became less likely to face the same problem again.

    Our Approach

    We keep the process focused and practical, without burying your team in unnecessary requests.

    1
    Understand Your Business

    We start with a proper conversation. How does the business make money? Where is it heading? What keeps management awake at night? Your structure, customers, markets, systems and regulatory duties help us set the scope. We then read the documents that matter, including policies, risk registers, management reports and previous findings. This gives us a useful starting point and stops the assessment from turning into a generic checklist.

    2
    Review Existing Controls

    A policy explains what is meant to happen. We need to know what actually happens. We speak with the people responsible for key processes and follow how work moves between teams. Where needed, we examine records or test selected controls. This often reveals practical issues that are easy to miss on paper: an approval that is routinely bypassed, a report nobody reads or a responsibility shared so widely that no one truly owns it.

    3
    Prioritise Key Risks

    Marking every issue as urgent helps nobody. We consider how likely each risk is, the damage it could cause and how much protection the current controls provide. A serious risk with weak controls will usually need faster action than a minor issue that is already being managed well. This gives management a realistic order of priorities and a better basis for deciding where its time, people and budget should go.

    4
    Plan Your Actions

    The final plan explains what should change, who should take responsibility and when the work should be completed. We talk your team through the findings rather than simply sending a report. If something is unclear, we explain how the conclusion was reached. Vertex can also remain involved while changes are planned, put in place or reviewed.

    Who Is an EWRA For?

    Banks and Financial Institutions
    Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions
    Fintech and Virtual Asset Businesses
    Growing and Complex Organisations

    Ideal for organisations that need to identify risks across their business, assess how well existing controls work, and decide where to act first.

    Why Choose Vertex Compliance?

    Full Risk Visibility

    A risk may look small when one team views it alone. Bring together information from Operations, Finance, Compliance and Technology, and a different picture may emerge. We connect those views and check them against the evidence, giving management a more honest understanding of where the organisation is exposed.

    Risk-Based Priorities

    Some risks need immediate work. Others can be monitored or handled through existing controls. We help you tell the difference. This prevents time and money being spent on low-value fixes while a more serious issue remains open elsewhere in the business.

    Clear Action Ownership

    An action without an owner usually stays open. We identify where responsibility is unclear and help show who owns the risk, who operates the control and who needs to receive updates. That makes progress easier to track and missed actions harder to excuse.

    Evidence-Led Decisions

    Leaders make better choices when they can see both the opportunity and the risk. A clear enterprise-wide view supports decisions about investment, growth, systems and new markets. It also gives boards, auditors and regulators stronger evidence that risks are understood and actively managed.

    Meet the Experts

    Sarah Khan
    Vasantha Madan Mohan

    Managing Director

    Sarah Khan
    Sridhar Rajam

    Associate Partner

    Sarah Khan
    Arjun Mohan

    Director – Sales & Marketing

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Separate reviews can miss risks that move between teams. A supplier problem, for example, may affect operations, cash flow, customers and reputation. An EWRA brings those effects into one view.
    It depends on the size and structure of the organisation, the number of areas included and the information available. We agree on the scope and provide a realistic timeline before the detailed work begins.
    We may request policies, organisation charts, risk registers, management reports, incident records and previous assessments. We’ll also speak with relevant people across the business. The request will be limited to information that supports the agreed scope.
    You receive clear findings, risk ratings and a prioritised action plan. The report shows what is working, where exposure remains and what management should address first. We’ll also explain the findings directly to your team.
    Review it at least annually and update it when significant changes affect your business, such as entering a new market, launching a product, or facing a new regulatory requirement. The right frequency also depends on your organisation’s risk profile and applicable rules.
    Yes. Your team can manage the actions internally, or Vertex can help with remediation, control improvements and follow-up reviews. We can agree on the right level of support after the findings have been discussed.