FHLBC, Leading the Charge Towards Successful ERM

The Officers of the Association for Federal Enterprise Risk Management (AFERM) are pleased to invite you to the next presentation on enterprise risk management.

Presenter: Tom Harper, EVP and General Auditor for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago

Synopsis of the presentation:  In 2012 the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (FHLBC) was recognized by Open Compliance & Ethics Group (OCEG) for its progress in enterprise risk management (ERM). To be nominated for the award, organizations needed to demonstrate how their project took an integrated, rather than a siloed, approach across business areas and Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC), and how as a result, the organization was able to achieve principled performance.

FHLBC is a $68.9 billion government sponsored wholesale bank that serves the needs of member financial institutions in Illinois and Wisconsin. By providing liquidity, funding, and asset-liability management capabilities to member institutions on a secured basis, and by assisting members in providing affordable housing and economic development in their communities, the FHLB Chicago is a valuable partner for low-cost, short- and long-term funding.

The 2012 GRC Achievement Awards recognized FHLBC for its integrated risk and control re-engineering project, which focused on implementing a single, centralized risk management strategy with common controls, improved risk transparency and accountability, and an integrated reporting and control infrastructure. The project also enabled the implementation of common risk definitions, consistent risk evaluations, and independent but comparable risk reporting.

FHLBC’s overall goals for the project were to:

• Provide greater transparency and consistency to the risk and governance process across the organization
• Move the organizational culture from a solely compliance-focused organization to an integrated ‘Risk Management’ culture
• Evangelize a philosophy of ownership and accountability for risk and control to line management
• Provide a cost-effective infrastructure that integrated the governance framework of the organization
• Improve risk management practices across the organization

Tom Harper, EVP and General Auditor for the FHLBC, will discuss the journey and challenges in developing an integrated ERM program for the bank.  Tom will describe some of the practical approaches that FHLBC has adopted in its journey to provide a best-in-class risk management environment while fostering an entrepreneurial culture. Tom will also discuss the areas that FHLBC see as opportunities and the lessons that they have learned along the way.

Speaker’s Bio:
Tom Harper is the General Auditor for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago. Tom also leads the FHLBank system Internal Audit group. Tom has been focused on developing and implementing a model of cooperative, integrated and strategically focused internal audit engagement. Prior to joining the bank as Audit Director in June 2005, Tom worked for JPMorgan Chase (formally Bank One). Tom was in charge of the teams supporting capital markets and international treasury services, commercial and corporate areas, and investment banking. Latterly, he was accountable for the audit of JPMorgan’s corporate areas based out of New York. Prior to coming to Chicago, Tom was a manager on the international audit team based in the UK. Tom has managed business and technology audits and brings a proactive and creative product and business knowledge to all projects. Prior to JPMorgan/ Bank One, Tom worked for BZW (a securities house) and prior to that Tom worked for KPMG for 5 years.

Tom is a Chartered Accountant, Certified Information Systems Auditor, Certified Internal Auditor, and Certified Financial Services Auditor. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the Information System Audit and Control Association, the Institute of Internal Auditors, and the National Association of Corporate Directors. He is a graduate of the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London.

Dear Colleagues: This is an opportunity to hear a world-renowned speaker on enterprise risk management during lunch. Please encourage your colleagues to attend. As always, the success of AFERM depends on your active involvement. I look forward to seeing you at this exciting event. Please stay tuned for more details about lunch.

Thanks and hope to see you there!

Andy Tiedeman, PMP

Co-Chair, AFERM Program Committee