ORX Reference Risk Indicator Library

Library - May 2023

Are you getting value from your risk indicators?

Working with Oliver Wyman and leading financial institutions, we created the ORX Reference Risk Indicator Library - a comprehensive library of risk indicators for the financial industry.

The library is based on an extensive data set collected from more than 50 banking and insurance ORX members, as well as industry expertise.

You can use the library to:

Benchmark your internal risk indicators or risk indicator library against industry practice
Ensure your resource is focused on the right areas
Demonstrate to senior managers and regulators that you're aligned to the rest of the industry.
Support the development of your own library
Enhance and optimise your risk indicator practices

The library is available for free to all ORX members or for non-members to purchase.

Get access to an industry-leading library of risk indicators

The ORX Reference Risk Indicator Library provides an industry-validated framework for effective risk indicators. We developed the library in collaboration with Oliver Wyman and our membership.

Based on risk indicator data provided by over 50 financial services firms, and aligned with the ORX Reference Operational Risk Taxonomy, it is the most comprehensive tool of its kind.  It helps you check your monitoring the right risks and provides a structure that helps you to develop your organisation's library. 

To find out how you can access the library, and to download a free introduction, speak to us today.

Why did we develop the ORX Reference Risk Indicator Library?

Risk indicators are a key area of focus for many ORX members, who have regularly told us that they want to enhance their practices and, in many cases, are taking significant steps to do so. While risk indicators have the potential to boost risk management practices, the industry needs to make more progress to unlock their full value.

So, along with Oliver Wyman and an ORX member advisory group, we developed the ORX Reference Risk Indicator Library to support standardisation, enable benchmarking, help identify areas for improvement and support future information sharing. 

How does the ORX Reference Risk Indicator Library help?

Aligned to the ORX Reference Risk Taxonomy, the ORX Reference Risk Indicator Library provides a framework for the typical risk indicators currently used by the industry today.

In the library, risks are categorised in line with the ORX Event Type Reference Taxonomy (level 1 risks and level 2 risks). 

Risk indicators are presented using a two-level structure: 

• Level 1 reference risk indicators: these are general categories (e.g., controls) and may therefore apply to multiple risk types
• Level 2 reference risk indicators: these involve a greater level of detail – reference indicators at this level are usually specific to the level 2 risk that they address

Each level 2 risk indicators has a simplified description leveraged from member data and is characterised as:

• Leading or lagging in nature 
• Focusing on inherent risk, control effectiveness or impact 

How to use the library

The library provides a broad view of the better risk indicators used by a range of ORX members for each risk. It is informed by a wide range of organisations across a variety of geographies and business lines (from both banking and insurance). As a result, there will be indicators in the library that may not be applicable to every financial services organisation.

Given the theme of some risks, the library can be approached in different ways and can be adapted to your business as required. Because of its origins in industry data, the library provides a good guide to the potential risk indicators to be considered. However, depending on your organisation’s business mix and risk profile, some indicators may be less relevant, and you may also want to be more or less granular. In addition, some may align to risks different to those mapped in the ORX Reference Risk Indicator Library. 

Contacts