Operational Risk & Controls Initiative of the Year 

This award recognises an outstanding project, programme or initiative that has strengthened operational risk management, governance or controls within an organisation. 

The winning entry will demonstrate how a clearly defined initiative improved organisational effectiveness, enhanced risk management or strengthened control frameworks. Judges will look for evidence of effective delivery, innovation, stakeholder engagement and measurable outcomes.  

Eligible initiatives may include control enhancement programmes, governance improvements, operational resilience initiatives, onboarding and due diligence improvements, risk framework implementation, controls automation or initiatives that strengthen first-line accountability.

Eligibility

  • Open to in-house teams or departments that have delivered an operational risk, governance or controls initiative.  
  • Entries must reflect activity and impact delivered within the last 12–18 months.  
  • The organisation or project team must be based in or operating within Europe. 
  • Joint entries demonstrating collaboration across business functions are encouraged. 
  • Advisory firms, technology providers, outsourced service providers are not eligible.

Criteria

  • Your submission needs to respond to the 3 criteria sections: Spirit, Approach and Outcome.
  • You will be awarded a maximum of 10 points per section (30 points in total).
  • Questions are suggested in each criteria section. These are prompts to help you think about the evidence that will help judges to best assess your entry. You do not need to address all questions, please use them as a guide.
  • The 4th criteria section Validation is optional and is your opportunity to provide supporting documents to further demonstrate to judges why your submission should win. You can submit up to 3 supporting documents.  

 

Spirit: Introduce the initiative and the context in which it was delivered 

Please include details such as: 

  • The operational risk, governance or controls challenge being addressed 
  • The business, regulatory or organisational context behind the initiative 
  • The objectives and intended outcomes 
  • Any key risks, complexities or constraints faced during delivery 

 

Approach: Describe how the initiative demonstrated excellence, innovation and effective delivery

Please address some or all of the following:

  • How the initiative was designed and implemented 
  • The actions taken to strengthen operational risk management, governance or controls 
  • Any innovation, technology, automation or process improvements introduced 
  • Examples of cross-functional collaboration or stakeholder engagement 
  • How challenges were overcome during implementation 
  • How the initiative supported broader business objectives, resilience or risk management priorities

 

Outcome: Show the value and impact delivered by the initiative

Please include evidence such as:

  • Improvements in operational risk management, governance or control effectiveness 
  • Quantitative and/or qualitative measures of success 
  • Benefits delivered to the organisation, customers or stakeholders 
  • Evidence that objectives were met or exceeded 
  • Long-term sustainability, scalability or embedded improvements resulting from the initiative 
  • Both quantitative and qualitative evidence are welcome.

 

Validation (Optional): Support your entry with any further information to show the judges why this initiative should win

Examples include:

  • Stakeholder testimonials (100 words maximum each) 
  • Audit findings, assurance reviews or independent assessments 
  • Evidence demonstrating measurable improvement against the initiative's objectives 
  • Examples of wider adoption, scalability or business impact 
  • External recognition, benchmarking or independent validation 
  • You may submit up to three supporting documents for this section.