(Extract from Online News) "Achieving the proper balance between entrepreneurial risk and enterprise value protection is the most difficult task of risk management and internal control, according to a new report from the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)" The report describes how COSO’s enterprise risk management (ERM) and internal control frameworks can be used to improve organisational performance and governance "The five lines of defence identified by DeLoach, a managing director for global consulting firm Protiviti, are: 1. Tone of the organisation. Tone at the top is not enough, DeLoach said. He said the tone at the middle and bottom of organisations – as established by middle managers instructing their employees – must be aligned with the tone at the top. “A proper tone of the organisation sets a strong risk culture, which is foundational to the other lines of defence,” DeLoach said. 2. Primary risk owners. These include business owners and process leaders whose activities create risk. DeLoach said they need to take ownership in managing and mitigating risk. 3. Independent risk-management and compliance management functions. The titles of these functions vary across organisations, but DeLoach said their duties are to create a framework for identifying, measuring, evaluating and monitoring risk, and to ensure that the framework is applied across the organisation in a robust manner. 4. Assurance functions. This role is typically filled by internal audit, DeLoach said. 5. Escalation process. This involves reporting of status, progress and problems all the way up to executive management and the board of directors. “They are the last line of defence,” DeLoach said." http://www.coso.org/documents/2014-2-10-COSO%20Thought%20Paper.pdf Article Source : http://www.cgma.org/Magazine/News/Pages/20149569.aspx