A successful risk management strategy requires a strong internal control environment. The RCM format emphasizes that strong and risk-oriented internal control environments are often optimized with automated/manual controls, depending on the situation.

An RCM provides an overview of different control objectives that organizations should take into consideration and the corresponding controls to safeguard the company against risks, which may arise if not checked timely. Once customized to an organization, this document can help the user in assessing each control. The control assessment can then also be summarized to develop an action plan.

This document outlines risks and controls common to the executive compensation aspect of the 3.5.4 Manage Employee Compensation process in a risk control matrix (RCM) format.

Sample risks include:

• The compensation committee does not have a determined composition, purpose and/or operating guidelines.
• Personal loans are made to directors and executive officers in violation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
• Compensation committee members are not independent from management.
• The CEO has undue influence on compensation committee decisions.
• Executive compensation is not in line with the company’s executive compensation philosophy.

This document can be used as a sample RCM and is not meant to be an exhaustive list of risks and controls. The KnowledgeLeader team will periodically update this RCM with new content. Organizations should select, update and modify the risks and controls included in this document to ensure that it reflects business operations.