The Triumvirate of Risk Oversight: Aligning the Risk Chair, Regulator, and CRO

Introduction, by James Lam

It was November of 2012. The board of directors at E*Trade Financial and Bank took a big chance on me: They had just voted to add me to their group, even though I had no prior experience serving on the board of a public company or a bank. At that time, E*Trade was both. They also named me chair of what would be a critical element in E*Trade’s hoped-for turnaround—the risk oversight committee (ROC).

Today, E*Trade is a subsidiary o…