Omega Investment Research

Omega Human Capital

Summary

A number of South African leading companies faced major crises recently, which once more highlighted the importance of good risk management strategies. At the “Managing Risk in a New Global Situation” conference on 9 October, 2003 well-known industry experts were discussing all aspects of risk, from the macro to the micro level, which corporates have to deal with today. Topics that were covered ranged from global trends in corporate governance and employment risk to fraud and corruption in the work place and regulatory compliance (please see the speakers and their topics below).

One of the highlights of the conference was certainly the presentation by Sean Summers, CEO of Pick ‘n Pay, who was sharing his very personal experiences and lessons that he had learned from the recent poison extortion bid Pick ‘n Pay was faced with. The key factor for successfully handling this crisis and even gaining in share price, he shared with the audience, was the importance of honesty and immediate and open communication with all Pick ‘n Pay stakeholders, including its employees, customers, shareholders and of course the media.

Similarly, Louis von Zeuner, Absa’s Group Executive Director, presented a very thorough analysis of Absa’s crisis management strategy around the internet banking fraud incidence, which challenged the largest South African banking group a few weeks ago. Again, effective communication together with the strength of the Absa brand were mentioned as two key factors for the successful management of the crisis.

One of the most imminent and underestimated crises facing Southern African corporates today is certainly the HIV/Aids pandemic, a fact that a number of speakers commented on. Clem Sunter, Chairman of the Anglo American Chairman’s Fund and the keynote speaker, Laurentia Truter of PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Dr Brian Brink, Anglo’s Senior Vice President: Health, stressed once more the urgency of this crisis and the responsibility of South African employers.   

Speakers and presentation topics

• Welcome and Introduction 
  Isalee da Costa, Head of Operational Risk, FNB Corporate

• New Challenges: The Corporate Environment in the 21^st Century
  Clem Sunter, Chairman, Anglo American Chairman’s Fund

• Global Trends in Corporate Governance
  Philip Armstrong, Independent Consultant to both the King Commission and other international corporate governance agencies

• Corporate Risk and the Management of Risk: The Nature of Modern Business
  Dr Steven Briers, Director, KPMG

• The Employment Risk
  Dr Laurentia Truter, Manager, PricewaterhouseCoopers

• Fraud & Corruption in the Work Place
  Adv Steven Powell, Partner, Deloitte & Touche Forensic Services

• Regulatory Compliance
  Celestine Munda, Partner, Ernst & Young

• Creating A Safe Export Trading Environment
  Gernot Krüger, General Manager Export, Credit Guarantee

• Addressing HIV/AIDS
  Dr Brian Brink, Senior Vice President (Medical), Anglo American

• Internet Security in the Banking Sector
  Louis von Zeuner, Group Executive Director, ABSA

• Responding to Extortion
  Sean Summers, CEO, Pick ’n Pay

• The Impact of Risk & IT Governance
  Dr Karin Badenhorst, Business Risk Services Partner, Ernst & Young

• Closing the Loop
  Edward Luyt & Rick Paley, Senior Partners, Integral Risk Solutions Inc.

Sponsors 

For more information on the above conference 
please contact Denise Koehler on tel: (021) 689-7881 or 
e-mail denise@omegainvest.co.za