Risk managers need commercial nous, says Mizuho's Berry

Paul Berry, CRO of Mizuho International, believes risk managers must understand the commercial pressure facing frontline staff – and encourage those colleagues to reciprocate by getting actively involved in risk management

Paul Berry: empathy between business execs and risk managers

Bank traders and salespeople can sometimes be a cruel lot, caricaturing risk managers as bean counters and naysayers who love nothing more than to torpedo potentially lucrative deals.

Clearly, such people have never met Paul Berry, the London-based chief risk officer (CRO) of Mizuho International. He believes ardently that risk managers ought to show empathy towards their colleagues and understand the commercial pressures they are facing – not so that they become pushovers, but so that they can