ERM done well gives boards and management a clear view of the risks that matter most – and confidence that they're being managed. We build practical ERM frameworks for mid-market businesses in the UAE: risk appetite statements, risk registers, key risk indicators, and reporting structures that work in practice, not just on paper.
In brief: Enterprise risk management gives your board a structured view of the risks that could derail the business – concentration, tax and regulatory, liquidity, cyber, currency, and succession – with clear ownership and mitigation for each. We build proportionate, ISO 31000 and COSO-aligned ERM frameworks for UAE and GCC mid-market groups: a working risk register, a risk appetite statement, and a reporting rhythm that sticks. Fixed fee.
Most ERM frameworks look great on day one and gather dust by month three. We build frameworks that management teams actually use – starting with the risks that matter most to your business rather than a theoretical all-hazards inventory.
Risk appetite is the foundation of any ERM framework – it defines how much risk the business is willing to take in pursuit of its objectives. We work with boards and management to articulate risk appetite across strategic, financial, operational, and compliance dimensions.
A good risk register captures the risks that actually keep management awake at night – not a generic list of 200 items that no one owns. We facilitate risk identification workshops with management and build a focused, prioritised risk register that is owned and maintained at the business level.
Key risk indicators give you early warning when risks are moving in the wrong direction – before they become incidents. We develop KRI frameworks with meaningful metrics, thresholds, and escalation paths so management gets useful signals rather than noise.
Risk reporting is where ERM frameworks most often fail. Reports that are too long, too technical, or too backward-looking don't drive decisions. We design risk reporting structures that give boards and management the right information at the right level of detail to make informed decisions.
A no-obligation review of your current risk exposure, governance structure, and reporting maturity.
Engagement letter with agreed deliverables and fees, signed before work begins.
ISO 31000-aligned risk appetite, registers, and KRI development, led by our senior team.
Board risk reporting templates and embedding the framework into existing governance processes.
Periodic review and advisory as your risk profile and the regulatory landscape evolve.
ERM is a structured way for a business to identify the risks that could stop it achieving its objectives, decide how much risk it is willing to carry, and assign clear ownership for managing each one. In practice it produces a small set of working tools: a risk register ranked by likelihood and impact, a risk appetite statement, mitigation plans with owners and deadlines, and a reporting rhythm that keeps the board informed. Done well, it is a management discipline, not a compliance binder.
Across our UAE client base the recurring top risks are: concentration risk (one customer, one supplier, or one key person), tax and regulatory compliance risk following UAE CT and expanding FTA enforcement, liquidity and receivables risk in long payment-cycle sectors, cyber and data risk under the PDPL, currency exposure for businesses with non-AED costs or revenues, and succession risk in family-owned groups. An ERM framework forces these onto the board agenda before they become crises.
No. Large corporates have risk departments; mid-market businesses have exactly the same categories of risk with no one formally watching them, which arguably makes ERM more valuable, not less. The framework just needs to be proportionate: a focused register of 15-25 material risks, quarterly review, and clear ownership beats a 200-line register nobody reads. That proportionality is exactly how we build ERM for UAE mid-market and family businesses.
A typical engagement runs 4 to 8 weeks: risk identification workshops with management, scoring and ranking, risk appetite definition with the board, mitigation planning with named owners, and design of the ongoing reporting cycle. We can then support the first year of quarterly reviews while the discipline embeds. Fees are fixed and agreed upfront based on the size and complexity of the group.
ERM is forward-looking: it identifies and prioritises risks before they materialise and assigns ownership for managing them. Internal audit is backward and control-testing focused: it independently verifies whether existing controls actually work as designed. The two are complementary – a mature risk function typically uses the ERM risk register to help set the internal audit plan.
Risk appetite is set through a structured workshop with the board or ownership group, translating strategic objectives into explicit tolerance levels for each major risk category – for example, maximum acceptable customer concentration or currency exposure. The board or ultimate owner formally signs off on the statement, since it is what management is subsequently held to.
ISO 31000 and the COSO ERM framework are principles-based standards, not certifications you obtain – there is no accredited "ISO 31000 certified" badge for an organisation. We design your ERM framework aligned with both standards' principles, which satisfies lender, investor, and board due diligence expectations without a formal certification process.
Quarterly for most mid-market businesses, with an ad hoc review triggered by a material event – a new market entry, a large contract win or loss, or a regulatory change. Annual-only reviews are common but generally too infrequent to keep the register genuinely useful to the board.