Shifting priorities: CRO agendas in a time of uncertainty and innovation (15th annual EY/IIF global bank risk management survey)

What it contains

The 15th edition of the annual survey by EY and the Institute of International Finance (IIF) gathers the priorities of chief risk officers (CROs) at 101 banks in 31 countries, consulted between September and November 2025 through interviews, questionnaires or both. The sample includes banks from North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East and Africa, of different sizes and types.

The risks that will require the most CRO attention next year are cybersecurity and technology risk (86 %), credit risk (62 %), digital fraud (59 %) and financial crime risk (43 %, up from 23 % the year before). Credit risk and strategic risk rose notably in the priority list. Among the external forces shaping the strategic agenda, CROs cite economic conditions (83 %), technological advances (79 %) and geopolitical instability (71 %). In Latin America, 57 % point to geopolitics as a force on their agenda, while 76 % see technological advances as a more powerful force.

In artificial intelligence, the most common initial uses in risk functions are chatbots (67 %) and fraud and financial crime detection (61 %), followed by cyber and operational risk management (41 %) and credit and market risk modeling (33 %). Eighty percent identify data quality and availability as the main challenge. On talent, 49 % expect to increase their risk teams (against 68 % a year earlier), 30 % expect to reduce them and 71 % cite digital acumen (technology, data, AI, programming) as the most important skill.

Summary prepared by the Dominican Republic Risk Management Club from a reading of the original document, with the source verified on 7 October 2026. It does not replace reading the official text and is not advice.

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