Taking & Managing Risk - Mahony Partners

Sep

2011

5 Lessons from Mariano Rivera

Even if you’re not an ardent baseball fan, you have to be impressed with Mariano Rivera, the incomparable relief pitcher for the New York Yankees, who two days ago set the record for most saves, at 602. Sports writers long ago ran out of superlatives for describing Rivera’s talent and durability, and the crucial role he has played in the Yankees’ success over the past sixteen years. But what can Rivera’s remarkable career teach us, the mere mortals of the earth? I believe there are five lessons. 1. The nu... Read More

Sep

2011

UBS: Pressure mounts after trading loss

Financial Services, Taking & Managing Risk

Today’s press coverage of the continuing drama at UBS suggests the saga is playing out in predictable fashion, as rivals seek to poach UBS deal-makers, whose bonuses are likely to shrivel following the bank’s losses. And speculation is mounting that CEO Oswald Gruebel will have to step aside. The situation has been made worse by UBS’s reluctance to move aggressively, along the lines I recommended in a Read More

Sep

2011

Friday Risk Reading: Advice on financial risk management from 15 years ago

Financial Services, Friday Risk Reading, Taking & Managing Risk

In light of the startling $2 billion trading loss that UBS reported this week, my Friday Risk Reading selection is a speech from 1996 by New York Fed President William J. McDonough. As president of the New York Fed from 1993 to 2003, when he was succeeded by Tim Geithner, McDononugh spoke often about bank safety, financial innovation and the impact of technology on banking. In 1996, he addressed a conference on Latin American banking in Buenos Aires and outlined the basic elements of sound risk manageme... Read More

Sep

2011

Silence reigns at UBS after trading debacle

Financial Services, Taking & Managing Risk

UBS has remained oddly silent since its brief press release announcing a $2 billion loss from unauthorized trades in London. The announcement chopped some $5 billion from the bank’s market cap, and neither CEO Oswald Grübel nor any other senior executive has addressed the matter. It’s instructive to compare UBS’s public response to that of other banks involved in similar situations. When Jérôme Kerviel’s trades racked up losses of $7.2 billion for Société Générale, its CEO, Daniel Bouton, faced the cameras and the critics head-on. He appeared at a press co... Read More

Sep

2011

The 3 things UBS must do

Financial Services, Taking & Managing Risk

Today’s stunning announcement by UBS that a rogue trader lost $2 billion presents big communications challenges for the Swiss bank. It will need to be forthcoming with regulators about the reasons for the loss and the breakdown in the bank’s internal controls. It must reassure private clients that their assets are safe, keep valued employees from fleeing and address investor concerns about the scale of risk-taking in the investment bank – all while trying to rebuild its businesses during a very rocky time in the markets. Clearly UBS has to answer some very tough questions abo... Read More

Sep

2011

Friday Risk Reading: Inside Mario Batali’s kitchen

Taking & Managing Risk, The Cooking Chronicles

In keeping with the debut of the “Cooking Chronicles” on this blog, I have selected Heat, by Bill Buford, as this Friday’s recommended risk reading. Heat is a lively, insightful account of Buford’s experience as an amateur cook in the kitchen of renowned chef Mario Batali. Buford abandons the security of his desk job to indulge his curiosity about cooking by becoming an apprentice in one of Batali’s top restaurants, starting at the ... Read More

Sep

2011

Update: How to communicate a CEO firing

Media, Taking & Managing Risk

In a recent post on Yahoo's firing of Carol Bartz, I noted that the manner in which the Yahoo board handled it could make it easy for Bartz to offer her point of view in the media. So it comes as little surprise that Fortune today posted a lively interview with Bartz, explitives included. It looks like this story will prove entertaining for a little while yet. Read More

Sep

2011

A look back at 6 lessons in crisis communication from 9/11

Financial Services, Taking & Managing Risk

Like many people, I have been thinking about the events of September 11, 2001, as the tenth anniversary approaches. This article from the New York Times earlier this week focused on the media’s efforts to cover the anniversary with sensitivity, and it called to mind some remarks I gave about the media’s conduct in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. In February 2002, just a few months after the attack, I had a chance to reflect on the lessons of 9/11 at a meeting of the Public Relations Society of New York. ... Read More

Sep

2011

How to communicate a CEO firing – Part 2

Taking & Managing Risk

Thanks to Yahoo’s dismissal of Carol Bartz, we have a fresh example of how CEO firings are communicated. Instead of a well-crafted joint news release, Bartz herself trumped the company’s announcement by sending a terse, firm-wide email that quickly found its way to the press. And before everyone else had it, Kara Swisher at Dow Jones’s AllThingsDigital broke the news. The company’s news release followed the first media reports by an hour – a lifetime in today’s media... Read More

Sep

2011

3 Communication tips when firing the CEO

Financial Services, Taking & Managing Risk

Last week Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) abruptly announced that its CEO, Robert Kelly was leaving, citing “differences in approaches to managing the company.” The story made headlines for a day but was quickly forgotten, and the stock price has held pretty steady – both hallmarks of a communications success. Of course it helps that the bank doesn’t stir public passions the way some other banks do, and that its business dwells in the normally sedate world of securities custody and transaction processing. Still,... Read More