This bank governance article: "Will More Banks Form this Uncommon Board Committee?" from BankDirector.com is noteworthy for its observation of one board's (Huntington Bancshares) novel approach to cybersecurity risk oversight - the creation in January 2018 of a standing "Significant Event Committee," which was ultimately joined with the board's Technology Committee, reportedly due to overlapping committee member skill sets. Notwithstanding the company specifics, the overarching principle, i.e., the need for boards to continually reevaluate their committee structure and other governance structure components (whether in connection with the annual board evaluation process or otherwise) for potential changes to keep step with the evolving business and risk environments, applies to every company.
The article references Bank Director's "2018 Technology Survey," which revealed that 93% of the 161 independent directors, chief executives, high-level technology executives and other senior executives of US banks (>$250 million in assets) surveyed reported cybersecurity as an issue of current board focus.
Additional noteworthy findings from the Technology Survey include:
- 50% of respondent banks discuss technology at every board meeting.
- 79% said their board as a whole needs to enhance its level of tech expertise.
- "Tying technology to bank strategy" and "Cybersecurity" tied for first place (63% each) in response to the question: "Where does the board need to improve its knowledge of technology?"
- Nearly 30% said their board has a technology committee that regularly presents to the board.
Survey results are also provided by bank asset size (>$10B | $1B-$10B | $500M-$1B| <$500M) to allow for greater comparability among companies.