Strengthening Risk Governance: Bridging Board Oversight and Executive Accountability in Swiss Banking

Summary

Why this event matters

In the evolving regulatory and economic environment, Swiss banks face increasing expectations regarding governance, transparency, and risk control. Clear delineation of responsibilities between the Board of Directors and Executive Management is critical to ensuring accountability, stability, and long-term value creation. At the same time, regulators and stakeholders are placing growing emphasis on risk culture as a key driver of institutional resilience.

This event addresses the intersection of these themes: governance structures, leadership responsibilities, monitoring of risk culture, and the behavioral dimension of risk management.

Strong risk governance is not only a structural requirement but also a cultural imperative. By fostering alignment between the Board, Executive Management, and control functions, banks can enhance resilience, improve decision-making, and reinforce trust in an increasingly complex financial landscape.

Key Discussion Topics:

• Roles and Responsibilities in Risk Governance
• Embedding Risk Culture Across the Organization
• The Role of the Chief Risk Officer (CRO)
• Challenges and Lessons Learned

Participants will gain a clearer understanding of governance roles in risk management, practical insights into strengthening collaboration between oversight and execution functions, and actionable approaches to embedding a sustainable risk culture within their institutions.

Speakers

Speakers from UPB, BCGE and University of Lausanne.

• Carlo Lombardini, Lawyer, Professor at Lausanne University and Board Member
  Mr Lombardini is a proven specialist in the field of banking law, having worked as a lawyer with Poncet Turrettini in Geneva, where he has served as a partner since 1990. In addition, he has extensive experience in the academic sector, having held various academic positions, including from 2010 to 2014 as a lecturer in banking law at the University of Lausanne and from 2014 onwards as an associate professor at the law faculty. Throughout his distinguished career, Mr Lombardini has also published numerous books and academic articles on various banking law topics and discussions regarding the financial services industry. Mr Lombardini has held several board memberships, where he served as an active member of audit and risk committees and later as Chair of these committees.  See full biography
• Jean-Philippe Bernard, Member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee
  Jean-Philippe has extensive experience in the fields of risk and control, strategy and management, organisation, and security. He is a risk management expert who holds a civil engineering degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). He has held a number of senior positions. He was notably in charge of internal control systems and risk management mechanisms at a private bank. In recent years, he has taught courses on risk management, target operating models, and internal control systems. He directs the risk management certification programme for administrators and teaches bank governing bodies how to apply Swiss regulatory requirements, including FINMA Circular 2017/1 “Corporate Governance – Banks”. He has been involved in several companies specialised in risk management advisory and internal control systems for banks. In 1999, he founded BERYL Management Sàrl. He was the company’s owner and administrator, then became its CEO upon its sale in 2013, a position he held until 2019. Since 2020, he has been working as an external consultant on strategic, high value-added projects.
• Raoul Jacot-Descombes, Group Head of Risk Management at UBP
  Raoul Jacot-Descombes re-joined UBP in January 2025 as Group Chief Risk Officer. He is a member of the Group Executive Committee and is responsible for the Group Risk division. He started his career as a lawyer in Neuchâtel and then moved in 2002 to the financial sector, where he has been working for more than 24 years. After spending more than three years at the Swiss Anti-Money-Laundering Authority (now part of FINMA) as Senior Legal Officer, he moved to ACM (Advanced Currency Markets) — which has since been acquired by Swissquote Bank — as General Counsel and Executive Managing Director. In 2011, Raoul Jacot-Descombes built his own consulting practice providing legal advice on financial markets while working for KPMG, after which he took on a full-time role as Director at KPMG, in charge of the Western Switzerland Forensic Unit. In January 2015, he became Group Head of Risks & Compliance at UBP and a member of the Executive Committee. He left UBP at the end of January 2024 to take over the position of Deputy Managing Director of the Fédération des Entreprises Romandes (FER). He re-joined UBP in January 2025 as Group Chief Risk Officer and member of the Group Executive Committee. Raoul Jacot-Descombes holds a Master’s degree in Law from the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and holds a lawyer’s licence.

Moderator

• Philippe Fleury, Group Head of Compliance Pictet Group Geneva
  Philippe Fleury holds a double master’s degree in Arts and Law and was admitted to the Geneva Bar in 2002. He completed a CAS in Accounting at the Zug School of Finance as well as an Executive MBA from the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid. He began his career as a trainee lawyer at the law firm Borel & Barbey before continuing his professional activities at the Federal Department of Finance, Money Laundering Control Authority, as Head of the Section responsible for licensing and supervising financial intermediaries (DUFI), as well as Member of the Executive Committee of the Swiss Money Laundering Control Authority. He joined KPMG Geneva in 2007 and assumed various responsibilities as Head of Forensics, Head of Regulatory & Compliance, and Head of Geneva until 2022. Between 2023 and the end of 2024, Philippe acted as CEO of the FER (Fédération des Entreprises Romandes Geneva) before joining the Pictet Group as Group Head of Compliance at the beginning of 2025. Philippe Fleury holds the rank of colonel in the Swiss Army and is responsible for the military protection of Geneva Airport.

Who should attend

Board members, executive management, risk and compliance professionals, regulators, and senior stakeholders within the financial services industry.

Important Notice: For security reasons, the venue requires additional checks upon entry. We kindly ask you to bring a valid ID with you. To facilitate these procedures and ensure a smooth registration process, accreditation will begin at 5:30 PM, and we encourage you to arrive on time. For any name changes, please email us at info@swiss-risk.org in advance.

Moderation & Introduction

Introduced by Jean-Pierre Colombara SRA Board Member and moderated by Philippe Fleury.

Agenda

17:30 Arrival & Name Tag Collection
18:30 Welcome and Introduction (Philippe Fleury)
18:35 Presentation (Carlo Lombardini)
18:50 Presentation (Jean-Philippe Bernard)
19:15 Presentation
19:45 Panel Discussion and Q&A with all Speakers (moderated by Philippe Fleury)
20:00 Apéro & Networking (until 20:45)

Chapter Event

The main goals of the Chapter “Private Banking & Wealth Management” is to provide a platform for exchanging ideas, best practices, experiences within “Suisse Romandie” Risk Professionals community. The Chapter will cover the Private Banking and Asset Management risk domains (e.g. financial crime risks, reputational risks, regulatory risks, fiduciary risks, investment risks, credit risks, operational risks, ESG risks, cross-border risks etc.)