Risk Management

Wipfli’s internal audit service helps management monitor its risk-management effectiveness on an ongoing basis. Our certified and seasoned professionals identify potential weaknesses and offer practical recommendations to improve internal controls and reduce risk. Whether outsourced, cosourced, or used on an as-needed basis, our internal audit services provide flexible delivery options.

Services:

• Internal control risk assessments
• Risk-based audit planning
• Operational audits
• Independent and objective analysis
• Special project needs
• Internal auditor training
• Internal auditor workpaper review and mentoring
• Advice and consultation on internal control issues, control design, and risk-reduction strategies

Wipfli’s asset/liability management (ALM) services are designed to provide you with a resource to assist your financial institution with its ALM needs. Services include:

• ALM processing
• Validation
• Consulting

Through our use of the validated Plansmith Financial Compass^TM model and our experienced consultants, we will provide you with a modeling process that will allow you to:  (a) project and assess the financial impact of interest rate changes; (b) utilize a comprehensive reporting package that includes an analysis of our findings and opportunities on your balance sheet and income statement accounts; and (c) eliminate the drudgery of preparing budgets.

We also provide ALM validation designed to meet regulatory guidelines while providing value-added comments, as well as ALM consulting services, which gives you access to our experienced consultants when you need them. 

Do you know the credit risk of your loan portfolio?  Wipfli’s approach to loan review is to provide your management with information about the quality of loans and the effectiveness of lending policies and procedures.  We assess credit risk of your loan portfolio within a defined scope and offer the flexibility to accommodate your lending philosophy and specific needs.  In addition, we review the institution’s loan portfolio for credit quality, loan policy and procedures, and lending trends, as well as provide a complete, written report detailing findings and recommendations.

The Risk Management Group provides regulatory compliance services as one of its core services to financial institutions throughout the Midwest. The regulatory compliance approach is centered on risk-focused, best-practice solutions and service excellence.

Our team will work with you to:

• Identify, evaluate, and test risks associated with:
  • Truth in lending
  • Fair lending
  • Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
  • Community Reinvestment Act
  • Fair credit reporting/FACT Act
  • Home Mortgage Disclosure act
  • Funds availability
  • Truth in savings
  • Electronic Funds Transfer Act
  • Bank Secrecy Act/USA PATRIOT Act
  • Internet website
• Provide compliance support for new products, services, or marketing campaigns
• Provide routine compliance testing and solutions to issues detected
• Conduct pre- and post-compliance examination reviews
• Provide assistance with policy and procedure development and training

Organizations face many risks in every department and at every level. Your organizational success depends on your ability to identify and mitigate these risks. Wipfli can help identify those risks and assist in managing risk levels within the organization.

Each organization is unique, as is each risk assessment. However, clients commonly receive risk assessment value from:

• Formal framework for the board and senior management to use in monitoring and managing risk
• Risk mitigation plans
• Better allocation of limited capital and resources
• Improved organizational performance
• Baseline for a three-year internal audit plan
• Meeting regulatory, exchange, or other compliance requirements

Our information technology professionals provide IT examination services as one of their core services. The information technology examination function is critical to your organization's successful operation because it can identify risks and provide solutions to mitigate them. Our service provides thorough testing and detailed process evaluation over information systems by certified experts and experienced professionals.

Wipfli LLP’s IT examination services are designed to identify and evaluate the quantity of the risks and the quality of the controls and security measures in place over your information systems. The most critical objective of the information technology examination is an evaluation of the protection of critical assets within the information systems. Our procedures include:

• Information security
• Safeguarding nonpublic customer information
• Operational policies and procedures
• Management involvement and oversight
• Vendor management
• Business continuity planning
• Core processing systems
• Electronic funds transfer systems
• Network, personal computer, and firewall controls
• Electronic banking applications and controls

Keeping your information systems and the data they contain safe and secure from unwanted intruders is a regulatory requirement and a fiscal responsibility.  From proper configuration and management of the systems to employee security awareness, it takes an ongoing effort to keep your customers’ information secure and private.

Wipfli’s seasoned professionals and certified experts will perform a comprehensive assessment of security risk to your network infrastructure systems and identify any weaknesses in your financial institution’s information systems and security policies.  Our team will also assess the effectiveness of your institution's security training and awareness program and customize solutions to your institution’s information systems environment.

• Internal controls
• Operations
• Investments
• Personal trust administration
• Employee benefit trust administration
• Asset custody
• Ongoing consultation outside the engagement