Deloitte Taps Kevin Blakely, Former Chief Risk Officer and Risk Management Association Leader, to Work with Banking Sector Clients

NEW YORK, June 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Kevin Blakely, a veteran risk and regulatory professional who has spent nearly two decades as a chief risk officer in the banking industry and is the former head of the Risk Management Association, has joined Deloitte & Touche LLP as a senior advisor.

Blakely will focus on helping Deloitte's retail banking clients improve their overall risk and regulatory strategies, concentrating specifically on bolstering risk policies and practices and implementing enterprise risk management programs.      

Previously, Blakely held multiple risk-related positions at KeyCorp from 1990 to 2007, the majority of time as chief risk officer, and was the risk leader for Huntington Bancshares from 2009 to 2012. Blakely served as the president and chief executive officer of the Risk Management Association, a global industry group dedicated to promoting and sharing best practices in financial risk management, from 2007 to 2009.

"Kevin's strong background and impeccable reputation of being able to build sustainable enterprise risk management programs speaks for itself, especially within the financial services industry," said Kevin McGovern, managing partner, governance, regulatory & risk strategies, Deloitte & Touche LLP. "In particular, his 40-years experience in this discipline – specifically his ability to bring banks' risk management to the next level – will serve our banking clients quite well."

Before joining the industry, Blakely spent nearly 20 years as a senior regulator with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. As Deputy Comptroller for Special Supervision, he was responsible for oversight of "problem" and failing institutions nationwide. Blakely regularly interacted with senior officials at other banking regulatory agencies, as well as members of the U. S. Congress. He received the prestigious Comptroller's Award, an honor given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the agency.

"For the past two or three years, the role of the chief risk officer has been described as 'ascendant' – but risk governance is going to receive even more prominence now because of the Dodd-Frank Act and other regulations," said Deborah Bailey, the managing director of Deloitte's banking & securities regulatory practice.

"Under the proposed rules around enhanced prudential standards, for example, not only will financial institutions with more than $10 billion in total assets have to establish a risk committee and make sure they have a risk management expert as a board-level director, but they must also establish the position of an independent, enterprise-wide chief risk officer. This is one of the areas we expect Kevin to help our diverse set of banking clients," Bailey added.

Blakely holds a bachelor's degree in finance from Southern Illinois University and a master's degree in business administration from Case Western Reserve University.

About Deloitte's Governance, Regulatory & Risk Strategies Practice
Deloitte's governance, regulatory & risk strategies practice professionals provide consultative services to assist organizations and their boards in their efforts to create and protect value and enhance effective management of their strategic, regulatory, financial, operational, and compliance risks on a sustained basis. Deloitte helps develop sustainable governance, compliance, and risk management programs by helping organizations identify, remediate, monitor, exploit, and manage enterprise risks in addition to coordinating the utilization of people, process, and technology to improve effectiveness and help manage costs.

About Deloitte's Banking & Securities Sector
Deloitte is a recognized leader in providing audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services, serving all of the banks and securities firms listed on the Fortune 500. For more information about Deloitte's Banking & Securities sector, please visit www.deloitte.com/us/bankingsecurities.

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SOURCE Deloitte & Touche LLP