Company: NWBI
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001471265-25-000016
Chunk: 15

Company: Northwest Bancshares, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 15
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 BRMC consists entirely of independent directors and provides a regular report to the full Board regarding matters reviewed at it’s Committee meetings. The Bank has a comprehensive Enterprise Risk Management Policy, approved by the Board of Directors. 

Risk Management Roles and Responsibilities. In addition to our Board and Board Committees, responsibility for risk management also flows to other individuals and entities throughout the Company, including various management committees and executive management. Our Enterprise Risk Management Policy defines our “three lines of defense” risk management model, which includes the following:

•The “first line of defense” is comprised of the business areas that engage in activities that generate revenue or provide operational support or services that introduce risk to the Company. The first line of defense is responsible for, among other things, identifying, owning, managing and controlling key risks associated with their activities, timely addressing issues and remediation, and implementing processes and procedures to strengthen the risk and control environment. The first line of defense identifies and manages key risk indicators and risks and controls consistent with the Company’s risk appetite. The executive officers who serve as leaders in the “first line of defense,” are responsible for ensuring that their respective functions operate within established risk limits, in accordance with our risk appetite. These leaders are also responsible for identifying risks, considering risk when developing strategic plans, budgets and new products, and implementing appropriate controls when pursuing business strategies and objectives. In addition, these leaders are responsible for deploying sufficient financial resources and qualified personnel to manage the risks inherent in our business activities.

•The “second line of defense” includes an independent risk management team charged with oversight and monitoring of risk within the business. The second line of defense is responsible for, among other things, formulating and overseeing our Enterprise Risk Management Policy and related policies and procedures, effectively challenging the first line of defense and identifying, measuring, monitoring and reporting on aggregate risks of the business and support functions. 

Our risk management team, which is led by our CRO, provides oversight of our risk profile and is responsible for maintaining a compliance program that includes compliance risk assessments, policy development, testing and reporting activities. 

The CRO manages our risk management team and is responsible for establishing and implementing standards for the identification, management, measurement, monitoring and reporting of risk on an enterprise-wide basis. The CRO is responsible for developing an appropriate risk appetite with corresponding limits that aligns with supervisory expectations and proposing our risk appetite to the Board of Directors. The CRO regularly reports to the Board Risk Management Committee as well as the Bank’s Enterprise Risk Management Committee (“ERMC