Which risk areas should the Treasurer distill for the Board?

• A. Legal, regulatory, geopolitical, and technological risks.
• B. Only financial risk.
• C. Operational risk only.
• D. Market risk only.

Answer: (A)

Think about what the Board needs to oversee the organization’s financial health and mission in a real-world, forward-looking way. Legal and regulatory risk covers how laws, rules, contracts, and fines could drain resources or constrain operations. Geopolitical risk captures events like sanctions, political instability, or shifts in funding environments that can directly affect budgets, grants, or partnerships. Technological risk highlights cybersecurity, data integrity, and IT reliability—issues that can cause costly breaches, downtime, or inaccurate reporting. Presenting these areas together gives the Board a practical view of threats that could disrupt cash flow, reserves, and strategic plans, not just numbers on a ledger. Limiting the focus to a single category leaves gaps—financial risk looks at budget or liquidity in isolation, but regulatory, geopolitical, and tech risks can create or amplify financial impacts. Market risk, while important for investments, is only one dimension of risk; the broader set of legal, regulatory, geopolitical, and technological risks provides a fuller governance picture.