With risk moving to the top of the agenda for directors and senior management, the textbooks on risk oversight are being rewritten. It may take a long time before risk oversight models are "perfected," but in the meantime, we can learn a great deal from the ideas and practices being put to good use now.

In this issue of Audit Committee Roundup in Directorship, KPMG's Henry Keizer shares emerging themes in risk oversight that may be universal in their application, including: being clear about the board's oversight objectives, ensuring quality risk information, promoting a culture that encourages directors to question and test management, invite the right people to the table, focusing on tone at the top, and ensuring that risk oversight responsibilities among the full board and its committees are clear.