Professor Mark Lawrence

Dr. Mark Lawrence is Managing Director of Mark Lawrence Group, a Melbourne-based, global advisory firm specializing in governance, risk management and financial regulation for large financial institutions and corporates. 

Mark has more than 25 years’ experience in financial services risk management, and is a Senior Fellow of FINSIA, the Financial Services Institute of Australasia. He was a member of the Management Board and Group Chief Risk Officer (CRO) at ANZ from 1999 until 2004 – during which time he was named the 2002 global ‘Risk Manager of the Year’ by Risk magazine. Previously, he held senior roles at several New York investment banks. Earlier, Mark co-founded the Market Risk function at Merrill Lynch in New York from 1987-1990. After leaving ANZ, Mark was an Expert Principal at McKinsey & Company from 2006 until 2008. 

Over the past decade Mark has delivered a wide range of risk management consulting and advisory services to a client base on five continents, including large financial institutions in Australia, Canada, Singapore, China and Brazil. 

Mark’s current consulting focus includes assessing and strengthening risk culture, defining and embedding risk appetite, and the implementation and strategic implications of the post-crisis regulatory reforms, including changes to bank capital and risk modelling requirements. He was featured in a chapter in the book: “Crisis wasted? Leading risk managers on risk culture” in October 2015. 

Mark provides tailored, specialist training in risk management for senior executives, Board directors and supervisors. Among his clients for these programs have been the World Bank, Monetary Authority of Singapore, China Banking Regulatory Commission and APEC. He has given invited presentations on aspects of risk management to various regulatory bodies, including the Basel Committee, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Joint Forum, CBRC and APRA. 

Whilst at ANZ Mark contributed to the development of Basel II. Following the GFC he contributed to the evolution of industry best practices in risk management through his work with the Washington-based Institute of International Finance. From 2009 – 2011 Mark was co-chairman of the IIF’s Risk Management Working Group, which produced detailed industry guidance on various topics, including risk appetite, risk culture and risk modelling. 

Mark holds a BSc (Hons) from ANU, and an MA and PhD in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. He has published academic papers in both mathematics and finance and is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at UNSW. Mark is a Board member of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI), chairman of its Industry Advisory Committee, and leads the Australian Industry/Mathematical Sciences Engagement Task Force. He is also an affiliate member of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS).