APRA will be getting more involved in the risk function of financial services firms, with a pilot series of risk culture reviews already underway. "We know the risk functions of financial institutions really well. What we're proposing to do with the pilot is getting well beyond that and into the business lines to understand what is going on in the financial institution," Fahmi Hosain, APRA's head of governance, culture and remuneration, told an audience of risk management professionals at an Actuaries Institute seminar in Sydney.   Hosain said that the current pilot was based on posing around 50 questions to each employee. "To some extent you need specialist capabilities to be able to do these sorts of things."  What APRA has done is use a blended approach between organisational psychologists and staff with more traditional credential type expertise. It has put together a team of nine (soon to grow to 11), he said. There were five financial institutions involved in the trial, spanning banking superannuation and insurance sectors, he said. "The review process involves very early engagement with boards of banks - including visiting the bank three months before the audit." The regulator could be on-site for up to three weeks. "Our footprint is much larger when it comes to risk culture," Hosain said.  "In terms of technology, we're not relying on one particular point - it's about trying to get an array of points." Hosain said the aim was to "triangulate" by speaking to employees at all levels in order to come up with a view of what the organisation really believed, rather than what is said in its risk assessment manuals, or other corporate statements. APRA will be looking to publish a paper towards the end of this year summarising its lessons learnt. "We're hoping to have our pilot completed by September next year and then incorporated into our business as usual prudential practice," Hosain said.   This exercise puts APRA into rare company, with the Netherlands Central bank the only other regulator following this approach. Although, "at the end of the day, the board still has to make the decisions" remains APRA's approach.  And Hosain ruled out following the approach taken in the UK: "APRA's chairman has said publicly a number of times where it comes to the appointment of senior executives, we're not going to follow the approach of the SMR. We think accountability should risk squarely with the board; that might get tangled up if APRA start playing [a more hands-on] role."