Risk governance in banks has evidenced to become growing important theme over the past two
decades. The process of risk governance involves identifying, assessing, managing and
communicating risk. Appropriate risk governance in place is an essential way to prevent the major
and wide negative consequences caused by excessive risk-taking by banks. Risk governance, in
turn, substantiate stable, more foreseeable, economic development to investigate the impact of risk
governance on the financial performance and risk-taking behavior of public commercial banks of
OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) specifically during and around
the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-08 (GFC). Financial performance indicates an overall
financial health of the banks where risk-taking behavior is an attitude of banks towards uncertain
future financial outcome. The study will cover the research gaps in the dearth of literature on risk
governance, which is especially significant during financial turmoil. This research focuses on two
major functions of risk governance that are (i) RC (Risk Committee) and (ii) CRO (Chief Risk
Officer). The RC and CRO are critical functions central to risk governance but to date these two
functions have not been analyzed jointly which provides insights to the internal strength of risk
governance. The RC is essential for a bank to introduce, develop, and execute risk policies and
diagnostics. Concurrently, the CRO exclusively steers the RC and risk related matters. In
empirical research, several aspects of the CRO such as qualifications, experiences, age, and
gender, and the size, independence and characteristics of the RC are considered. Initially, in this
study four hypotheses will test the importance of these characteristics. All data has already been
collected. Risk governance regulations vary accordingly from country to country; hence, to
standardize the RG regulations across the OECD a reference framework of IRGC (International
Risk Governance Council) will be utilized. The outcome of this research will contribute to the
scant academic knowledge. Besides that, the outcome has the potential to contribute to regulators
and managers especially in their risk-related tasks.