Using the investigative documentary Risk Factor by Canadian filmmaker Robert Lang, this on-demand course introduces CPAs and business professionals to the fundamentals of corporate compliance and enterprise risk management in today’s complex environment - knowledge that is essential to effective professional practice.

The documentary serves as a case study for the course. It begins with Robert Lang confronting a fundamental question: how do individuals and organizations truly understand risk? Faced with conflicting perceptions of danger -where rare catastrophic events are often feared while more probable risks are overlooked - Lang embarks on a global journey to meet leading experts in risk. Through these encounters, Risk Factor reveals how human judgment is frequently distorted by cognitive bias, emotion, and incomplete information, highlighting the gap between perceived and actual risk. Building on these insights, the course stresses the importance of structured risk management and clarifies a critical distinction: corporate compliance as the system of internal policies, controls, and legal obligations, and risk management as the structured framework for identifying, assessing, responding to, communicating, and monitoring risk. Grounded in international standards—ISO 31000 and ISO 37301—participants examine how failures in governance, compliance, and risk oversight can lead to financial misstatements, regulatory breaches, reputational harm, and legal liability.

Topics Include:

• Documentary Case Study: Risk Factor
• Analyze Five Pivotal Scenes from Risk Factor
• Compliance vs. Risk Management
• Fundamentals of Corporate Compliance and Risk Management for Good Corporate Governance

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Other Courses from CPE Studios
 

• Accounting For My Crime: The Nathan Mueller Story
• Coded Bias: Understanding Algorithmic Bias in Accounting and Beyond
• My Wall Street Heist: The Gary Foster Story
• Silence No More: The True Story of Sarah Carver and Jennifer Griffith

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the distinction between corporate compliance and risk management responsibilities.
• Understand the respective roles of senior management (executives) and boards of directors in compliance and risk management. 
• Develop practical, ISO-aligned compliance and risk workflows using ISO 37301 and ISO 31000 concepts.
• Recognize how governance, audit, and management responsibilities intersect in corporate risk oversight.
• Analyze legal risk by assessing likelihood of adverse outcomes and the potential consequences for the organization.
• Foster effective risk communication that is clear, credible, and appropriate for management, boards, and external stakeholders.
• Strengthen organizational controls, escalation mechanisms, and board-level risk reporting practices.
• Lead ethically by recognizing the limits of cost-benefit analysis and avoiding risk decisions driven solely by financial gain at the expense of legal and ethical obligations.