The Cook Islands Investment Corporation (CIIC) appoints Sandra Yeats as its first chief risk officer, with the new role covering oversight of CIIC's captive insurance administration alongside the corporation's wider risk management framework. Yeats joins CIIC from the Bank of the Cook Islands, where she served as chief risk officer from June 2023. CIIC says she brings "extensive experience across risk management, operations and leadership in both the public and private sectors." Her wider career also takes in operations and leadership roles outside financial services, including chief operating officer at Literacy Aotearoa and head of operations at Te W?nanga o Aotearoa. At CIIC, Yeats leads the development and governance of the corporation's risk management framework, with a remit covering strategic and operational risk, compliance, internal audit, business continuity and crisis management protocols, and captive insurance administration. The role provides advice to the CEO and the Board of CIIC on the group risk profile of the corporation and its subsidiaries, and is responsible for embedding the risk function, policies and frameworks across CIIC and its subsidiaries. In a statement, CIIC says: "As stewards of critical national assets, effective risk management is essential to delivering long-term value for the people of the Cook Islands. This new role supports a coordinated, group-wide approach to understanding, managing and responding to risk across CIIC and its portfolio." The corporation adds that the appointment reflects its commitment to strengthening decision-making, enhancing resilience and embedding a risk-aware culture across the organisation and its subsidiaries "in an increasingly complex global environment." A statutory corporation established under the Cook Islands Investment Corporation Act 1998, CIIC manages Crown assets on behalf of the Cook Islands Government. Its portfolio spans Crown land and government buildings; the ports and airports of Rarotonga and Aitutaki; power authorities Te Aponga Uira and Te Mana Uira o Araura; the Bank of the Cook Islands; water and sanitation investments; telecommunications infrastructure including Avaroa Cable; facilities such as Punanga Nui Market; and seabed mineral assets and enterprises. Captive insurers in the Cook Islands are licensed and supervised by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), which has regulated the jurisdiction's financial services industry since 2003. CIIC says it looks forward to "the leadership and value this role will bring across the CIIC Group."
