The risk was accepted. By whom is less clear.
Somewhere in the organization is a person with extraordinary authority. Their name is “the business.”
The business has accepted the risk. The business is comfortable with the exposure. The business understands the implications. Unfortunately, the business is unavailable for this meeting.
A remarkably efficient approval process
The exception began as a question: “Who owns this?” Three forwarded emails later, the question had become a statement: “This is owned.” Nobody could identify the precise moment the transformation occurred.
The risk register now contains an owner, an expiry date, and a sentence so carefully worded that it can survive almost any outcome. The expiry date is next quarter. It is always next quarter.
For the record
The useful question is not whether a risk has been accepted. It is whether a real person understands what can go wrong, has the authority to say yes, and will still recognize the decision six months later.
We have scheduled a meeting to identify that person. The business has declined.