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 Low interest rates, new regulations and an unstable economic situation have impacted revenues and profits of retail deposits in North America.   Therefore, the upcoming GFMI 3^rd Edition Retail Deposit Optimization & Strategic Management Conference comes at a very important and optimal time for banks.

Silvio Stroescu, Managing Director, Investments & Deposits at Tangerine Bank recently spoke with GFMI about key topics to be discussed at this upcoming meeting, scheduled to take place April 27-29,

Integration is a hot topic this year for risk professionals. In PRMIA’s 2013 survey of buy-side risk management trends, a lack of front-to-back integration of systems emerged as the second biggest technology challenge, pipped only by the need to create a complete view of risk from multiple risk systems.

Poor integration compromises risk management quality

Why the need for front-to-back integration? The financial and Eurozone crises have highlighted the need to manage risk more proactively and in a

As financial institutions have become more complex, so have their risk management systems – and that’s a problem.

Organisations that have grown through acquisition and diversification typically find themselves running a huge number of different systems: whether for different asset classes, different types of risk and/or for different operating entities.

That complexity is causing major issues. Research carried out by the Professional Risk Managers International Association (PRMIA) in March 2013 re

The Basel Committee, which creates regulations for banks, has published a set of principles regarding effective risk data aggregation and risk reporting, which will provide a fantastic business case for risk professionals to improve their risk frameworks. I’ve included highlights below, but you can take a look at the full report here.

The principles for effective risk data aggregation and risk reporting will be mandatory for globally systemically important banks (G-SIBs) from 2016, and the Basel

The new category of domestic systemically important banks will increase the data management and disclosure burden on qualifying institutions, at a time when many are already feeling the strain.

Banks that escaped classification as G-SIFIs in 2011 may have breathed a sigh of relief at the time, but for many, that relief will have been short-lived. In October last year, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) set out its proposed framework for an additional category of systemically import

Today’s banking industry must deal with an evolving regulatory landscape by developing new and innovative strategies for acquiring and optimizing capital. Banks must find a new way to raise capital, maintain a functional capital structure, and continue providing the products and services their customers demand while staying profitable. The new deadline for implementing the Basel III capital requirements makes capital management the most important issue for banks today.

Bogie Ozdemir, Vice Preside

Properly stress testing measures of risk is a complicated activity that few companies have done well. In this blog we take a look at a complete framework for stress testing.

The spreadsheet map can be downloaded from this [LNK]

Really good paper on procyclicality and the problems with Basel III countercycle buffers

Perhaps one of the biggest issues facing banks with Basel III is how to address Procyclicality, especially if the bank is not running an Advanced IRB credit risk framework. Actually, just obtaining information about the different accepted practices on how to measure Procyclicality within a lending portfolio isn't so easy.

Just the other day however, I was pointed in the direction of a really good summary and p

Some risks are cyclical in nature which can be modeled on a risk clock.

In this blog we build up a risk clock and look at why businesses are not good at forecasting cyclical risk events.

Click here to continue reading

The Dodd-Frank Act and Basel III are going to change the way banks raise, allocate and manage capital. Banks need to prepare for these changes now and develop effective strategies for achieving capital optimization and sustainable return on equity. The GFMI, a marcus evans, Capital Adequacy and Strategy Conference, September 12-14, 2012 in New York, NY, will help banks to understand what the legislation means for capital adequacy, as well as what they need to do to achieve the optimum level of c

Earlier on this year, the Bank for International Settlements released a paper which stated directly: "No macro stress test carried out ahead of the crisis identified the build-up of vulnerabilities"

This is a very harsh reality and highlights one of the key areas risk management needs to address. In this article we look at why stress testing risk systems hasn't been working for the banking sector.

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Fitch’s publication made the news in the Financial Times recently. An extra $566bn has been announced as the figure big banks will need to meet the tougher Basel III bank capital standards.
But how will financial institutions meet these steep capital requirements? Find out at Euromoney’s Basel III: The Resolution Conference.

Hear from commercial giants including Lloyds Banking Group, Rabobank, Commerzbank and Unicredit on their strategies for optimising capital in light of the Basel III guidelines

Maturity across the Counterparty Credit Risk (CCR) and Credit Valuation Adjustments (CVA) space varies greatly across the industry. Our recent survey provided some interesting insights as to whether banks are ready for CCR and CVA under Basel III, thanks to detailed responses from our clients and academic participants.

We found that there are clear differences of opinion between academics and practitioners particularly when it comes to Basel III readiness for CCR. The same is reflected with rega

Managing a profitable balance sheet is more challenging than ever. With Basel III and the more immediate Dodd-Frank regulation on the horizon, a tool such as FTP is vital to ensure an effective centrally managed liquidity strategy. Post-crisis, whilst the economic situation is improving, allocating sufficient liquidity costs quickly and efficiently to the correct business-line is paramount.

Karin Bergeron is a trader on the CVA desk at Scotiabank. She is responsible for pricing and hedging CVA as

The Chancellor George Osborne has warned the European Union that Britain will refuse to sign up to "idiotic" proposals under Basel III.

George Osborne has warned the European Union that Britain will refuse to sign up to "idiotic" proposals that would water down tough international rules on bank capital. 

This is a very concerning development and quite astounding actually. Let's ponder on the drop out of the UK from Basel III, just as a idea for a moment: [click here to continue reading]

The European Banking Authority released a statement indicating that gaps exist in the capital standards for about 20% of the regions top 48 largest banks. Meanwhile, the Bank for International Settlements has posted a relatively positive report on Asian banks loan reserve practices.

Are Asian banks in front of the game for capital management than their European counterparts?

Click to continue reading

Basel III includes a new standard for Liquidity Risk which seems to be tripping up a few risk analysts attempting to reach this complex requirement.

In this post, we briefly look at the possible outcomes from a poorly managed liquidity risk program and the types of initiatives banks need to consider to meet the Basel III "International framework for liquidity risk measurement, standards and monitoring."

This post contains a presentation which can be downloaded 

Click here to read more

There are a huge array of regulatory mandates planned for the financial sector in the next three to five years and the potential unwanted outcomes are probably going to be diverse and multitudinous.

Ten combined regulatory afflictions would more than likely include this lot:

[1] Closing the proprietary trading desk – Volcker

[2] A CVA charge for the trading book – Basel III

[3] The countercyclical buffer – Basel III

[4] Restrictions on the types of capital that can be held – Basel III

[5] Axing of Tie