PwC
Financial institutions must take lead in rebuilding public trust, says PwC
Financial institutions need to lead the way in improved transparency, but are uncertain about how best to improve their own standards of disclosure and governance, according to a study by financial services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
New trading allegations hit El Paso
Allegations that Houston-based El Paso swapped power contracts with Morgan Stanley to avoid a restatement of earnings sent shares of the troubled energy company tumbling today.
Financial institutions have scope for improvement in risk management, says PwC
Leading financial institutions are moving towards a more holistic and integrated approach to risk management, but need to continue to improve their risk management processes, according to a new survey from financial services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers …
FOA updates end-user derivatives guidelines
UK trade body the Futures and Options Association (FOA) yesterday launched updated guidelines for derivatives end-users, which take into account electronic trading and the past year’s big US corporate failures.
Fitch gets OpVar loss database with NetRisk purchase
NEW YORK - Fitch Risk Management, part of rating agency Fitch, said in mid-July it was acquiring NetRisk and its subsidiary OpVantage, both Connecticut-based risk management companies.
PwC report critical of bank risk management strategies
Many financial institutions are not managing the full spectrum of risks effectively, according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The report said financial services companies should re-evaluate their…
Asset managers run for cover
UK investment firms are facing increasing risk management pressures, thanks to new regulatory initiatives, legal challenges and a shift in operating environment. Coping will require a major investment in technology infrastructure – especially in the…
Administrators to pay £24 million to close out Enron Europe contracts
Enron Europe’s administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said today that 250,000 over-the-counter energy derivatives contracts still need to be closed out to unwind the business.
Balancing belief and science
Japan’s banks are protesting against Basel’s proposed operational risk capital charge. They claim their risk levels are much lower than those of banks from other countries, but there is little hard data available to back this claim up. Anthony Rowley…
Wrestling with Basel II
The revisions to the Basel Accord have enormous implications for Japan, a nation with a banking system still getting to grips with non-performing loans and the impact of mark-to market accounting rules. Anthony Rowley reports from Tokyo.
Credit derivatives in Asia need liquidity boost
Growth in activity of Asia’s credit derivatives business cannot be reached until Asian credit markets see deeper liquidity and higher turnovers in the secondary market, said a senior PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) consultant, speaking at a press conference…
Insurers get amber light with some green
BASEL - Global banking regulators have signalled they might agree to a role for operational risk insurance in the Basel II bank capital accord.
Independent collapse highlights Basel II op risk insurance dilemma
LONDON - Some of the concerns of banking regulators about the effectiveness of insurance cover when operational disaster strikes a company could be illustrated by the plight of Independent Insurance, the UK general insurance group that collapsed in June…
Data trouble
Regulators insist that they want a capital charge on banks’ operational risks. But the plan rests on the ability of banks to collect data and model the risks involved, and there’s a frightening lack of agreement on how to do that.
Basel II accord makes op risk software this year’s hot topic
The sophistication of analytical software for managing operational risk will increase dramatically over the next year. Such was the message delivered by Charles Smithson, managing partner of financial consultants Ritter Associates, to the annual risk…
Boom or bust for risk consultants
Basel capital reform should mean a lot more business for risk management consultants. But a shortage of the right specialists could prevent them from cashing in.
Five reasons why regulators should approve the loss-distribution approach
The Basel Committee shied away from the most risk-sensitive way of calculating an op risk charge, says Michael Haubenstock. He argues for a green light.
EBRD Searches For VAR Systems To Support New Risk Control Division
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