One of the UK's newest banks has chosen StratexPoint to help grow its business

StratexSystems' latest software solution, StratexPoint, will play a key role in ensuring the successful growth and development of Aldermore Bank, a relative newcomer to the UK financial services industry.

Aldermore's Chief Risk Officer, Steve Barry, says, “As a relatively new business we recognise that we need to continually invest and develop and we believe that by employing the StratexSystems product, StratexPoint, we will be able to improve the quality of our risk management processes which in turn will support the rest of the business in achieving our long term objectives. This product will take us from a simple automation process to an integration of strategy and risk – both of which are essential to the success of any business.”

StratexPoint is powered by Microsoft's SharePoint technology and is unique in its ability to integrate strategy execution and risk management into one tool. The product enables businesses to improve the quality, accuracy and timeliness of their information and processes in order to support the execution of strategy and management of risk throughout the business.

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More than 50% of Fines Issued by the FSA are as a Result of Weak Risk Management Systems

Research from the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors has revealed that more than half of the fines handed out by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in 2011 were as a result of weak internal risk management systems. 

Fines can be issued by the FSA when organisations breach any of the eleven principles (operational and ethical). The recent research announced by the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors, shows that 60% of the FSA’s fines in 2011 were as a result of weak risk management systems – in 2010, 55% of fines were levied as a result of this.

Dr Ian Peters, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors says:

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StratexPoint Enhanced Dashboard Taster

Over the last few months, the team at StratexSystems has been collaborating with existing and new clients to improve our solution. Below is a taster of our enhanced dashboards. 

The Strategy Execution overview dashboard is designed to provide senior executives with the information to enable them to understand how well they are executing their strategy while managing their risks. 

For those that like Gauge Dashboards, StratexPoint introduces the Indicator Overview Dashboard. This provides a snapshot of indicator status for all indicators within a business unit. This can be viewed as a stand-alone dashboard or as a drill-down from the Strategic Overview Dashboard.

To get the detail of an objective, this drill-down dashboard provides a single page view of everything related to an objective, KPI status and trends, actions etc.

The Key and Emerging Risk Dashboard is designed to enable our clients to understand their level of exposure for both key and emerging risks, how that has changed over time and where the ‘Top 10’ exposures for each are.

For a free thirty day trial of StratexPoint click here. 

Is UBS scandal our fault?

Following revelations of UBS’ £1.3bn rogue trader disaster, the Swiss bank has had its credit ratings put under review for possible downgrade by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service.

The main criticism seems not only to be of Mr Kweku Adoboli, but of UBS’ risk management abilities, with Moody’s stating:

We have continued to express concerns with regards to the ability of management to develop a robust risk culture and effective control framework while at the same time trying to re-establish its position in certain market segments

This begs the questions “What should UBS have been doing differently?” and “Will this push them to transform their risk culture?”

However, at StratexSystems we’re wondering whether the real question is “Was our webinar “How to deliver an effective, robust risk framework while responding to a regulatory action” simply scheduled a month too late?”

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Part 1 - How to… Integrate Strategy and Risk Management - 28 Sept '11

Would you like to integrate your risk management process within an overall strategic framework?

Would you like to embed risk appetite into the overall strategy process?

Would you like to support the embedding and cascading of an integrated strategy and risk framework with technology?

Join us for the first of four webinars in our “How to…” series – “How to Integrate Strategy and Risk Management”

Register here

During this webinar, StratexSystems will:

  • Provide insight on how to develop an integrated strategy and risk management process
  • Show how that process can be cascaded and embedded within the organisation
  • Explain the role risk appetite has to play in the strategy process
  • Reveal some tips on building a culture of accountability
  • Demonstrate how an integrated approach to strategy and risk management can be enabled via StratexPoint, a SharePoint-based GRC solution

Details:

Wednesday, 28th September, 2011. 16:00 BST / 11:00 EDT

Register here

Part 2 – How to… Deliver an Effective, Robust Risk Framework while responding to a Regulatory Action - 09 Nov. '11

Is your organisation facing the challenge of a regulatory action, such as a RMP or Section 166?

Are you leading your organisation's regulatory response, whether to Basel 3, Solvency 2 or Dodd–Frank, and wondering where to start?

Do you want to drive real business value from your risk and regulatory initiative rather than simply tick regulatory boxes?

Join us for the second of four webinars in our “How to…” series – “How to deliver an effective, robust risk framework while responding to a regulatory action”

Register here

During this webinar, StratexSystems will:

  • Provide insight into how clients have been successfully delivering their framework in response to regulatory action
  • Show how to deliver real, tangible business value alongside meeting regulatory obligations
  • Touch on all aspects of the delivery of risk framework, from managing the programme to developing a robust risk framework
  • Offer tips on embedding a culture of accountability
  • Demonstrate how technology can be used as an enabler

Details:

Wednesday, 9 November 2011. 16:00 BST / 11:00 EDT

Register here

Part 3 – How to… Lower your Operational Losses via improved Risk Management - 9 Nov '11

Is it time your organisation gained better control on risk events and operational losses?

Would you like your organisation to have the processes and systems in place to manage operational losses, identify root causes and deliver corrective actions?

Does your organisation need to move beyond a manual spreadsheet based operational losses process to one integrated within an overall GRC solution?

Join us for the third of four webinars in our “How to…” series – “How to lower your Operational Losses via improved Risk Management”

Register here

During this webinar, StratexSystems will:

  • Outline an 8 step process for managing risk events and losses, from capture to resolution
  • Explain how managing risk events and losses can be integrated into your overall enterprise strategy and risk management processes
  • Explain how risk events and losses create powerful feedback loops that can drive improvements in strategy and risk management
  • Explain how this approach has enabled one of StratexSystems' clients to reduce operational losses by 60% while achieving similar improvements in their regulatory capital position

Details:

Wednesday, 9th November 2011. 16:00 GMT / 11:00 EST

Register here

Part 4 – How to… Leverage SharePoint for Risk Management - 30 Nov '11

Do you need to deliver an effective strategy and risk management process?

Do you need to reduce operational losses and the cost of compliance?

Do you need to simplify your IT environment and eliminate ad hoc spreadsheets and systems?

Is it time to improve your Risk Management technology?

Join us for the last of four webinars in our “How to…” series – “How to Leverage SharePoint for Risk Management”

Register here

During this webinar, StratexSystems will:

  • Discuss some of the risk and regulatory challenges facing the financial services industry today
  • Discuss the role a sound methodology and robust technology can play in meeting risk and regulatory challenges today
  • Provide an overview of the StratexPoint GRC solution including outlining why it is the right solution for SharePoint users to adopt
  • Finally, we will provide a demonstration of how StratexPoint enables Strategy and Risk Management, including Strategy Mapping, Risk and Controls Assessment and the alignment of risk appetite to strategy

Details:

Wednesday, 30th November 2011. 16:00 GMT / 11:00 EST

Register here

The CRO and Risk Management Function as an Enabler of Risk Taking – Aligning Risk Appetite and Strategy to Build Competitive Advantage

One of the key challenges for the CRO and the executive teams of many large financial services organisations to emerge over the last couple of years has been the alignment of risk appetite to strategy and ensuring that the business is ‘operating within appetite’. This means operating within the appetite of the board and by implication, the regulator. Meeting this challenge can have a transformational effect on the role of the CRO and the risk function, but also on the role of risk management – transforming it from a compliance driven activity to a source of competitive advantage.

On a continuing basis the CRO should seek to ensure that risk originators in individual business units within the entity are fully aware of and aligned with the board’s appetite for risk.

The Walker Review into corporate governance of UK Banks and other financial industry entities, completed in July 2009 raised risk appetite as a key issue for boards and executives within the financial services industry.

Section 6.17 explicitly states that the CRO has a duty to ensure that the risk takers are taking risks in alignment with the organisational strategy.

To quote directly from the Walker Review 

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