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?”

Register here

Strategy and Risk “How to…” Webinar Series

StratexSystems is pleased to announce a four-part series of “How to…” webinars which address Strategy and Risk Management related challenges, and offer innovative solutions, expert advice and tips to overcome them. It is a chance for you to gain insight and hear how other clients have delivered robust strategy and risk management frameworks and processes enabled by our proven technology solution, StratexPoint.

These webinars are aimed at the CRO, CFO, CIO, Head/Director of Operational Risk, Head/Director of Finance, Head/Director of Strategy, Head/Director of Compliance, Head/Director of IT, and other professionals who deal with RMP/Section 166 actions, Basel 3, Solvency2, Dodd-Frank regulations etc.

The “How to…” series is as follows:

“How to… Integrate Strategy and Risk Management” 

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

More information | Register

“How to… Deliver an Effective, Robust Risk Framework while responding to a Regulatory Action”

19th October 2011, 16:00 BST / 11:00 EDT

more information | register

“How to… Lower Operational Losses via Risk Management”

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

more information | register 

“How to… Leverage SharePoint for Risk Management”

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

more information | register

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

PR/Marketing Executive

A fantastic, challenging and varied role has arisen for a high energy, hard working and creative PR/Marketing executive to join us to drive our PR/Marketing activities, lift our profile/brand and to develop and execute the PR/Marketing strategy for a fast growing technology company.

In this role you will be working directly for the CEO and will have a large amount of freedom to undertake PR/Marketing activities, all of which should be focussed on developing our profile/brand and driving leads for our sales teams.
There will be a strong focus on social media to build a community of followers and supporters online, using blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc. There will also be a range of more traditional activities, particularly organising campaigns and events, ensuring leads data is maintained in a CRM system and building relationships with key journalists, bloggers and other influencers in our space.

The successful candidate will have the following profile:

  • Be able to demonstrate experience as a blogger/tweeter
  • Have experience in the technology and/or financial services industry
  • Have experience/background as a journalist
  • Have a formal PR/Marketing/Journalist related qualification
  • Preference will be given to a English literature graduate 

This is a varied role and one that offers the successful candidate a range of opportunities for developing their career, skills and capabilities and to take on more responsibilities in the future.

Salary will depend on experience and expertise.

This position will be based in Waterloo, London.

Please contact andrew[dot]smart[at]stratexsystems[dot]com with your CV and short covering letter.

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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Why do 70% of Organisations Fail to Successfully Execute Strategy?

Strategic execution remains a major challenge for many organisations, with up to 70% of organisations failing to execute strategy successfully. Performance management is one of the key dimensions of strategic execution.

Performance management is about achieving strategic objectives. It is about clearly defining and communicating objectives across your organisation; aligning your organisation to meet them; and continuously planning for, monitoring progress of, and analysing exceptions to ensure they are achieved. Developed in the early 1990s the Balanced Scorecard, along with the Strategy Map is one of the most widely adopted performance management methodologies today. However many organisations continue to find Strategy Map and Balanced Scorecard deployment challenging. Others fail to grasp the opportunity presented by these tools to improve strategic execution and increase revenue whilst driving out costs.

In our experience Strategy Map and Balanced Scorecard projects often fail due to a lack of a compelling, well-understood business reason for undertaking the change programme. Additionally there is often a failure to address the business change and technology aspects of this type of project in an integrated, aligned manner.