Risk Management Services at Alexander Church

Alexander Church employs a multi-disciplinary approach to risk management for its clients. Our professionals are experienced in financial management, operations, IT, risk assessment, compliance and other relevant areas in identifying, assessing or assisting in the full implementation of an institution’s risk management program. In addition, Alexander Church will work with your internal audit function to enhance their control capabilities. Risk management services offered include assistance with:

BOARD GOVERNANCE AND OVERSIGHT

Boards and senior management are under increasingly difficult regulatory scrutiny in the area of risk management and board oversight. COSO has offered guidance for boards in the area of Enterprise Risk Oversight. It is incumbent upon boards to understand the extent of the enterprise risk management program and ensure that the program concurs with the entity’s risk appetite. The Board should review the risk portfolio and be apprised of the most significant risks and whether management is responding appropriately.

Alexander Church can work with the board and senior management to ensure that the all relevant information is provided in order for the board to make critical decisions about the direction of the institution. The Alexander Church can also perform a key training function in this area for both senior management and the board.

ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT

Enterprise Risk Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the activities of an organization in order to minimize the effects of risk to an organization. Enterprise risk management incorporates managing financial, strategic, operational, and other risks. Global regulatory authorities have imposed significant standards on financial institutions to implement risk management programs in the wake of the market crisis of 2008. While many of the standards apply to large banks, the regulators often impose significant risk management standards on smaller institutions as “guidelines” or “best practices”, all of which can affect an institution’s regulatory rating.

Alexander Church can work with senior management and operational heads of your institution to implement a customized, thoughtful and effective risk management program. In connection with that effort we will, assist your firm with, among other things:

• Identifying, measuring, and monitoring critical risks
• Designing and implementing a common risk infrastructure for your organization
• Creating a process of mapping risk to create reports for operational heads, senior management, the board and regulators
• Working with senior management and the board to assess protect against unintended consequences in strategic risk

Operational Risk Management

Operational risk has grown in importance. New regulation, increased business complexity, and emerging technology contribute to a firm’s operational risk and suggest that this type of risk is a force that will continue to increase in size and significance. Operational Risk is not just about measurement and management, but also about leadership. Special emphasis must be given to customer-facing functions and the role of consumer rights in the new regulatory environment, so we provide useful operational risk metrics, including Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) to meet these needs. Firms developing an Operational Risk framework will need advice on Basel methodologies for calculating economic capital for operational risk. We can also provide advanced tools for operational risk preparation, including, stress testing and scenario analysis.

• Developing Operational Risk Frameworks
• Implementing an Operational Risk Management Strategy
• Basel and US Regulatory Operational Risk Requirements
• Development of an Operational Risk Loss Database
• Operational Risk Scenarios and Planning
• Selection and identification of Key Risk Indicators (KRI)
• Operational Risk Training

CREDIT AND MARKET RISK MANAGEMENT

The business of any financial firm is tied to its investment in assets and loans. The financial crisis of 2008 showed us that credit and market risk are highly intertwined. The processes for loan management and loan approval can and do impact market value. Our services in credit and market risk focus on helping clients develop data-driven credit policies and understanding the impact of stress tests and scenario analysis on the portfolio of loans and assets

• Credit policy and model validation
• Scenario Analysis
• Stress Testing
• Credit score carding for loans

CORPORATE COMPLIANCE AND REGULATORY RISK

Our multi-disciplinary team will evaluate how operational, strategic and regulatory risk inter-sect for your institution. Stress testing for bank and client portfolios, a priority for regulators, scenario analysis and stress testing of loans, vendor oversight and management are all risk analyses that intersect with regulatory requirements. We can work with your team to develop and implement rational and effective credit policies and guidelines for new products and services.

Regulatory requirements are vast and affect reputation risk. To that end, we can offer additional services such as:

• Compliance monitoring design and control testing
• Creation of analytics, reports to track trends and exceptions
• Review of existing compliance monitoring for effectiveness
• Specialized compliance services such as AML reviews, matrix preparation and analytics prepared especially for senior management, board and regulatory presentations

INTERNAL AUDIT AND RISK CONTROL MANAGEMENT

The internal audit function is critical in the implementation of the overall enterprise risk management function. To this end, our risk management professionals can assist in evaluating internal audit functions and/or offering strategies for outsourcing such operations. In addition, we can work with your internal audit team to assist with:

• Sarbanes-Oxley compliance
• Assistance with auditing and monitoring techniques
• Assistance with creating a framework for evaluation of control areas
• Creating a framework to evaluate corporate governance processes
• Reporting critical items to the Board
• Whistleblower programs
• Implementing information security and IT oversight

For more information on Alexander Church Risk Management Services, please contact