Business Control Solutions (BCS) has successfully launched its new methodology, BCS CTRL+, which combines the company’s consultancy and software expertise to deliver best practices in operational control and operational risk management.
Additionally, BCS has initiated the Operational Risk in Investment Banking Operations (ORIBO) Forum, a regular meeting for key industry figures to establish standards which will help further reduce operational risk in investment banking operations.
BCS CTRL+ enables firms to diagnose operational risk, implement changes and achieve improvement through real-time visibility over the status of risks and controls. The consultancy offering of this methodology encompasses an operational health check and a roadmap to make necessary changes to business processes.
The third part is the BCS Operational Control Architecture (OCA), which provides a high-impact, low-maintenance enterprise software application. This monitors control hotspots, highlights issues intra-day, and enables management to respond immediately.
Jennifer Moodie, head of operational risk at BCS, has been instrumental in the launch of the methodology, as well as the inception of the ORIBO Forum. Previously global head of risk analysis and reporting for the operations division at Goldman Sachs, Moodie joined BCS in summer 2007.
“Approaches to operations control and operational risk are converging to form operational risk control. BCS is well placed to meet this changing market approach and help firms meet regulatory demands. In driving the growth of BCS’s operational risk consulting division, I aim to leverage the strengths of its operational control solutions extensively. Industry issues relating to both operations risk and control will also be the key focus for the ORIBO Forum,” says Moodie.
Following a successful first meeting, the next ORIBO Forum will take place on 18 January, 2008 at the Walbrook Club in London. In addition to establishing industry standards, the forum, which is formed of investment banking practitioners from 22 leading firms, will address the need to move from collecting and reporting information to analysing and proactively optimising the risk/cost equation. Example specific discussion topics for this meeting are improvement of the quality of settlement instructions and the standards needed for posting operations losses to error accounts.
“There is a continual need to raise the awareness of risk management within the financial services sector, particularly during times of financial instability. The efforts of the ORIBO Industry Forum are to be applauded as it seeks to develop best practice industry standards. The Institute of Operational Risk wholeheartedly supports ORIBO and is pleased to endorse its efforts,” adds Philip Martin, chairman, Institute of Operational Risk.