Later this year, RMA will offer OpRisk Tools to its member institutions. It will help them to capture and manage operational risk data and corporate governance initiatives.
PHILADELPHIA, PA (March 28, 2005)—The Risk Management Association announced today that it will offer a comprehensive and affordable online risk management service specifically designed to help its small and medium-sized member institutions manage their operational risks and controls. RMA OpRisk Tools will be a subscription-based online service that will cover all elements of operational risk, and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
RMA has selected Centerprise Services of Purchase, New York, as its core solution provider for its OpRisk Tools initiative. Centerprise is a software vendor focused on risk management and control solutions for the financial services industry, with a particular focus on operational risk and governance solutions.
Subscriptions to the Web-based solution will be available both for the whole suite or individual modules. The modules will include Risk Control Self Assessment, Sarbanes-Oxley, Issues & Action Plans, Loss Event Management, Key Risk Indicators and others. It will also include a knowledge delivery and a library of key risk indicators. RMA is offering OpRisk Tools as an affordable and effective substitute for risk consultants and procedures manuals. A pilot user group is now testing OpRisk Tools; it will be offered to the RMA’s general membership in the third quarter of 2005.
RMA Director of Operational Risk Charles Taylor said, “RMA is strongly committed to helping its member institutions build a culture of operational risk management and implement effective practices and procedures. Our OpRisk Tools is an exciting new vehicle to further promote our main mission – promoting sound risk principles and an enterprise-wide approach to risk management.”
“We are delighted to be working with Centerprise on delivering a robust yet very affordable risk management solution to our members”, said Taylor. “Centerprise has both the functionality and underlying architecture to support the online subscription model that best meets the needs of our members.”
Reto Tuffli, CEO of Centerprise, noted that smaller banks face considerable challenges and costs to address op risk and meet Sarbanes-Oxley and related requirements. “This offering is an ideal delivery model for bringing value to the RMA’s small and medium-sized members,” he said. “We are naturally very pleased to be working together with this respected industry association to make the service a reality.”
About RMA
Founded in 1914, the Risk Management Association is a nonprofit, member-driven professional association whose sole purpose is to advance the use of sound risk principles in the financial services industry. RMA promotes an enterprise-wide approach to risk management that focuses on credit risk, market risk, and operational risk.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, RMA has 3,000 institutional members that include banks of all sizes as well as nonbank financial institutions. They are represented in the Association by 16,000 risk management professionals in North America and numerous cities overseas, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, and London. Members meet regularly through RMA's strong chapter network.
About Centerprise
Centerprise Services, Inc. is a leader in the development of risk management and control systems for the financial services industry. The company’s product suite, CenterSphere, is a new class of enterprise system that combines enterprise risk management functionality with governance, control, compliance, and business process capabilities. The suite is an integrated yet modular framework. As part of the suite, Centerprise offers a full-featured operational risk solution that may be deployed with Sarbanes-Oxley support as well as process repository and business performance management capabilities.