The Joint Working Group proposals on fair value disclosure of financial instruments have provoked controversy. Here the author looks at how the proposals would impact on banks’ risk management, lending policies and pricing.

Audit committees have been an integral part of risk management in financial services organisations for longer than in the rest of the economy. But the pressures on audit committee performance are growing. The authors, who have provided a guidance document published by the ICAEW, show how...

The issue of how banks should disclose the effects of financial instruments is fraught. The global standard‐setting community put forward their views in what became known as the Joint Working Group’s proposals. These aroused strong feelings in the banking world. This article is the first...

The authors explain how risk management can increase the value of an organisation. They look at issues like globalisation, shareholder value, the effect of corporate governance and the input of the finance director and show how all these issues, properly discussed and communicated through the...

The authors provide an overview of their research into the attitudes of UK managers to risk and uncertainty. They find that, when it comes to decision making, managers in UK enterprises tend to focus on loss aversion rather than risk aversion. They found that managers’ personal attitudes to...

The Auditing Practices Board (APB), the audit standard setting body for the UK and the Republic of Ireland, has published a Consultation Draft of a Practice Note “Auditing derivative financial instruments”. Here the project director at the APB explains the thinking behind the guidance and...

The use of a deterministic numeric paradigm in auditing and accounting may well be the root cause of many current problems. This paper argues that risk‐based accounting methods should start using probabilistic inputs which would show resultant distributions as output. “Stochastic...

The calculation of economic capital in its entirety has, until recently, been complex. But increasingly it has become a risk‐management system across entire groups. The author looks at how it can be done and analyses the advantages it creates.

International Accounting Standards are steadily becoming the norm. The European Union agreement that all listed companies in Europe must comply by the year 2005 has hastened the process further. This brings particular challenges for all organisations in the financial services world but for...

The insurance market is having a tough time. Costs are rising as risk become tougher. But the best risks see high costs of insurance as a reason to leave the market and insure themselves. The market cycle has been broken. The key now is to understand and manage risks. Alternative risk transfer...