Kamakura Risk Manager implemented by Malaysia’s AmBank Group

By Edil Corneille

Honolulu-based Kamakura Corporation, an advanced analytics company for enterprise risk management, announced that AmBank Group has successfully implemented the Kamakura Risk Manager (KRM) to manage compliance with Basel III Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) and Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) requirements. AmBank Group has over 40 years of expertise in supporting the economic development of Malaysia.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision reformed the LCR and NSFR ratios in response to the financial crisis to ensure that banks hold sufficient reserves of high-quality liquid assets (HQLA) and have adequate stable funding, to promote a more resilient banking sector.

Jamie Ling, Group Chief Financial Officer, AmBank Group enunciated, “Kamakura’s understanding of the local regulatory requirements is the key differentiator in our decision to select KRM. This is also based on the experience they shared with us and KRM’s capabilities of not just meeting the minimum requirements of regulatory reporting, but also the ability to forecast our LCR requirements in daily and stress test scenarios. We have also deployed KRM’s sandbox engine and analytics capabilities in our trading room which allow our traders to better manage the liquidity needs of our operations.”

Dr. Clement Ooi, Kamakura’s President of Asia Pacific Operations apprised, “In today’s ever-changing regulatory landscape, meeting minimum regulatory requirements alone is no longer a viable strategy for banks. AmBank, like other financial institutions, is looking for a long-term solution that also addresses regulatory requirements as they continue to evolve. Since the introduction of the Basel II Capital Framework in 1988, almost all new guidelines have called for robust cash flow calculations. Once KRM is implemented, the banks can select the appropriate module with efficient implementation plan. This has allowed AmBank to streamline project resources, optimise implementation time, and meet new regulatory requirements more quickly.”

Wilson Yap, Kamakura’s Senior Vice President and Head of Professional Services stated, “We enjoy a long-term relationship with all our clients and know how to listen and respond to their needs. AmBank has been a client since 2010, and we have grown along with it. AmBank has deployed KRM Version 10, which was built from the ground up in 2018 and is now deployed globally. Version 10 offers faster processing speed, an intuitive user interface, and better accuracy. It is a complete enterprise risk management solution for banks and will help them meet all future regulatory requirements using a single database.”