Consulting
Our particular focus is on assisting smaller and mid-sized financial institutions and service providers to meet the evolving expectations of regulators, Boards, accountants, analysts and other interested parties as regards risk management tools and practices. This applies to all areas of risk: credit, interest rate, liquidity, compliance, operational, strategic … and pulling it all together under the rubric of enterprise risk management. We can help you prepare for this brave, if intimidating, new world. And those who get ahead of the curve are those that will be recognized and rewarded as best-practice, leading-edge institutions.
We have over 40 highly experienced risk management professionals to cover the main practice areas identified below. Within each of those areas, we have many sub-specialties, reflecting the tremendous breadth and depth of our combined backgrounds. You won’t get a team of recent graduates turning up for you to teach them your business. Our seasoned employees have years of hands-on experience and will hit the ground running to provide you value-added assistance and advice from day one, hour one. We would be happy to discuss with you any specific problems or needs you may be facing – and the expertise we can bring to bear to assist you.
Credit
The bar here is continually rising. Practices adopted by the largest institutions in the 1990s are gradually percolating down to smaller institutions. The risk grading system is at the core of credit risk measurement and management, and innovations there provide a valuable foundation for a variety of other credit initiatives. Stress-testing is getting increasing emphasis. The ALLL continues to be an area of examiner scrutiny, as it comes to be replaced by CECL’s ACL (Allowances for Credit Losses). Underwriting guidelines need regular attention as portfolios, lending practices and regulatory guidance all go through changes. There’s OREO, TDRs and plenty of other acronyms. IRC is well equipped to assist in enhancing your effectiveness in these and many other related areas.
Asset/Liability Management
Banking book interest rate risk may not have the immediacy of credit or certain operational risks. But the longer-term impact of a mismatched balance sheet can be every bit as damaging. We can help you better understand, measure and manage your IRR exposure. The same applies to liquidity risk, your ALM investment portfolio and your capital management. Our risk management professionals have backgrounds that include CFOs, CPAs and regulators. We’re well positioned to “hold your hand” through what can be a tricky path to navigate.
IT/Information Security
Are you spending your IT dollars effectively? Are you adequately protected against the widening range and sophistication of IS threats? Are you meeting regulatory requirements for safeguarding customer information? Lapses in this arena can have literally life-and-death consequences for an institution. Our staff of IT professionals understands those challenges and how to most effectively and efficiently address the resulting needs. They have experience designing, implementing and maintaining systems and software security. As with all our IRC staff, you get a seasoned professional, not someone learning on the job.
Operations
IRC can assist with preparation of policies and procedures documents, with the design and implementation of improved internal controls, with training needs, and with a host of other strategic and analytic services. Our staff has experience in deposit and lending operations, as well as administrative functions. Besides ensuring that all relevant operational risks are being identified and controlled, we can help increase the efficiency of your operations so that cost centers don’t become a drag on long-run profitability.
Compliance
Do you feel like you’re drowning in an ocean of regulations – an ocean that gets bigger every month? Do you have a compliance visitation looming, with holes that need plugging? Whether it’s BSA/AML, a deposit reg, a lending reg or some other item, our compliance specialists are knowledgeable in all aspects of interpreting and satisfying the requirements. In addition, we can offer an outsourced compliance management solution comprising all or some of: updated, comprehensive policies and procedures; training; Board and management reporting; compliance monitoring; and forms, brochures and other customer documentation.