The RMA Capital Working Group (CWG) was formed in 1999 to respond to the international Basel II capital regulation process.  Its members have consisted of top banking institutions, primarily in the U.S., whose senior staffs are responsible for risk measurement and capital management, including meeting the new Basel II capital standards.  The CWG was instrumental in helping U.S. and Basel regulators come to economically sound conclusions regarding many of the important elements of Basel II, and we have continued this work on the so-called Basel III standards now in the process of being finalized. 

The CWG’s approach to regulatory policy differs from that of other professional and trade groups—we focus on providing very technical but clear analyses that can act as a supplement to individual large banks’ regulatory response and interaction efforts.  These analyses are bolstered by a series of surveys that provide a clear view of the range of practice among the largest institutions with respect to risk measurement, economic capital, and stress testing.  These survey studies are quite intensive and include quantitative results, plus qualitative findings on a no-name basis, made available only to the institutions that participate in a particular study.

We will continue to focus on our two main functions: a) providing appropriate analyses for responding to regulatory proposals, and b) conducting range-of-practice survey studies on topics of extreme interest to the Group.  If you are interested in joining the CWG or have any questions, please do not hesitate to call or email Stacy Germano at 215-446-4089, sgermano@rmahq.org or Ed DeMarco at 215-446-4052, edemarco@rmahq.org.