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Decorative Caret Icon Advanced Operational Risk Group (AORG)

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The AORG was formed in 2005 by the Risk Management Association (RMA) at the suggestion of senior U.S. regulators. Since its inception in 2005, the Group has supported advanced operational risk management and the fundamental goals of improving operational risk management practice and ensuring capital adequacy.

Our mission is to advance the disciplines of operational risk management and operational risk measurement through:

 

 


Thought Leadership
Preparing industry whitepapers/position papers.


Peer Networking & Knowledge Sharing
Conducting regular roundtable discussions and range-of-practice surveys. Sponsoring a series of working groups on topics of mutual interest and concern.


Regulatory Dialogue
Engaging in regular dialogue with senior U.S. regulators and responding to regulatory and legislative consultative documents/rules as an industry group.

 

 

Membership

Membership is open to any RMA member institution regulated in the U.S. that is pursuing advanced operational risk measurement and management practices, and/or is required to conduct CCAR / DFAST exercises.

The institutional members of AORG during the current year are listed below.

 

  • Bank of America
  • BMO Financial
  • BNP Paribas   
  • BNY Mellon
  • Capital One Bank
  • Charles Schwab
  • Citigroup
  • CLS
  • Deutsche Bank
  • Fifth Third Bank
  • First Citizens Bank   
  • Goldman Sachs
  • Huntington
  • HSBC North America
  • JPMorgan Chase & Co.
  • Keycorp 
  • M&T Bank
  • Mizuho Americas
  • Morgan Stanley
  • MUFG Union Bank
  • Northern Trust
  • PNC Financial
  • Royal Bank of Canada
  • Santander 
  • Société Générale                                                         
  • State Street
  • TD Bank Financial Group
  • Truist    
  • UBS                       
  • U.S. Bank            
  • Wells Fargo
  • Zions Bank         

 

 

Governance

As a member-driven group, the AORG is led by its Steering and Regulatory Committee of senior operational risk leaders of its member institutions.

Support for AORG is provided by RMA and Greenwich Risk Management Consulting LLC.

  • Ed DeMarco, Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel, RMA
  • Sylwia Czajkowska, Associate Director, Operational Risk, RMA
  • Jay Newberry, Facilitator RMA AORG; Managing Director, Greenwich Risk Management Consulting LLC

 

Interested in Joining the AORG?

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More about the AORG

The AORG Group Value Proposition

Efficient/Effective: Pooled resources with robust ongoing support structure deliver a coordinated, cost-effective way to tackle multiple issues simultaneously by creating workstreams that utilize member and external subject matter expertise.

  • Peer Community – Larger banks with similar focus
  • Peer Networking and Knowledge Sharing – Informal, Candid, Confidential, Educational
  • Range of Practice Surveys
  • Thought Leadership – Development of consistent standards and common terminology
  • Focused Working Groups
  • Member-Driven Agenda
  • Regulatory Dialogue
    • Facilitation of dialogue and education among AORG members and the regulators in a way that is discreet for individual member banks
    • Responses to regulatory and legislative consultative documents/rules as an industry group

Currently Active Working Groups

Currently active working groups include:

  • Data and Quantification Working Group
  • Scenario Analysis Working Group
  • Wealth Management and Retail/Online Brokerage Working Group
  • Third Party Risk Management Working Group

Examples of Completed Working Groups and Related Initiatives

  • Operational Resilience
  • Technology Risk Management
  • COVID Expense Treatment
  • Comment Letter Response Initiatives (BIS BCBS and/or U.S. Regulatory consultative documents/rules)
  • Operational Risk Metrics
  • Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning
  • Control Monitoring and Testing
  • Credible Challenge
  • GRC Framework/Systems
  • Risk ID and Business Engagement

These are examples (not an exhaustive list) of past Working Groups/Initiatives initiated when needed and retired once goals were accomplished.

Examples of Industry Position Papers

AORG has been engaged in the development of a series of Industry Position Papers (IPPs) as a means of fostering a productive dialogue between the industry and the regulatory agencies in the U.S. about the practical implementation of the specifics of AMA. Most recent instances begin with surveys of members to capture key issues. Then a series of AORG and individual discussions are typically held to attain greater clarity about industry practices. More formal surveys and round-table discussions follow. Industry position papers result from the process, as warranted.

Examples of Papers in this series include:

  • AORG Industry Position Paper: COVID-19 / Pandemic Expense Treatment
  • AORG Comment Letter on SMA
  • AORG Validation Paper
  • AORG Quant Challenges: Thorny Topics IPP
  • Scenario Analysis
  • Unit of Measure (UoM)/Dependence
  • Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP)
  • Business Environment and Internal Control Factors (BEICF)

Examples of Range of Practice Surveys

  • Second Line of Defense Oversight and Challenge ROP Survey
  • RMA RCSA ROP Survey
  • Annual CCAR Ratios Survey – for Critical Internal Bank Benchmarking
  • COVID Expenses
  • Convergence of Compliance Risk Assessment and Operational Risk RCSA
  • Material Risk Lists
  • Convergence of Cyber/Tech and Operational Risk
  • Automated Controls
  • Legal Entities
  • Product-Service Delivery
  • ROP Survey on ILD Vendor Systems
  • ILD Quality/Documentation Standards and Regulatory Expectations
  • Issue Management ROP Survey
  • Third Party Risk Management Operating Model and Technology ROP Survey
  • RMA Risk Appetite ROP Survey

Note:  This is not an exhaustive list. AORG confidential ROP Surveys are available to those institutions who participate. This “give-to-get” principle is core to the success of the AORG. 

 

Current Members Who Want to Learn More

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