Model Validation

High-quality, cost-effective model risk management services

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Advance Your Model Validation Practices

Guided by an industry-led Advisory Council, RMA’s Model Validation team combines RMA’s 100+ years of experience in advancing sound risk management principles with deep knowledge and expertise in all phases of model risk management.

Model Validators on staff

Total Validations performed over the past 10 years

Years of experience

Creative & Scalable Ideas

Outsourced and co-sourced model validation, re-validation, and reviews. Creation and fine-tuning of new and existing model risk management programs that meet regulatory guidelines while considering the size and risk profile of your banks and its models

Collaborative Validations

Identification of institutions that use a common vendor model and execution of the validation work on behalf of all institutions, providing greater transparency and reduced costs. Experience matters when it comes to risk model validation. With increased regulatory scrutiny and extraordinary advances in machine learning, model risk managers are challenged more than ever to build and retain strong teams to meet demand. RMA Model Validation provides holistic solutions built by bankers, who are available on-demand to help you overcome your biggest risk challenges

"I was really impressed by the final report; it was thorough and well written.
Your team also managed the project well and always kept me updated on their status."

$15 billion fintech-focused bank

Model Validation Types

CECL Modeling and Accounting

Test your current approach to PD, LGD, EAD, PPNR, and IFRS 9/CECL.
BSA/AML and Fraud

Stay consistent with the latest development of the OCC 2011-12, SR 11-7, and DFS-504 guidelines.
ALM and Liquidity Risk

Manage data and configure your sensitivity and stress testing assumptions.
Credit/Prepayment Risk

Analyze your loan roll rates and payment timelines with precision.
Market Risk

Comply with Basel – FRTB and revisit your VaR, pricing and hedging models.
Operational Risk

Prevent operational losses from internal system failures or external events.
Strategic Risk

Understand your strategic risks and how they are embedded in your organization’s performance metric.
Wealth Management

Identify and manage risk exposures effectively for your asset management arms and retail clients.

Meet the Team

Management Team

Edward J. DeMarco, Jr., Esq., Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, The Risk Management Association

Edward J. DeMarco, Jr., Esq. is the Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of The Risk Management Association, a not-for-profit professional association headquartered in Philadelphia. Mr. DeMarco leads RMA’s Operational Risk and ERM practices, as well as RMA’s publishing business and RMA’s Model Validation Consortium.

He received a B.S. in Accounting from Villanova University and his J.D. from Saint Louis University, where he served as Articles Editor of the Saint Louis University Law Journal.

He has been interviewed on topics such as cyber security and third party risk management by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, The Economist, American Banker and Bank Director.

Education

J.D. from Saint Louis University

B.S. in Accounting from Villanova University
Management Team

Brian Long, Chief Financial Officer, The Risk Management Association

Brian Long is Chief Financial Officer of The Risk Management Association (RMA). In his role, Brian is responsible for setting the financial and technology strategy for RMA.

Before to joining RMA, Brian was the Chief Operating and Financial Officer and a member of the Board of Directors at NetQuest Corp., a data communications startup. Brian’s career emphasis has been on helping organization improve and adapt to change in a positive way. Brian’s emphasis has been on people; developing them and creating the teams and infrastructure for the organization to succeed.

Education

B.S. in Accounting from Rider University
Management Team

Will Kutteh, Senior Manager of Risk Products, The Risk Management Association

Will is the Senior Manager of Risk Products at RMA, overseeing RMA Model Validation Consortium and the Dual Risk Rating solution. Will has over seven years of experience in the financial services industry, with a focus on enterprise risk and model risk management. He has performed validations of models used in liquidity measurement, credit analysis, interest rate risk management, CCAR stress testing, and CECL. Will holds a BA in economics from Wake Forest University and is currently pursuing his Master of Business Administration from Wake Forest University.

Education

B.A. in economics from Wake Forest University
Model Risk Experts

Kevin D. Oden, Ph.D., Managing Director, RMA Model Validation Consortium Founding Partner, Kevin D. Oden & Associates, San Francisco, CA

Kevin Oden is the founder and managing partner of KDOA. Oden has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, including multiple senior executive risk roles at large financial institutions. Oden has focused on model risk throughout his career, both from a development and oversight capacity, including building and overseeing the model risk function at a large U.S. bank.

Practice Areas

Asset Liability Management (ALM), Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) / Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Fraud, CECL / IFRS 9, Credit and Prepayment Risk, Market Risk, Operational Risk, Stress Testing, Derivatives Pricing

Education

Ph.D. in mathematics from University of California, Los Angeles

B.B.A. in operations research from Cleveland State University

B.S. in mathematics from Cleveland State University
Model Risk Experts

Greg Brozak, Ph.D., Senior Quantitative Analyst, Arlington, VA

Greg Brozak is a quantitative finance professional with more than 25 years of experience in developing and validating financial and risk management models across a wide range of product types and risk factors. He has broad experience in model risk management and model governance. He has led model development and model risk teams at large financial organizations. Brozak’s areas of model expertise include mortgage and credit models, interest rate/ALM modeling, stress testing, operational, and climate risk models. Brozak also has extensive experience setting up and overseeing model governance frameworks.

Practice Areas

CECL / IFRS 9, Credit and Prepayment Risk, Market Risk, Operational Risk, Stress Testing, Model Risk Governance, Climate Risk

Education

Ph.D. in physics from Northeastern University

M.A. in physics from the University of Buffalo

B.A. in physics and mathematics from Queen’s College CUNY
Model Risk Experts

Estella Chu, Senior Quantitative Analyst, San Francisco, CA

Estella Chu has provided a broad range of risk management services to large financial institutions relating to risk governance, limits setting, financial instruments valuation, risk modeling, risk reporting, and Basel II/III regulatory compliance services. She specializes in quantitative modeling technical and data validation applicable to market risk, credit risk, and counterparty credit risk and led many projects to help clients establish sound risk management and carry out model risk management and related internal audit programs. Her recent areas of focus include ALM, CECL / IFRS 9, credit, prepayment risk, market risk, liquidity risk, operational risk, and risk-weighted capital models.

Practice Areas

Asset Liability Management (ALM), CECL / IFRS 9, Credit and Prepayment Risk, Market Risk, Liquidity Risk, Risk-Weighted Capital

Education

M.B.A. in finance and IT from Indiana University

B.A. in computer science from Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Model Risk Experts

Jeison Gil, Senior Quantitative Analyst Medellin, Colombia

Jeison Gil is a Senior Quantitative Analyst and Manager for KDOA. He has more than 10 years of experience in quantitative finance, which has been devoted to model risk management, hedging of commodities, and research. For the last seven years, he has been dedicated to model risk management, with a focus on model validation, working for tier one banks in the United States and Europe. Jeison has validated a wide range of models, including ALM (Empyrean and other vendor models), CECL (Abrigo), BSA/AML (Verafin and machine learning models), and various other credit and market risk models, including capital stress testing.

Practice Areas

Asset Liability Management (ALM), CECL / IFRS 9, Credit and Prepayment Risk, Market Risk, Credit Score Models

Education

M.S. in financial engineering with a specialization in risk from the University of Medellin

B.S. in mathematics from Paris-Sorbonne University
Model Risk Experts

Pablo Macri, Ph.D., Senior Quantitative Analyst, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Pablo Macri has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, academia, and research in finance and physical sciences. In finance, he has primarily focused on risk management, risk/derivative pricing systems, and machine learning/ artificial intelligence development. Macri has recently led validation projects for asset/ liability management, Bank Secrecy Act/ anti- money laundering and fraud models based on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other cutting-edge analytics.

Practice Areas

Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) / Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Fraud, Credit and Prepayment Risk, Market Risk, Operational Risk, Derivatives Pricing

Education

Ph.D. in physics from the Balseiro Institute, Argentina

M.S. in physics from the Balseiro Institute, Argentina
Model Risk Experts

Manuel Maurette, Ph.D., Head of Operations, LATAM/Europe, Buenos Aires, Argentina

After several years of research in differential equations, Manuel Maurette started working in quantitative finance and model risk management, validating, developing, and testing pricing and risk models. He keeps a close bond with the academic world that includes more than 15 years of lecturing and, in the past few years, has coordinated post- graduate programs and organized quant finance regional conferences. At KDOA, Maurette manages/coordinates project resourcing/tracking as well as serves as lead for projects where his experience is most relevant.

Practice Areas

Credit and Prepayment Risk, Market Risk, Derivatives Pricing Models, Model Risk Management

Education

Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

M.S. in applied mathematics from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Model Risk Experts

Len Mills, Ph.D., Senior Quantitative Analyst, Brookeville, MD

Leonard Mills is a Senior Quantitative Analyst at KDOA. Mills has more than 30 years of experience in model development and validation. Prior to joining KDOA, he worked at the Federal Reserve, Fannie Mae, and Wells Fargo, as well as consulted for a variety of financial institutions. Mills has extensive experience with credit risk/CECL, ALM, mortgage analytics, and mortgage hedging validations, as well as stress testing framework validations, including familiarity with ADCO, MCT, QRM, and Moody’s analytics.

Practice Areas

Asset Liability Management (ALM), CECL / IFRS 9, Credit and Prepayment Risk, Market Risk, Stress Testing, Derivatives Pricing

Education

Ph.D. in economics from Tulane University

B.S. in mathematics from Hampden-Sydney College
Model Risk Experts

Gaston Romeo, Ph.D., Senior Quantitative Analyst, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Gaston Romeo has more than 15 years of experience in quantitative solutions, mathematical modeling, numerical simulation, artificial intelligence, data science, and programming endeavors for top tier financial institutions & global analytics companies, national councils, and scientific collaborations worldwide. He has led multiple projects within the banking industry as part of model validation, corporate model risk, and front office group. Romeo’s particular areas of model expertise are credit risk models, including CECL/IFRS 9 (various vendor models), ALM, market risk, and stress testing.

Practice Areas

Market Risk, Credit and Prepayment Risk, Asset Liability Management (ALM), Stress Testing, Model Risk, CECL / IFRS 9

Education

Ph.D. in physics from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

M.S. in physics from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

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Highlights and Analysis from RMA’s Second Model Risk Management Survey

July 13, 2023

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An RMA survey report out this summer details the current state of model risk management, from the typical ratio of model development vs. model validation staffers, to challenges regarding vendors, to the growing prevalence of artificial intelligence in models.