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THE PROFESSIONAL RISK MANAGER (PRM™)

C E R T I F I C AT I O N P R O G R A M

PRM Self Study Guide – Exam III

(THREE OF FIVE)

RISK MAN AGEMENT PRA CTICES · MARKET RI SK

CREDIT RISK · OPERATIONA L RISK

2 0 11 ED ITIO N
UPDAT ED- JANUARY-2014
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PRMIA FROM THE CRADLE TO THE PINNACLE OF YOUR CAREER

A Higher Standard for Risk Professionals

A s a non-profit, member-led association of professionals, the Professional

Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA) is dedicated to advancing
the standards of the profession worldwide through the free exchange of ideas.
We are committed to helping our members achieve these standards through the
following resources.

■ CONNECTION TO A LOCAL CHAPTER NETWORK OF 90,000 MEMBERS WORLDWIDE –

PRMIA offers 200 meetings each year are offered through its local chapters, giving members
access to the best practices of the global risk profession and to a local network of colleagues.

■ THE PROFESSIONAL RISK MANAGER (PRM) CERTIFICATION – Endorsed by leading

universities and businesses, the PRM certification is the global standard for financial risk
managers.

■ ASSOCIATE PRM CERTIFICATE – Covers the core concepts of risk management, allowing
non-specialists to interpret risk management information and reports, make critical
assessments, and evaluate the implications and the limitations of such results.

■ PRMIA MEMBERS HAVE ACCESS TO A WEALTH OF ONLINE RESOURCES In-

cluding a Jobs Board with risk management job openings in
cities around the world, links to past presentations and
papers, and much more.

■ PRMIA EDUCATION – Offering classroom instruction

and over 700 online professional development courses,
all customizable to your personal or corporate needs.
W W W. P R M I A . O R G

J oin thousands of other risk professionals dedicated to advancing the standards of the risk pro-
fession worldwide by becoming a Sustaining member of PRMIA. This exclusive membership
provides the highest level of benefits, discounts, and opportunities available. Visit
http://www.prmia.org/membership or email support@prmia.org to become a member or
to learn more.
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PRM SELF-STUDY GUIDE – EXAM III
Risk Management Practices, Market Risk, Credit Risk, Operational Risk

OVERVIEW

E
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xam III of the PRM certification tests a candidate’s knowledge and understanding of the modern
risk management practices.

Exam III is split into three parts, which address market risk, credit risk and operational risk in turn. These
three are the main components of risk borne by any organization, although the relative importance of the
mix varies.

You can use this Self-Study Guide to focus your study on the key Learning Outcome Statements from each
chapter. These Learning Outcome Statements form the basis for the questions asked during the examina-
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tion that you will take as Exam III of the PRM certification program. We recommend that you first read the
chapter, then review the Learning Outcome Statements, then re-read the chapter with particular emphasis
on these points.

We recommend strongly that you do not simply read the Learning Outcome Statements and then try to find
the information about each in the books as a short-cut way of preparing for the exam. Real-life risk manage-
ment requires your ability to assemble information from many simultaneous inputs and you can expect that
some exam questions will draw from multiple Learning Outcome Statements.

After studying the book for this section (PRM Handbook Volume III) and the seven additional supplemental
papers, becoming comfortable with your knowledge and understanding of each Learning Outcome State-
ment, and working through the Study Questions and the Sample Exam Questions, you will have read the
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materials necessary for passing Exam III of the PRM Certification program. You may then wish to pur-
chase access to online Sample Exams (Diagnostics) via the PRMIA website to assess your readiness.
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Taking the PRM qualification, as well as working as a risk officer, requires a certain amount of mathemati-
cal expertise. This is not excessive. Anyone who was passed mathematics studies at advanced high school
level, or who has completed the first year of a university degree in a mathematical-based qualification
(physics, economics, engineering, etc) should have no problem with the requirements. For others, we
recommend that they take tuition in the mathematics required and that they focus on this as the first part
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of their studies for the PRM .

Please note that testing conditions, your state of mind and various factors can make your TABLE OF CONTENTS
performance on the actual exams somewhat less strong than on the Sample Exams. If your
Sample Exam scores are near to the passing mark, you may wish to study the subject Overview p. 1
materials even further. Risk Management
Practices p. 4
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Please remember that the exams of the PRM certification are very challenging. After all Market Risk p. 5
it’s “a higher standard in risk certification” and you would expect nothing less. There is
Credit Risk p. 7
no guarantee that using the Self-Study Guide, in combination with the reading materials
and Sample Exams will give you a passing score. But, they should all provide you with Operational Risk p. 10
assistance in doing your best. We wish you much success in your effort to become certified Study Questions p. 14
as a Professional Risk Manager!

1
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WORD DEFINITIONS
In this guide, we use the Command Words that the CFA Institute uses, and a few additional words, to indicate
levels of ability expected from successful candidates on each Learning Outcome Statement.

Calculate To ascertain or determine by mathematical processes.

Characterize To describe the essential character or quality of.
Compare To examine the character or qualities of, for the primary purpose of
discovering resemblances.
Construct To create by organizing ideas or concepts logically and coherently.
Contrast To compare in respect to differences.
Deconstruct To disassemble the key elements of ideas or concepts.
Define To set forth the meaning of; specifically, to formulate a definition of.
Demonstrate To prove or make clear by reasoning or evidence; to illustrate and explain,
especially with examples.
Derive To obtain by reasoning.
Describe To transmit a mental image, an impression, or an understanding of the nature
and characteristics of.
Differentiate To mark or show a difference in; to develop different characteristics in.
Discuss To discourse about through reasoning or argument; to present in detail.
Draw To express graphically in words; to delineate.
Explain To give the meaning or significance of; to provide an understanding of;
to give the reason for or cause of.
Identify To establish the identity of; to show or prove the sameness of.
List To enumerate.
Show To set forth in a statement, account, or description; to make evident or clear.
State To express in words.

STUDY TIME
Preparation time will vary greatly according to your knowledge and understanding of the subject matter prior
to your self-study, your ability to commit dedicated and uninterrupted time to your study and other factors. In
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general, candidates who prepare for the exams of the PRM certification program allocate about three months
to preparation for each exam.

You may spend three hours each week in study, or as much as ten or more, each week to ready yourself. Follow
the suggestions above regarding the use of the Learning Outcome Statements and Sample Exams. Once you are
comfortable with your readiness, it’s time to register for the exam.

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TESTING STRATEGIES
All questions are multiple-choice and there are no penalties for incorrect answers. Bear in mind that it is vitally
important to finish the exam in the time allotted. Do not linger over questions longer than is sensible.

For example, if the exam has 30 questions in 90 minutes, do not spend longer than three minutes per question.
If at the end of three minutes you have not answered the question, decide on the best answer you can (ignoring
the obviously wrong), mark your answer and move on. If you do have any spare time at the end of the exam you
can always go back and review the answer. However, make absolutely sure that you have an answer for every
question at the end of the exam!

Another strategy would be to go through all the questions answering the ones you find easier ones first. Then
after a first pass, divide the remaining questions by the time remaining and proceed as above.

USAGE OF THE CALCULATOR

At the exam centre you will have access to an on-line calculator. At the exam centre you will have access to an
on-line Texas Instrument TI308XS calculator. No other materials may be brought into the exam room with you. It
is suggested that candidates purchase the hand-held version (TI-30XS) to fully familiarize themselves with the
calculator. A user guide for the calculator can be found at:
http://education.ti.com/guidebooks/scientific/30xmv/TI30XSMultiViewGuide_en.pdf

TI308XS Calculator Download Instructions

For system requirements please click on system requirements and download instructions
Note: The practice exam is not accessible on Mac computers.

1. Download the Pearson Vue Tutorial & Practice Exam by clicking here – if the link does not work, cut and paste
this in your browser: http://www.pearsonvue.com/athena/PearsonVueTutorialDemo.msi
2. Click "run" if you have that option otherwise click "save file"
3. Open the saved file. (If you clicked "Run" skip this step)
4. Follow the Software Installation prompts
5. Run the installed software
6. Check the box for the Practice Exam
7. Click on the "next" button until you get to the screen with the calculator icon in the upper left hand corner of
the screen.
8. Click on the calculator icon to be able practice with the TI308XS calculator.

STUDY QUESTIONS
A few questions, with answers, have been provided to help the candidate understand some of the concepts of
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the PRM Handbook. These study questions are not comprehensive of all concepts in the exam, nor are they
necessarily questions of a similar type to those in the exam. They are provided in good faith as a study aid.

SAMPLE EXAM QUESTIONS

In Volume 5 of this Study Guide there are sample questions from all for exams. These sample questions should
give you a flavor for the format and content of the actual exams. They are only part of the length of the actual
exams and therefore do not cover all subjects contained in the detailed content description provided in this
document. Questions on any of the subjects listed previously may appear on the actual exam.

O VE RVIEW 3
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RISK MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

T he practice of risk management is evolving at a rapid pace, especially with the implementation of, and
revisions to, Basel II. Aside from these regulatory pressures, shareholders and other stakeholders in-
creasingly demand higher standards of risk management and disclosure of risk. In fact, it would not be an
overstatement to say that risk consciousness is one of the defining features of modern business. Inter-
est in risk management is at an unprecedented level as institutions gather data, upgrade their models
and systems, train their staff, review their remuneration systems, adapt their business practices and scru-
tinise controls for this new era.

The last line of defence against risk is capital, as it ensures that a firm can continue as a going concern even if
substantial and unexpected losses are incurred. Accordingly, one of the major themes of Exam III is how to deter-
mine the appropriate size of this capital buffer. How much capital is enough to withstand unusual losses in each
of the three areas of risk? The measurement of risk has further important implications for risk management as it
is increasingly incorporated into the performance evaluation process. Since resources are allocated and bonuses
paid on the basis of performance measures, it is essential that they be appropriately adjusted for risk. Only then
will appropriate incentives be created for behaviour that is beneficial for shareholders and other stakeholders.
CHAPTER 1 (III.0) explores this fundamental idea at general level, since it is relevant for each of the three risk
areas that follow.

Capital Allocation and RAPM Learning Outcome Statement

The candidate should be able to:
■ Describe the Role of Capital in a Financial Institution

■ Define and Describe the different types of capital

■ Demonstrate Economic Capital

■ Describe the different approaches to calculating Economic Capital

■ Describe Regulatory Capital

■ Explain the Basel Norms

■ Explain the Derivation of Regulatory Capital

■ Explain Capital Allocation

■ Demonstrate the Risk Contribution Methodologies for Economic

Capital Allocation
■ Explain Risk Adjusted Performance Measurement (RAPM)

■ Demonstrate Risk Adjusted Return On Capital (RAROC)

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MARKET RISK
CHAPTER 2 (III.A.1) introduces the topic of market risk as it is practiced by bankers, fund managers and corpo-
rate treasurers. It explains the four major tasks of risk management (identification, assessment, monitoring and
control/mitigation), thus setting the scene for the quantitative chapters that follow.

Market Risk Management Learning Outcome Statement

The candidate should be able to:
■ Define Market Risk

■ Explain the importance of market risk

■ Differentiate Market Risk from other risks

■ Describe the Market Risk Management Tasks

■ Describe the organization of Market Risk Management

■ Explain Market Risk Management in Fund Management

■ Explain Market Risk Management in Banking

■ Explain Market Risk Management in Non-financial firms

These days one of the major tasks of risk managers is to measure the risk using value-at-risk (VaR) models.
The basic VaR models for market risk are covered in CHAPTER 3 (III.A.2).

Introduction to Value Learning Outcome Statement

at Risk Models The candidate should be able to:
■ Define Value-at-Risk VaR

■ Discuss Internal Models for Market Risk Capital

■ Demonstrate Analytical VaR Model

■ Explain Monte Carlo Simulation VaR model

■ Demonstrate Historical Simulation VaR model

■ Describe Risk Factor Mapping

■ Demonstrate Mapping Spot Positions

■ Demonstrate Mapping Equity Positions

■ Demonstrate Mapping Zero-Coupon Bonds

■ Describe Mapping Forward/Futures Positions

■ Demonstrate Mapping Complex Positions

■ Demonstrate Mapping Options: Delta and Delta-Gamma Approaches

■ Describe Backtesting of VaR models

■ Explain Central Limit Theorem and non-normality of financial markets

MA RKET RI SK 5
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CHAPTER 4 (III.A.3) covers advanced VaR models for market risk along with some other advanced topics such as
risk decomposition.

Advanced Value at Risk Models Learning Outcome Statement

The candidate should be able to:
■ Discuss the issues related to the three VaR models

■ Demonstrate Standard Distributional Assumptions

■ Demonstrate Volatility Clustering Models

■ Demonstrate impact of Volatility Clustering on VaR

■ Discuss GARCH model

■ Demonstrate VaR with the Student’s t distribution

■ Explain VaR with Extreme Value Theory

■ Demonstrate VaR with Normal Mixtures

■ Describe the rules for disaggregating risk

■ Demonstrate Incremental VaR (IVaR)

■ Demonstrate Component VaR (CVaR)

■ Demonstrate Principal Component Analysis (PCA)

■ Explain VaR with PCA

The main challenge for risk managers is to model the empirical characteristics observed in the market, especially
volatility clustering. The advanced models are generally more successful in this regard, although the basic ver-
sions are easier to implement. Realistically, there will never be a perfect VaR model, which is one of the reasons
why stress tests are a popular tool. They can be considered an ad hoc solution to the problem of model risk.
CHAPTER 5 (III.A.4) explains the need for stress tests and how they might usefully be constructed.

Stress Testing Learning Outcome Statement

The candidate should be able to:
■ Define Stress Testing

■ Describe the historical and conceptual context of stress testing

■ Explain Historical Scenarios Approaches

■ Demonstrate Hypothetical Scenarios Approaches

■ Demonstrate Algorithmic Approaches

■ Describe Extreme Value Theory as a Stress-Testing Method

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This section introduces the topic of Liquidity Risk Management; and details some of the fundamental
tools and methodologies involved in the identification, management and reporting of the components
of Liquidity Risk. In addition to various sections of PRM Handbook Volume III, read paper Funding Liquidity:
Risk Analysis and Management found in “My Library” of the PRMIA website. Must purchase PRM Handbook Vol-
ume III to receive access.

Liquidity Risk Management Learning Outcome Statement

The candidate should be able to:
■ Describe the factors which determine liquidity risks, and their pricing

considerations
■ Identify the processes concerning collateral management

■ Discuss the implications of managing liquidity across business lines, legal

entities, and currencies

■ List the elements of funding diversification and market access

■ Contrast the choices for intra-day management of liquidity

■ Identify and differentiate the early warning signs of compromised liquidity

■ Describe the components required for the disclosure of liquidity risk

■ Identify, and design, the requirements of Stress Testing and a liquidity buffer

■ Characterize the basic elements of financial contracts, their corresponding

liquidity, and the relevance of time

■ Describe the essential components of market, and funding, liquidity risk

■ Discuss the impacts of counterparty / credit risk on liquidity relative to

speads, defaults, credit enhancements, and asset based enhancements

■ Describe the impact of behaviour on liquidity with respect to drawings, repay

ments, prepayments and draw-downs

■ Derive the impact of insurance risk on liquidity

■ Demonstrate the purpose, and effect of liquidity gap reports, and Liquidity at

Risk (LAR)
■ Describe the components of the contents used for internal and external

liquidity reporting

This section is focused on 3 papers from financial authorities and regulators found at http://www.prmia.org/prm-
exam/casestudies-standards:
■ Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System – The Supervisory Capital Assessment Program;
■ Financial Services Authority (FSA) – Stress and scenario testing; and
■ Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) – Principles for sound stress testing practices and supervi

sion. They contain guidelines and recommendations for an effective and firm-wide stress, and scenario, test
ing regime.

Stress, and Scenario, Testing Learning Outcome Statement

The candidate should be able to:
■ State clearly the need for, conditions governing, and outcomes of the

Supervisory Capital Assessment Program (SCAP)

■ Demonstrate an understanding of the processes involved in SCAP loss and

resource projections
■ Demonstrate an understanding of the SCAP capital buffer

■ Describe the calculation of additional capital to build a SCAP buffer

■ Identify the indicated additional capital buffer under SCAP

■ Describe the components of the FSA proposed changes to reverse stress

testing
■ Describe the clarifications to Pillar I and II proposed by the FSA

■ Explain the findings of the BCBS relative to the performance of stress testing

during the crisis

■ Describe the 15 recommendations made to banks made by the BCBS

■ Describe the 6 recommendations made to supervisors by the BCBS

FI NA NCE THEO RY, FIN A NCI A L IN STRUM EN TS, F IN A N CI A L M A RKE T S 7

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CREDIT RISK
CHAPTER 6 (III.B.1) introduces the sphere of credit risk management. Some fundamental tools for managing
credit risk are explained here, including the use of collateral, credit limits and credit derivatives.

Credit Risk Management Learning Outcome Statement

The candidate should be able to:
■ Describe the responsibilities of a credit risk manager

■ Describe the Review of Strategic Credit Positions

■ Describe Credit Limits and Provisions

■ Explain Credit Exposure Measurement Issues

■ Demonstrate Credit Risk Reporting

■ Describe Stress and Scenario Analysis

■ Describe Provisioning

■ Describe Documentation

■ Describe Credit Protection

■ Describe Annual tasks of the credit officer

Foundations for credit risk modelling are laid in CHAPTER 7 (III.B.2), which explains the three basic components
of a credit loss: the exposure, the default probability and loss given default. The product of these three, which can
be defined as random processes, is the credit loss distribution.

Foundations of Learning Outcome Statement

Credit Risk Modelling The candidate should be able to:
■ Define Default Risk

■ Define Exposure, Default and Recovery Processes

■ Explain the Credit Loss Distribution

■ Explain Expected and Unexpected Loss

■ Describe Recovery Rates

■ Discuss use of beta distribution in credit risk modeling

CHAPTER 8 (III.B.3) takes a more detailed look at the exposure amount. While relatively simple to define for
standard loans, assessment of the exposure amount can present challenges for other credit sensitive instru-
ments such as derivatives, whose values are a function of market movements.

Credit Exposure Learning Outcome Statement

The candidate should be able to:
■ Define Pre-settlement Risk

■ Define Settlement Risk

■ Demonstrate Exposure Profiles of Standard Debt Obligations

■ Demonstrate Exposure Profiles of Derivatives

■ Explain Mitigation of Exposures

8 F IN A N CE T HE O RY, F I N A N CI A L I N ST RUM E N T S, F I N A N CI A L M A RKE T S

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CHAPTER 9 (III.B.4) examines in detail the default probability and how it can evolve over time. It also discusses
the relationship between credit ratings and credit spreads, and credit scoring models.

Default and Credit Migration Learning Outcome Statement

The candidate should be able to:
■ Define and Discuss Default Probabilities and Term Structures of

Default Rates
■ Define Credit Ratings

■ Demonstrate Measurement of Rating Accuracy

■ Describe the Methodology of Credit Rating followed by Rating Agencies

■ Demonstrate Transition Matrices, Default Probabilities and Credit Migration

as done by Rating Agencies

■ Explain Credit Scoring

■ Discuss the Estimation of the Probability of Default

■ Demonstrate Market-Implied Default Probabilities

■ Explain Credit Rating and Credit Spreads

CHAPTER 10 (III.B.5) tackles one of the most crucial issues for credit risk modelling: how to model credit risk in a
portfolio context and thereby estimate credit VaR. Since diversification is one of the most important tools for the
management of credit risk, risk measures on a portfolio basis are fundamental. A number of tools are examined,
including the credit migration approach, the contingent claim or structural approach, and the actuarial approach.

Portfolio Models of Credit Loss Learning Outcome Statement

The candidate should be able to:
■ Define Default

■ Describe new approaches to Credit Risk Modelling

■ Explain Credit VaR

■ Define Credit Migration

■ Describe the Credit Metrics Framework

■ Demonstrate Credit VaR for a single Bond/Loan

■ Demonstrate the Estimation of Default and Rating Changes Correlations

■ Describe the Credit VaR approach of a Bond/Loan Portfolio

■ Explain the Conditional Transition Probabilities – CreditPortfolioView Model

■ Explain the idea of contingent claim approach in credit risk measurement

■ Demonstrate Structural Model of Default Risk: Merton’s (1974) Model

■ Demonstrate Estimation of Credit Risk as a function of Equity Value

■ Demonstrate the KMV approach

■ Demonstrate the Actuarial Approach

CREDI T RISK 9
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CHAPTER 11 (III.B.6) extends the discussion of credit VaR models to examine credit risk capital. It compares
both economic capital and regulatory capital for credit risk as defined under the new Basel Accord.

Credit Risk Capital Calculation Learning Outcome Statement

The candidate should be able to:
■ Explain the calculation of Economic Credit Capital using Credit

Portfolio Models
■ Demonstrate Minimum Credit Capital Requirements under Basel I

■ List the Weaknesses of the Basel I Accord for Credit Risk

■ Explain the Latest proposal for Minimum Credit Capital requirements

■ Describe the Standardised Approach in Basel II

■ Describe the Internal Ratings Based Approach (IRB) for Corporate, Bank and

Sovereign Exposures
■ Describe the Internal Ratings Based Approach (IRB) for Retail Exposures

■ Describe the Internal Ratings Based Approach (IRB) for SME Exposures

■ Describe the Internal Ratings Based Approach (IRB) for Specialised Lending

and Equity Exposures

■ List the new components of Pillar II for credit risk

■ Explain Credit Model Estimation and Validation in Basel II

■ Describe Securitisation in Basel II

■ Describe the application of credit risk contribution methodologies for

Economic Credit Capital Allocation

■ Demonstrate the Shortcomings of VaR for Economic Credit Capital and

Coherent Risk Measures

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OPERATIONAL RISK

The framework for managing operational risk is first established in CHAPTER 12 (III.C.1). After defining opera-
tional risk, it explains how it may be identified, assessed and controlled.

The Operational Risk Learning Outcome Statement

Management Framework The candidate should be able to:
■ List the emerging Operational Risks in Banks

■ Discuss main types of losses that occurred in practice

■ Define Operational Risk

■ Describe the Operational Risk Advanced Measurement Approach

(AMA) Framework
■ List the objectives of an operational risk management function

■ Describe the scope of an operational risk management function

■ Describe the Key components of Operational Risk

■ Describe the Supervisory Guidance on Operational Risk

■ Explain the Risk Catalogue

■ Explain the Operational Risk Assessment Process

■ Describe the Operational Risk Control Process

CHAPTER 13 (III.C.2) discusses operational risk process models. By better understanding business processes we
can find the sources of risk and often take steps to re-engineer these processes for greater efficiency and lower
risk.

Operational Risk Process Models Learning Outcome Statement

The candidate should be able to:
■ Explain the relevance of Operational Risk Management (ORM)

■ Describe how to develop and apply operational risk models

■ Describe the various ORM tools

■ Describe the Top-down models

■ Describe the Bottom-up models

■ Describe the Key Attributes of the ORM Framework

■ Describe the Integrated Economic Capital Model

■ State the objectives of an ORM programme

■ Demonstrate Risk Transfer

■ Discuss the IT Outsourcing case study

CREDI T RISK 11
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One of the most perplexing issues for risk managers is to determine appropriate capital buffers for operational
risks. Operational VaR is the subject of CHAPTER 14 (III.C.3), including discussion of loss models, standard
functional forms, both analytical and simulation methods, and the aggregation of operational risk over all busi-
ness lines and event types.

Operational Value-at-Risk Learning Outcome Statement

The candidate should be able to:
■ Explain the Loss Model Approach

■ Explain the Frequency Distribution

■ Explain the Severity Distribution

■ Demonstrate the Internal Measurement Approach

■ Explain the Loss Distribution Approach

■ Demonstrate Aggregating Operational Risk Capital (ORC)

Read Enterprise Risk Information Management found in “My Library” of the PRMIA website. This paper intro-
duces the candidate to the dangers of not having up-to-date, clean, and available data in order to make
risk management decisions, and a remedial path to achieving the best possible assurance of accurate
data. Must purchase PRM Handbook Volume III to receive access to paper.

Enterprise Information Risk Learning Outcome Statement

The candidate should be able to:
■ Describe the dangers and risks inherent in risk models, transparency, and risk

monitoring, of having poor risk information

■ Explain some of the causes of poor data

■ Construct a clear plan for solving the problem of data quality

■ Demonstrate an understanding of the 8 criteria, and priorities for analyzing data

■ Explain, and demonstrate, the need for holistic Risk Information Management

Environments
■ Describe the 7 components of a Data Management Framework, and a Logical

Data Model
■ Discuss the 5 Critical Success Factors of implementing a Risk Information

Management Environment
■ Identify the 4 components of AS-IS to TO-BE environments

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This section consists of 2 papers found in “My Library” of the PRMIA website:
■ Why Banks Failed the Stress Test

■ Viewing the Financial Crisis from 20,000 Feet Up

These papers provide details of factors inherent in the financial crisis of 2007-9 and identify some of the causes, and
suggestions for remedial actions. Must purchase PRM Handbook Volume III to receive access to papers.

Systemic Risk Learning Outcome Statement

The candidate should be able to:
■ Discuss the concept of “zero-sum” relative to financial instruments, and risk

engineering.
■ Discuss the function of the intermediaries of the financial system

■ Explain the importance of the balance of the component parts of the financial

services industry
■ Describe how “uncertainty” can unbalance the financial system

■ Discuss the role played by government in financial crisis

■ Discuss how infusions of cash into the monetary system stopped the system

from seizing up
■ Demonstrate how limited memory, and disaster myopia, were prevalent in

the “Golden Decade”

■ Explain networked risk externalities can, and did, build up in a short period

of time
■ Discuss the apparent role conflicts between risk managers and risk takers,

and their management, and the regulators

O PERATION AL RISK 13
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STUDY QUESTIONS
MARKET RISK

Implied Volatility, Smirk Q: Does the volatility smile come from theory or market practice?
and Smile
The commonly used option pricing models assume normal returns, hence
log-normal distribution of prices, with no account for kurtosis. Practice and
empirical studies, show that returns are distributed differently from the
assummed normal distributions, with ‘fat tails’. Hence the probability of a far
out-of-the-money option to be exercised is higher than suggested by a model
using flat volatilities. Hence the volatility smile is a market practice solution to
an incomplete model.

Value at Risk (VaR) Q: How does VaR change if the holding period goes from 1 to 10 days, under
the usual set of assumptions?

Usual assumptions include normal returns and no autocorrelation, hence the

variance of returns will be proportional to the number of days. The standard
deviation, hence the VaR, will be proportional to the square root of the number
of days, hence will be multiplied by sqrt (10) = 3.16.

Historical Calculation of VaR, Q: When is a Monte Carlo approach most advantageous for computing VaR
Monte Carlo
a) In volatile markets
b) When the markets expected behaviour is non-normally distributed
c) When quick calculations are requested
d) When regulators are getting nervous about VaR calculations

Monte Carlo approaches provide a good flexibility in setting the distributions of

returns, but require a lot of calculation time and computing power and time.
VaR should be more of a management tool than a defence against regulators: b).

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Covariance Matrix Construction Q: For EWMA (Exponentially Weighted Moving Average), using a decay fator
of 0.94 and a tolerance level of 1% (i.e. excluding exponential weights below
1%), the effective number of data points used to estimate the covariance
matrix is:

a) 74
b) 150
c) 100
d) 250

The decay factor compounds by day, hence we have: 0.94x = 0.01. Using
natural logarithms, x Log(0.94) = Log (0.01). Hence x =74.4, a). We shall note
that 250 appeared as the most plausible answer, as this represents one year
of daily prices.

Market Risk Limits Q: What should happen if a successful trader consistently uses between
80% and 95% of his trading limit?

The trader has not exceeded his trading limits, so he has not transgressed,
however one would expect to see his risk rise and fall with market opportu-
nities, and if the market had an unexpected move, he may well exceed his
limits. The type of trading and risk needs to be more closely examined and the
trader reminded of the need not to exceed limits, even for an unusual market
move. If after review the risk / reward ratio in his trading is favourable, it may
be applicable to increase his limits so that his normal position size now
represents 50-60% of limits.

Stress Testing and Q: Which of the elements below argue for the use of stress-tests?
Scenario Analysis
I) Natural catastrophes
II) Presence of long options in the portfolio
III) Terrorist networks
IV) Fat tails

a) II, III and IV

b) II and III
c) I, III and IV
d) All of the above

Natural catastrophes are seldom included in VaR frameworks, let alone in our
thought processes. Long options immunise a portfolio against extreme move-
ments, so they are helpful not hurtful to the portfolio. Terrorist attacks provide
possibility of shocks that are potentially correlated, hence even worse against
VaR. Fat tails belie normality assumptions: c).

ST UDY QUE STI ONS – M A RKET RISK 15

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RAROC and Economic Q: Which of the following is a weakness in a RAROC implementation?

Capital Allocation
a) Recognising different types of capital (economic, regulatory)
b) Integrating liquidity risk
c) Informing different departments about the capital allocation strategy
across departments
d) Analysing the possibilities of RAROC-arbitrage, including tax-based
arbitrages, to design it as much as possible arbitrage-free

Regulatory capital is based upon the aim to avoid systemic risk: this is not
directly an internal concern (obviously the bank must however be compliant),
the institution should be concerned about economic capital per se. Liquidity
risk is a component of market risk, although at the end of a chain of events.
The key to allocate capital should be kept as managerial information rather
than used to create tensions between capital-envious departments. Raroc
should be arbitrage-free: c).

Alternative Risk Measures Q: Which of the following are typical functions of the market risk
and Advanced VaR management department?

I) Identification
II) Assessment
III) Monitoring
IV) Control/Mitigation
V) Collateral Documentation

a) I, II, III and IV

b) I, II and III only
c) V only
d) I only

I, II, III and IV are all functions of the typical market risk management depart-
ment. In IV, we include selective hedging of exposures related to market
movements. While the market risk management department may assist with
collateral valuation, the legal or credit risk department will typically deal with
collateral documentation.

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CREDIT RISK

Types of Credit Risk Q: Why has the development of derivatives necessitated credit risk
regulations, when these instruments are designed to deal with market risk?

Derivatives, being off-balance sheet, were poorly captured by previous regula-

tion. However, they offer a wide potential for leverage, and involve very volatile
credit risk exposures between market participants: the profit of a counterparty
is the loss of the other counterparty. Derivatives, for all their merits, have
blurred the distinction between credit risk and market risk. Therefore, besides
their usefulness in transferring risk, they created an increase in credit risk in
the system, that needed a better monitoring and assignment of risk capital.

Actuarial Methods Q: What are the main limitations of standard deviation as an indicator of
credit risk?

The distribution of credit risk losses is skewed (asymmetric). Hence the

standard deviation combines information related to the right-hand side of the
curve (upside), which is not directly relevant to credit risk assessments. To
complement standard deviation, percentiles of loss distribution can be used.

Exposure, Loss Given Default Q: How is the loss given default incorporated in the CreditMetrics
(LGD) and Exposure Technical Document?

a) The document does not consider it

b) By a parameterized distribution
c) By a look up table
d) By a constant

Although the document does not mention the term of loss given default, this
concept is handled in chapter 7 (pp. 77-80) through recovery rates. The
rationale is that recovery rates are ‘highly uncertain’, but can be assessed
through beta distributions (p. 80), with different parameters for different
seniority classes: b).

Rating Agencies and Q: What are the main limitations of an assessment exclusively based on

ST UDY QUE STI ONS – M A RKET A N D CREDIT RISK 17

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Their Grades accounting figures?

The Enron case highlights enough that the statement is true. In less dramatic
cases, however, the following reasons can be alleged:
■ accounting figures, by nature, are based on the past, while a rating is aimed
at informing about future possible events
■ the possibility of a firm to access cash through capital markets can

change daily
■ accounting figures must be used with judgement whenever possible

Marginal and Cumulative Q: The default rates on a portfolio have been estimated at 2% for the coming
Default Risk year and 4% for next year. What is the expected payment of 2-year obligtions?

The cumulative default rate is (1-0.02)*(1-0.04) = 0.9408, 94% of obligations

are likely to be paid back.

Transition Matrix Q: Given a one-year probability of default of 20%, what would be the
cumulative probability of default for the bond for the three years?

a) 45.4%
b) 48.8%
c) 60.5%
d) None of the above

The probability of non-default is 80%, for 3 years it becomes

0.8 *0.8 * 0.8 = 51.2%, hence probability of default before 3 years is 48.8%: b)

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Joint Transition Matrices Q: The portfolio contains one risky bond from company A. Company A is a
and Correlated Migrations subsidiary of XYZ and if XYZ defaults, company A does so too. The probability
of default of XYZ is 0.3 and the probability of company A going into bank-
ruptcy without XYZ defaulting is 0.5. What is the probability of having a
default on the risky bond?

a) Cannot be determined
b) 0.60
c) 0.70
d) None of the above

It looks necessary to draw a mental map of events: if the parent defaults or

not, if the subsidiary defaults or not, with their probabilities. Company A will
default either following its parent, which will default with probability 30%, or if
its parent does not default (probability 70%) but the subsidiary does default
(probability of stand-alone default: 0.7 * 0.5 = 0.35). Hence the probability of
default of A is 65%: d).

Recovery Rate Distributions Q: The distribution of recovery rates is characterised by:

a) Fairly consistent mean, high standard deviation
b) Fairly uncertain mean, low standard deviation
c) Fairly consistent mean, low standard deviation
d) Fairly uncertain mean, high standard deviation

The mean is fairly uncertain because it strongly depends on the business

cycle. Also, the standard deviation is high: d).

Implied Default Probability Q: What is the probability of default of the issuer of a zero-coupon 1-year
bond trading at 80 b.p. above the yield curve, if the expected recovery rate is
50% and risk-free interest rate is 5%?

p= probability of default
r= risk-free rate
s= spread
The expected value of the cash flows from the risky bond is: 100 * ((1-p) +p/2).

This discounted value, at the rate of 1+r+s, equates that of the risk-free bond.
100*(1+p/2)/(1+r+s)=100/(1+r). Hence p=1.5%.

ST UDY QUE STI ONS – CRE DI T RISK 19

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Merton and KMV Models Q: The Merton (1974) model implies that a position in a credit-sensitive
bond is equivalent to:

a) A long position in the firm’s equity and a short position in a risk-free bond
b) A long put and a long call position on the firm’s assets
c) A long position in a credit-risk-free bond and a short put on the firm’s assets
d) An up-and-in call on a credit-risk-free bond and a short call on the firm’s equity

A long position on a bond means a short cash position. If the bond issuer
defaults, the bondholder is left with a bad loss, hence the position equates to
shorting something. Hence only c) remains. A more thorough way to address
this question is as follows:
■ a short position on a risk-free bond means a borrowing; this is not the case
of a long bond position: a) falls
■ such a position as in b) would make the put very valuable in case of issuers’
default: b) falls
■ if the firm’s (net) assets are worth nothing, a short put represents a loss
(as with a risky bond)
■ an up-and-in call (besides the fact that this exotic was unknown in 1974)
gives the holder, after the bond has gone higher than a certain level, the
right to purchase the bond: this does not equate a risky bond.

RAROC and Economic Q: Which of the following is an appropriate way to measure operational risk?
Capital Allocation
a) VaR
b) Notional exposure
c) Loss data distribution
d) Insurance values

VaR is a market risk management tool, notional exposures are related to credit
risk, insurance values show only insured assets instead of operations. Loss
distribution data record the history of operational losses: c).

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OPERATIONAL RISK

Typologies of Operational Risk Q: Which one of the following is a risk driver rather than a risk indicator?
a) Staff turnover
b) Product complexity
c) Systems downtime
d) Model errors

Indicators are response variables, while drivers are decision variables, so the
answer is b).

Insurance and Re-insurance Q: What is the main hurdle seen by the Basel Committee in fully recognising
the use of insurance?

The market for insurance products for banking operations is ‘still developing’,
which means the products are not yet widespread enough and not standardised.
Besides, quantification is arduous. Another reason is that the presence of
insurance may replace an operational risk with a counterparty risk. Insurance
companies do not usually pay up “on the nail,” they generally seek to reduce a
claim through loss adjustment and litigation and hence have a different “risk
model” from the banking sector.

Causal Models Q: Which of the following principles does not help in an operational risk
measurement process:

a) Consistency
b) Transparency
c) Timeliness
d) Relevance

Risk exposures should be adequately reported to senior management.

Consistency and relevance make reporting easier to use, transparency ensures
that information is truthfully reported. Timeliness is less relevant(contrarily to
market risk), as an existing risk can be present for a long time without occurring.

Risk Management Processes Q: When used to protect against catastrophic risks, Insurance:
a) Reduces the need for capital by more than 50%
b) Transforms catastrophic risk into counterparty risk
c) Is always too expensive, as actuaries price to a certain return for
the insurance companies
d) Eliminates default risk

Insurance is a way to transform a more esoteric and less measurable risk into
something more widely understood like counterparty risk, b).

ST UDY QUE STI ONS – CRE DI T RISK A N D OPERATION AL RISK 21

Loss Event Databases and Q: What are the main advantages of using external loss databases?
Their Uses
a) Access to a wider pool of data
b) Potential access to competitors’ data
c) Access to well-structured data
d) Access to regulation-compliant data

The data in external databases are edited so that names and other means of
identification of the origin are deleted. Moreover, these databases are not
designed for mutual spying, but for common progress. Every institution
should design and structure these databases at the outset so that they can
stand the test of time as well as external databases. A badly structured internal
database is likely to be a costly and useless exercise. Internal databases
should be, at the outset, regulation-compliant, as regulation is flexible enough
to allow tools that are compliant as well as internally useful. For high-impact
low-frequency data, internal data are likely to be too succinct. The collated
data of several institutions are likely to be a much better guide to the future: a).

RAROC and Economic Q: What could be the most effective hedge of a portfolio of weather derivatives?
Capital Allocation
a) Back-to-back matching
b) Global diversification
c) Catastrophe bonds
d) Equity sector equity index futures

Weather derivatives are not likely to find perfect hedges, as these instruments
are new, fragmented and thinly traded. Back-to-back matching (buying
protection from winter sports resorts, selling to beach resorts, or similar
approaches) is of limited application. Hedging with a position on a particular
sector, if there were enough of these instruments, would be similarly insufficient.
Catastrophe bonds would matter only for extreme weather. Global diversifica-
tion can help compensate the effect of dry weather in a region with excessive
rain in another one: b).

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