Taking risks means that major losses will sometimes occur. Top management is often called upon to minimise costs once losses have occurred. Furthermore, intelligent management needs to anticipate and realistically assess risks of such losses.
Sometimes losses spring from well-identified origins. Movements of financial market prices (market risk), defaults by counter-parties (credit risk), failure of internal information and control systems (operational risk), natural disasters, and occupational accidents are important examples. In other cases, risks are very hard to formalise, but they can be vital nevertheless. The first step of the perception of complex risks and their communication to others both within the organisation and without may well make the difference between success and failure.
The regulatory environment in which an organisation operates can have an impact on the probability and incidence of major losses. Regulation of risk is required when individuals or organisations cannot be relied upon to find adequate solutions on their own. Regulators play a vital role in setting the rules of the game which shape the behaviour of the organisations involved. Beyond this, changes in the regulatory environment in and of themselves are a source of risk to organisations.
Regulatory and corporate organisations therefore require competence to address the full spectrum of risks, knowing on the one hand when existing techniques will work and, on the other, when risks must be identified and communicated before any technical solution is possible at all.
The MSc Risk & Finance addresses these and other issues from a multi-disciplinary perspective to give a thorough understanding and training in all these areas.
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