CapGemini to market FinArch Basel II package in North America

The collaboration between FinArch and Capgemini coincides with the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision stressing the importance of finalizing the New Accord as soon as possible. The New Accord should be completed by mid-year 2004, with actual compliance taking effect in member countries by year-end 2006.

Maintaining this actual deadline will be a catalyst for most Basel II projects in North America, getting it back on the front burner, especially where the IRB Advanced approach has either been mandated by the regulator or simply chosen for business reasons. The complete implementation of Basel II within a bank is no mean feat; There isn’t much time left to ensure successful implementation of the IRB Advanced approach as far as credit risk is concerned. The solution we have developed will help banks become compliant, faster and more efficiently.

To accelerate the compliance process, and the delivery of FinArch’s Basel II solution, Capgemini is using its RightShore approach to distributed delivery. This approach leverages its Productivity Centre in Montreal that has the highly specialized skills required for such projects, in collaboration with a local team at the client site. A Basel Factory is in place within the Productivity Centre and allows Capgemini to accelerate implementation of Financial Studio by leveraging adapted methodologies and technologies.

Jean-Francois Coulonval, Vice President of Technology Services from Capgemini, who has been leading offering development and go-to-market strategy, "Financial Studio enables key decision makers to analyze different scenarios and optimize risk mitigation for better use of economic capital. The benefits are measurable as soon as the solution is implemented. By combining our risk management and technology expertise, we can offer an accelerated approach through our Basel Factory for the implementation of Financial Studio in order to reduce the time and the efforts required. This solution enables key decision makers to analyze different scenarios and optimize risk mitigation for better use of economic capital."

Alex Lambrinides, Americas Sales Manager from FinArch, comments: "Working with Capgemini supports FinArch’s expansion in the North American market and allows us to fully leverage its consulting and IT services, including the Rightshore approach to distributed delivery, to provide a complete Basel II Credit Risk Solution to the US and Canadian markets. Financial institutions that adopt a true enterprise approach to risk assessment and management processes, to meet advanced capital methodologies, stand to gain a significant competitive advantage."