Grupo Santander Selects SAS to Manage Risk

Grupo Santander, the eighth-largest bank in the world, has selected SAS Credit Risk Managementto help it comply with Basel II requirements for credit risk and to achieve better enterprisewide risk management.

Under Basel II regulations, banks must consider the amount of capital they need to hold in reserve. Santander, based in Spain, will benefit from SAS software’s precise predictive analytics showing customers’ likelihood to default.

With SAS, the bank can more accurately determine how much capital to hold in reserve to meet the Basel II requirements and manage the risk from defaults, while still maximizing the amount of working capital it has for making loans and investments.

Turning compliance into opportunity
Santander needed a solution that would enable the bank to comply with Basel II requirements, since the company will adopt the advanced internal ratings-based approach globally. (The Bank of Spain requires these measures to be fully implemented by 2007.)

SAS provides Santander with a solid risk intelligence platform that features strong analytic capabilities. It serves as a centralized environment for managing credit risk throughout the bank. SAS also provides global technical support services, which are particularly important to Santander due to the global nature of this project.

"For a global bank like Santander, complying with Basel II regulations is a requirement. But by using SAS Credit Risk Management, Santander can do more than address the regulations, it can turn compliance into an opportunity to improve its overall financial and organizational performance," says Peyman Mestchian, head of risk management for SAS EMEA. "SAS now has more than 60 Basel II customers worldwide, many of them approaching the final stages of their implementation and recognized as success stories within the global banking community."