Sydney  (March 09, 2006)  –  SAS Australia has today announced the signing of a contract with the Bank of Queensland, which will see a joint team consisting of SAS, Bank of Queensland and EDS personnel commence implementation of a new business intelligence platform.

Intended initially to address the bank’s compliance and reporting requirements under the APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) Basel II deadlines, the initiative will use the SAS®9 platform for integrating reporting and analysis across the Bank, and additionally the SAS CRMS (Credit Risk Management Solution) banking solution enabling APRA regulatory reporting and compliance.

The Bank’s decision to partner with SAS further underlines the dominant position of SAS for Basel II projects in Australia, and its overall leadership in the global market as noted recently in the Gartner Group’s Basel II Risk Management Application Software Magic Quadrant report. The report, which was based on data collected by Gartner from banking customers and references, shows SAS as a clear leader in having a proven track record in Basel II vision and business investment.

Bruce Auty, Bank of Queensland’s Group Executive, Group Risk Management, stated: “Basel II compliance is one of the most important issues facing Australia’s banking industry since deregulation. It’s a requirement that any bank wanting to stay in business simply has to get right”

By adopting SAS for credit risk management – one of the prime requirements in meeting Basel II compliance – the Bank has given itself a platform whereby it is able to progressively expand its capabilities in determining its minimum capital requirements.

“As a result of implementing the SAS solution, we will have the ability to adopt advanced level of sophistication over all three Basel II pillars,” Auty said.

Beyond Compliance - The Customer

The Bank, which is already recognised as being one of the nation’s most innovative and nimble banks, prides itself on succeeding through being different in a market often regarded as confusing through competitor similarities. This point is reinforced by the organisation’s bank different™ corporate mantra and, according to Group Executive & Chief Operations Officer Jennifer Heffernan, one that will be built on progressively through utilisation of the bank’s SAS solution.

“Looking beyond the compliance issue, which is absolutely critical,” Heffernan stated, “SAS®9 was selected because it delivered on our vision of a single integrated business intelligence platform that will ensure we effectively serve our branches and customers with the best information and services but with a minimum of IT overheads.”

Heffernan continued, saying: “Banking is one of the most demanding vertical industries when it comes to maintaining customer satisfaction. Within this organisation, we see enormous potential for SAS to provide us with accurate customer insight. The results we’re aiming for – and fully expect to start achieving in the short term – are combining the analytical insights made possible by a single integrated data warehouse platform, with the local expertise and knowledge of our branches.”

SAS Australia and New Zealand Managing Director, Gordon Clubb, commented: “In the financial industry we are witnessing a major focus on improving compliance and, at the same time, ensuring their customers are being given vastly better levels of customer service.

“For a growing number of Australian banks, such as the Bank of Queensland, National Australia Bank, BankWest and St. George, SAS has become the clear choice in those key areas. These banks have now joined the ranks of the global banking community which already use SAS solutions for Basel II compliance.”