Milano, 24 gennaio – SAS, the leader in business intelligence, today announced that Risk magazine, a leading global financial risk management publication, selected SAS Risk Intelligence as its 2007 software product of the year.

SAS Risk Intelligence was recognized for its superior capabilities in addressing the Basel II accord. In addition to helping institutions with government regulations and industry standards, SAS Risk Intelligence helps organizations to go beyond compliance and manage risk strategically through risk-based performance management. SAS risk solutions unite corporate risk initiatives across the board so companies can achieve the ultimate goal of true enterprise risk management. Once risk activities are aligned, firms can then derive real business value from their compliance initiatives and exploit risk for maximum competitive advantage.

Since 2002, Risk has used these annual awards to recognize leading software vendors for their best practices and innovation in the risk management industry. Winning organizations are chosen based upon their ability to fulfill customers’ needs and expertly address industry issues. From in-depth submissions, nominees are selected by an expert panel and are then subject to a series of short interviews. The Risk award process includes solution innovation investigation, customer referencing and detailed review of an organization’s customer service.

“This is the third in a series of award and analyst recognitions that SAS risk software has recently received, further validating SAS’ continued leadership in the risk market,” said Peyman Mestchian, Global Head for SAS’ Risk Management Practice. “This is evidence that SAS provides a steadfast solution that specifically meets our customers’ industry needs. The breadth of robust analytic applications found in SAS Risk Intelligence span from credit, market and operational risk to compliance and fraud.”

Currently, more than 200 financial services institutions use SAS® for credit risk and operational risk management. SAS’ customer list includes institutions such as Bankdata (Denmark), BB&T (USA), Caisse Nationale des Caisses d’Epargne (France), Commerzbank (Germany), Grupo Santander (Spain), HSBC (UK), HypoVereinsbank (Germany), Kookmin Bank (Korea), Landsbanki (Iceland), National Australia Group (Australia), Northern Rock (UK), Raiffeisen Zentralbank (Austria), Volkskreditbank AG (Austria) and Vseobecna Uverova Banka (Slovakia).