OPERATIONAL RISK
Operational risk is the risk of opportunities foregone, reputational damage or financial losses, resulting from inadequacies or failures in internal processes, people or systems, or from external events. The three main categories of operational risk losses are direct financial losses, indirect losses due to impairment of the Group’s reputation, and potential earnings foregone because of the lack of operational ability to process business.
The key components of operational risk are systems and processes, technology, customers, external events and relationships, people, reconciliation and accounting, new activities and legal and compliance.
To minimise operational risk, the Group has implemented a Risk Policy and an Operational Risk Policy. Management Board directors and senior line managers are primarily responsible for ensuring effective operational risk management exists within their areas – in particular, the setting of tolerances, monitoring and reporting of operational risks. Where appropriate, Northern Rock establishes suitable cost-effective processes to mitigate or transfer operational risk exposures.
Operational risks are controlled and managed on a decentralised basis, with responsibility and authority to mitigate these risks delegated to the relevant line management. Northern Rock’s support functions provide corporate policies, processes and reporting mechanisms as appropriate to the “front line” functions for the range of operational risks faced.
MARKET RISK
Market risk is the risk that changes in the level of interest rates, the rate of exchange between currencies or the price of securities or other financial contracts, including derivatives, will have an adverse impact on the results of operations or financial condition of the Group. The principal market risks to which we are exposed are interest rate risk and foreign exchange (currency) risk. The principal financial instruments that expose us to such risks are loans, deposits, securities and derivatives, none of which are used for trading purposes.
To manage our exposure to market risk, the Board has adopted a Balance Sheet Structural Risk Management and Hedging Policy Statement. This sets out our policy for managing balance sheet market risk, and the use of derivatives in achieving this. It enables the Board to assess, monitor and manage the current and expected interest rate risk, credit risk and currency risk in the balance sheet in line with the Group’s overall risk policies.