Second, a VaR figure provides no indication of the magnitude of losses that may
result if prices move by an amount which is more adverse than that amount dictated
by the chosen confidence level. For example, the dollar VaR provides no insight
into what would happen to a bank if a 1 in 10 000 chance event occurred. To
address the risks associated with such large price shifts, banks are developing, and
bank supervisors are requiring, more subjective approaches such as stress testing to
be adopted in addition to the statistically based VaR approach. Stress testing
involves the specification of stress scenarios (for example, the suspension of the
European exchange rate mechanism) and analysis of how banks’ portfolios would
behave under such scenarios.