ATEL ERM Working Group considers ERM in the context of rating agencies enquiries
We were honoured to be invited by the Association des Trésoriers d'Entreprise à Luxembourg (ATEL) to participate in the inaugural meeting of their Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) working group hosted by Christian Van Nedervelde of SES.
The topic under discussion was on the latest developments in ERM, mainly driven by the recent focus of rating agencies (S&P in particular) on non financial institutions with regards to ERM practices.
The session was chaired by François Masquelier, Head of Treasury of RTL Group and President of ATEL and panel members included Christian Van Nedervelde, Head of Internal Audit at SES and Patrick Claude, in charge of Corporate Risk Management at ArcelorMittal. The session was moderated by Andrew Nord, Director, ERM Solutions at avantage Capita.
While the meeting included a general discussion around the issues faced by non financial institutions in implementing an ERM, the main topic revolved around enquiries made by ratings agencies requiring non financial institutions to complete detailed questionnaires regarding their ERM infrastructure and capabilities. Responses were sought within very tight time frames placing importance on prior preparation of supporting documentation and of schooling executives who would be involved in the ensuing interview process.
It was generally agreed that while answering the questionnaires required by the rating agencies has been difficult and a ‘necessary evil’, there has also been an upside in that it has prompted many non financial institutions to evaluate and improve their ERM while bringing a greater awareness of risk measurement and management and the benefits of an enterprise wide approach to all levels of the enterprise.
You can download a summary of the discussions here.
