London's Risk Professional is no longer its official publication. GARP is shifting from its initial model of a virtual organization, disdaining expensive offices, officers, and publications. This format created the largest global risk management group in just over three years, and the test will be how many current members elect to pay dues. I will watch GARP closely as it redefines itself. As GARP changes its structure, so too do many of the some 500 financial institutions whose representatives attended this year's conference.
Risk management is a newly integrated function.
The ultimate goal is to increase the public's confidence in the global banking system. Yet throughout the discussions I sensed an optimism that the Basel Committee will eventually create a better risk-based guideline for capital adequacy than its current rule, one that will reduce systemic risk globally. As to unintended consequences, it is inevitable that smart bankers will recognize new opportunities to subvert the purpose of the regulations. We must accept that probability. The guidelines are minimums and never replace good judgment by both bankers and their customers.