Expert: Credit risk management to be top concern in 2012

Consumer credit risk management is an evolving concern among lenders and financial institutions. Since the recession began, debts have risen, driving up demand for debt collection agencies. However, the real trend has been in risk assessment, as firms strive to prevent another financial collapse from occurring. Edward DeMarco Jr. of the Risk Management Association argues that firms need to adopt a "siloed" approach to risk management. This means identifying and assessing risk as a whole, as opposed to distinguishing risk according to credit, market and operational factors. "We don't want something in a particular silo where it could affect other areas of the bank, but the lack of communication keeps it siloed until there's a real problem," he said in an interview with Information Security Media Group. "You really have to avail yourself of not just your internal training opportunities, but external training and peer-sharing to really get up to speed on things." Stress testing and revenue growth issues will continue to be leading concerns among risk managers in 2012, DeMarco added. However, savvy companies and risk professionals will be able to maintain credit discipline.