SAS, a global leader in analytics, is offering the SAS Risk Data Aggregation and Reporting to help clear mismatched data infrastructures and siloed processes within banks by building the needed bridges between these data islands or stores.

Resulting to a single, comprehensive look at data, SAS provides a solid foundation spanning all key facets of risk data aggregation and reporting using powerful analytics and visualization aligned to robust data management capabilities, said Sayantan Banerjee, head of Risk Management Practice for Middle East and Africa at SAS.

“Banks in the UAE like any other banks in the world receive volumes of data that comes from multiple sources and needs extensive efforts in aggregation,” he explained.

“Often bespoke calculations are done in excel spreadsheets making it very difficult to manage critical information in an efficient, auditable and transparent way. Ongoing efforts to comply to Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS239) and IFRS9 will see UAE banks investing a lot towards risk and finance data aggregation.

“SAS Risk Data Aggregation and Reporting offers banks in the UAE to ensure the quality, accuracy and consistency of their data for compliant risk and finance reporting. This solution also aims to function as a safety valve protecting UAE banks from any possible financial risks,” he added.

SAS Risk Data Aggregation and Reporting addresses the big challenges for a risk management infrastructure, allowing banks to:

•         Flexibly integrate different data platforms with an adaptable architecture that doesn’t require replacing existing technology investments.

•         Overcome siloed processes and infrastructures to create a group-wide view of data – including definitions and quality metrics.

•         Improve timeliness of detailed analysis and reporting with high-performance analytics, providing faster management insight.

•         Build a solid risk data-management foundation to address key regulations and principles, such as BCBS 239.


Increasing financial regulations in major markets – including US, Canada, China, Germany and UK­ ­­– demand that banks accurately consolidate, aggregate and report risk across their entire organization. In the UAE, the Central Bank is also introducing more regulations to increase the stability of its finance industry, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF’s) annual report.

According to Deloitte, the recent development to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS9), adapted and used across 100 countries in the world including the UAE, have brought substantial changes in the financial reporting landscape. The implementation of IFRS9 resulted to a need of higher level of data aggregation for both risk and finance verticals within the banks.

Effective risk management is fundamental in having a strong and trusted data infrastructure within banks. To adequately address specific risks within the UAE banking sector, regulatory and supervisory frameworks should be in place, said Banerjee. – TradeArabia News Service