The best-laid plans ..

Strategic risk is recognised as a potential serious risk under Pillar II of Basel II. But isolating what strategic risk actually is, let alone how to quantify it, has caused some problems for risk managers. Bob Allen of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority makes some suggestions

There is no commonly accepted standard definition of strategic risk. It is identified as a potentially significant risk in Pillar II of the Basel II framework, but no definition is provided. In its Pillar II guidelines, the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) suggests the following: strategic risk is 'the current or prospective risk to earnings and capital arising from changes in the