Alfa Bank has received the Operational Risk Achievement Award 2005 for “Operational Risk Framework at an Institution Based in an Emerging Market” for two consecutive years. This is the first time that an award of this international scope has been won once, let alone twice, by any Russian bank.

Last year, the judges felt that “Alfa Bank had made tremendous progress and overcome cultural challenges to put in place an operational risk program that many banks in the US and Europe could aspire to.”

During the award ceremony the jury commended the Risk Management Department’s positive impact on the bank’s success in navigating the 2004 crisis.

Receiving the award in London Philip Halperin, Director of Risk Management at Alfa Bank noted: “It is an unanticipated honour to have received this award two-years’ running. This is absolutely without precedent. But so were the two crises through which we successfully navigated, due to the exceptional contingency planning of the Risk Management team, particularly Masha Naturina and Kostja Lezhnin, and the leadership and support of our CEO, Petr Smida.”

The second annual Operational Risk Achievement Awards 2005 programme — hosted by Incisive Media — is designed to recognise excellence among individuals and firms in the implementation of operational risk frameworks and management techniques. The applications were judged by an independent panel of judges, and the awards were presented at the second annual ORAA dinner, held last week. This award recognises excellence in the management and measurement of operational risk at a financial institution classified as a commercial or investment bank, for regulatory purposes, that is headquartered in an emerging market nation.

Alfa Bank’s Risk Management Division was founded in 1999 and established the first modern and unified risk management practice in Russia comprising Credit Risk, Credit Methodologies, Market Risk, Retail Risk and Operational Risk Management.