SAS, the leader in business intelligence, repeats its lead position in Chartis Research’s ``Credit Risk Management Systems 2008`` The report touted the strengths of SAS® Credit Risk Management for Banking particularly for its data management capabilities, Basel II applications, flexible analytics, global presence/support, business intelligence, and financial stability and size.

The Chartis report forecasts the worldwide credit risk management systems market to grow to US$8.63 billion by 2012, at a steady 7% compound annual growth rate. The report examines the demand and supply side of the market for credit risk management systems and covers key market and regulatory requirements, implementation challenges and the competitive landscape. According to Chartis, the common factor among established leaders such as SAS ``is the ability to offer multiple solutions across the ERM (enterprise risk management) spectrum and coverage across multiple assets/products.`` Chartis states that ``these integrated offerings provide significant value for financial institutions looking for a cost-effective ‘one-stop shop’ for a range of risk and compliance solutions.``

``SAS as a leader in both Chartis credit risk management and operational risk management reports underscores the need for financial institutions to operate integrated advanced risk analytics, reporting/dashboard and data management across their business lines,`` said David Rogers, SAS’ Global Product Marketing Manager for Risk.

SAS Credit Risk Management for Banking, which includes SAS® Credit Scoring for Banking integrates data aggregation, analytics and reporting within a transparent framework to provide an open, extensible environment with complete capabilities for retail credit scoring, corporate credit rating and credit portfolio risk management. The solution is transparent and auditable, facilitating supervisory review, both internally and by regulators, as required by Basel II and other regulations. The underlying credit risk data model helps firms consolidate credit data from disparate sources and supports faster implementation.

Chartis Research recently ranked SAS as the leader for the fourth consecutive year in its ``Operational Risk Management Systems 2008`` report.

More than 200 financial services institutions use SAS for credit risk and operational risk management, including: Bankdata (Denmark), BB&T (USA), Caisse Nationale des Caisses d’Epargne (France), Commerzbank (Germany), Grupo Santander (Spain), HSBC (UK), HypoVereinsbank (Germany), Kookmin Bank (Korea), Landsbanki (Iceland), Northern Rock (UK), Raiffeisen Zentralbank (Austria), Volkskreditbank AG (Austria), Vseobecna Uverova Banka (Slovakia) and Woori Bank (Korea).