(openPR) - Luxembourg & Dubai, 27 May 2008 – FERNBACH, a provider of award-winning solutions for Enterprise-wide Value and Risk Management (EVRM), has established a Basel II Competence Centre in Dubai and has been selected by Commercial Bank International (CBI) to provide its FlexFinance® Basel II solution.

The competence centre is a collaboration between FERNBACH and Intertec Systems, a FERNBACH partner that sells and implements FERNBACH’s FlexFinance® EVRM Suite, and provides customer training and support services for software users in the United Arab Emirates and across the Middle East.

The competence centre is hosted by Intertec experts that have been trained in FERNBACH’s FlexFinance® products and can help potential customers to become acquainted with the solutions. In an environment that simulates a ‘real’ banking set-up with front and back-office applications.

Claude Melde, Director Indirect Sales at FERNBACH, said, ‘With Intertec as our partner, we are able to approach potential international customers using local knowledge and inform, train and support them. The fact that our first customer is a respected institution such as Commercial Bank International proves that our joint concept is the right one.’

Commercial Bank International (CBI) is located in Dubai and is one of the leading financial institutions in the United Arab Emirates. The fact that CBI staff will be trained in the Competence Centre played a crucial role in convincing CBI to opt for FERNBACH and Intertec.

Faris Saddi, CIO at CBI, said, ‘We chose FERNBACH to implement an up-to-date Basel II solution, largely because of the comprehensive risk management platform which provides more than simple Basel II compliance. We also appreciated the local support services for Intertec Systems and the high degree of competence shown by FERNBACH staff. We are looking forward to a successful collaboration in the Middle East.’

FlexFinance® Basel II allows banks to manage risk on a company-wide basis while complying with the regulatory requirements of all three pillars of Basel II. The EVRM component helps achieve a maximum return on profit and provides banks with the means to accumulate extensive information on risk, value and revenue. The templates available with the software minimise the time for automatic data import, reducing processing times.

Mr. Bassam Daoud, Head of Credit Risk Management and Advances at CBI, said, ‘Basel II is becoming compulsory according to the Central Bank of the UAE. Since the introduction of FERNBACH’s Basel II solution for Arab countries, conventional and Islamic banks will now find it easier to adapt to the Basel II requirements, a key benefit for CBI.’

Naresh Kothari, Managing Director, Board Member and Founder, Intertec Systems, said, ‘We are convinced that the Competence Centre will be a total success because banks in the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East will be able to contact a partner locally at any time which helps people to overcome any inhibitions they may have when showing initial interest.’

For more details please contact:

FERNBACH-Software S.A.
Emma Connolly (Director of Group Marketing)
1a, Parc d'activité Syrdall
L-5365 Munsbach

Tel.: + 352 / 40 22 44 - 1
Fax: + 352 / 40 22 44 - 310

About FERNBACH:

FERNBACH has developed the solution offering FlexFinance®, which is based upon a sophisticated methodology called EVRM. EVRM is a vision and a solution for the integration of risk management, risk and regulatory requirements, balance sheet reporting and controlling within financial institutions.

The EVRM methodology is built upon a meta level data repository which collects all data from the banking and trading books and stores this centrally while simultaneously standardising and enriching the data. This centralised meta repository of financial transactions guarantees single calculation of all financial ratios ensuring perfect alignment and reconciliation so that the data can be used for purposes such as Basel II, IAS/IFRS (Multi-GAAP), Liquidity, Profitability, Regulatory Reporting, etc. The entire process is transparent and fully auditable as uniquely the data can be traced back to the deal level. This advanced approach also enables the bank to cost-effectively implement new requirements as they occur such as ICAAP.