Skipton appoints Jaywing to credit risk validation brief

Skipton Building Society – the company which was the original backer of Callcredit – has appointed Jaywing to handle its independent credit risk validation, following a five-month trial project.

Jaywing was first appointed by Skipton back in 2014 when the main agency scooped the brand’s marketing account, however, it was not until September last year that Jaywing’s risk division started working on the validation of Skipton’s IFRS 9 models.

Having demonstrated its modelling and regulatory abilities, Jaywing was then commissioned to extend its work with the validation of the IRB models under the new PRA and EBA regulation, the definition of default and a balance forecast model.

The increasing role of modelling in regulation and decisioning in financial services means ever-expanding model infrastructure, underpinned by more sophisticated models.

With mounting workloads, a dearth of experienced personnel and the requirement to demonstrate separation in the lines of defence, firms are increasingly looking to external experts for trusted long-term risk model validation, Jaywing claims. Recent focus from the regulator and raised awareness of the consequences mean the stakes in managing model risk have never been higher.

It is claimed that the appointment will enable Skipton to achieve a greater level of independent model assurance, ensuring models are fit for purpose while adhering to regulatory requirements.

In a statement, Skipton said: “It was imperative that we selected a consultancy with the depth and breadth of technical modelling expertise, a comprehensive knowledge of the regulation and a reputation for rigour with the regulators.

“Jaywing exemplified these attributes from the very beginning of our partnership and were proactive in aligning to our governance practices. Jaywing has exceeded our expectations having fulfilled our model validation requirements and contributed to the continuous improvement of our models. We look forward to working with them on future model validation projects.”

Jaywing’s credit risk analytics division has also worked for Nationwide, RBS, Secure Trust Bank and Paragon Bank on IFRS 9, IRB, ICAAP, scoring, pricing and a variety of other risk requirements.

Skipton launched Callcredit in 2000 to take on the credit checking duopoly of Experian and Equifax. Three years later, Callcredit, EuroDirect and GMAP Consulting were brought together under the umbrella name of the Skipton Information Group. It rebranded to Callcredit Information Group in 2009; the same year that London-based buyout firm Vitruvian Partners bought the firm for an estimated £120m. In 2018 it was bought by US giant TransUnion for $1.4bn (£1bn), and rebranded TransUnion a month later.