A conference on risk management in the retail financial services sector is to be held at the Royal Geographical Society in London on the 22nd and 23rd January 2009.

Consumer lending has been seen as the Cinderella area of research in banking and finance. The recent Subprime mortgage and Buy-to-Let mortgage crises, and the subsequent credit crunch have changed that. This two day conference addresses current risks and risk management strategies in the sector. Invited papers will cover topics including credit risk and the macroeconomy, portfolio models of credit risk, modelling loss given default, credit trends and the economy, dynamic models of customer behaviour, and other topics. The conference is part of the programme of the Quantitative Financial Risk Management Centre, a research consortium run from the Institute for Mathematical Sciences at Imperial College, the School of Management at the University of Southampton, and the Business School at the University of Edinburgh.

The QFRMC was established by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, with additional funding from the Economic and Social Research Council and the Institute of Actuaries. It carries out research and organises conferences and other meetings addressing issues in the retail financial services sector, in collaboration with banks, credit agencies, and other bodies.

Speakers will include Graham Platts, David Hand, Lyn Thomas, Jonathan Crook, Anna Napier, Dirk Tasche, Steve Finlay, Gerard Scallan and others.

The registration fee is £350. Reduced rates are available for academics (£200) and research students (£150).

Further details and registration forms are available from the conference website or contact Dr Adam Brentnall .