Thursday, 9 February 2012
AMRAE to reach out to French speaking world
AMRAE reaches its 20th anniversary feeling 'passionate, dynamic and ambitious' and keen to boost its international presence, according to the association's boss. Speaking at the opening session of this year's Les Rencontres d'AMRAE in Deauville, president Gilbert Canameras promised plenty of activities and initiatives to help its members face a world that appears increasingly risky.
President of AMRAE, Gilbert Canameras
Mr Canameras' speech was followed by a celebratory gathering of the eight former presidents of AMRAE. They reflected on the evolution of the risk management profession in France and exchanged stories from the past two decades.
Michel Yarhi, who was president between 2005 and 2007, recalled that during the 2008 Rencontres the huge financial fraud perpetrated by trader Jérôme Kerviel at Société Générale came to light. At the time he was the head of risk management at the bank. "At least I didn't have to disclose the risk to our insurers back in Paris, as they were all here in Deauville," Mr Yarhi joked.
AMRAE was created in May 1993 after the merger of ACADEF and GACI, two groups of insurance buyers. The first Rencontres was held that year with 250 people attending the event. This year's meeting is expected to number around 2,000 participants.
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Since its creation, AMRAE has promoted risk management in France during an eventful period, pointed out Mr Canameras.
From the beginnings of the common European market in 1993 to the terror attacks of 2001 in the United States and the ongoing financial and economic crisis of the past few years, risk managers have had plenty of opportunity to test their skills in the past two decades.
"We live in a society that is increasingly adverse to risk, while the world becomes ever more dangerous," he said.
The role of the risk manager is more complex today and they need to have the means to continually look for solutions to a growing number of risks faced by their companies, he continued.
As such AMRAE's mission is to continue to help prepare risk managers for the demanding challenges they are set to tackle in the future, he stressed.
"When we are 20 years old, we are passionate, dynamic and ambitious, and today AMRAE reunites all these qualities," he said.
To keep the good run going, Mr Canameras wants to boost the participation of members and to improve communication channels within the association. He also plans to turn AMRAE into a body that is above all scientific, creating and spreading knowledge in the area of risk management. A permanent scientific committee has been created to this end.
The association will increase its efforts to help small and medium-sized companies, continued the president. In terms of expanding its international footprint AMRAE plans to reach out to risk managers at French subsidiaries in foreign countries. It also wants to tighten links with its peers in Europe and elsewhere, sharing experiences particularly with risk managers in the French-speaking world. "We have the goal to create a union of risk management associations from the french speaking world," Mr Canameras explained.
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