Liquidity risk management: assessing and planning for adverse events

This paper takes a close look at the factors involved in the recent crisis and the patterns that resulted in widespread liquidity problems. It also points to specific vulnerabilities faced by financial institutions currently, and highlights best practices for liquidity risk management. Findings include a strong recommendation that financial institutions apply quantitative analysis to liquidity risk to the same extent as they currently do for market and credit risk, and increase analytical accuracy by incorporating dynamic stochastic methodologies. Since the potential impact of liquidity risk is typically much more severe than the consequences of market risk - in some circumstances threatening a company's very survival - the use of up-to-date quantitative instruments such as these can be viewed as a necessary development in today's unsteady economic environment.