An internal fraud model for operational losses in retail banking

Abstract

This article presents a novel dynamic model for internal fraud losses in the retail banking sector, incorporating internal factors such as ethical quality of workers and bank risk controls. The model's parameters are calibrated for each bank in the Operational Riskdata eXchange (ORX) consortium, based only on publicly available exposure indicators. The model generates simulated internal operational losses, exhibiting standard stochastic properties and tail behavior that closely align with actual operational losses. At an aggregate level, the model endeavors to replicate the average frequency and severity of losses observed within the internal fraud—retail banking category. Moreover, we identify macro-environmental factors that exert influence over the severity and frequency of model-simulated losses, consistent with findings in the existing literature.