JOEL BESSIS is in charge of risk analytics at the risk department of CDC IXIS, in Paris, France and was previously Director of Research at Fitch. He is Professor of Finance at HEC School of Management, Paris, France, and a frequent speaker at professional conferences. He has been a consultant to risk departments of several banking institutions in Europe, and held a permanent consultancy position for seven years at Banque Paribas in the Risk Department.