A deliberate policy of controlled risk-taking to generate revenues is integral to EGL's business activities as a trading company. EGL's risk management makes sure that the risk/return ratio is always correctly balanced.

Risk management at EGL is not confined to a specialised department, but is actually an integral part of the company philosophy. In terms of the active management of risks, the operational departments such as the Trading or the Assets Division are chiefly responsible. Guidelines for reporting risks and the necessary measures to deal with them are nevertheless defined and implemented centrally, with Group management providing comprehensive, up-to-the-minute information to enable the right decision to be made.

Group-wide corporate risk management, as well as the management of market and credit risks, is carried out by a single central department at EGL. This ensures that the Group's overall perspective as well as the detailed view on a transactional level form a consistent, reliable picture of EGL's overall exposure to risk.

Departments and subsidiaries are responsible for the risks they enter into, but they are nevertheless required to adhere strictly to the limits, guidelines and directives laid down by central risk management, in order to ensure Group-wide control and monitoring of market and credit risks. Group-wide credit limits for all trading partners, as well restrictions on volumes, sensitivities, value at risk, and contractual periods at portfolio level, are an integral part of the comprehensive, Group-wide system of limits, and while they are there to aid the central control of sensitive risks, they also provide traders with a clearly defined and transparent scope to implement their trading strategies.

EGL has a comprehensive system for the company-wide management of business risks. The EGL Risk Management Handbook sets out the rules and regulations governing the organisation, methods, processes, tools and regular controls that are necessary for risk management. This handbook defines the Group-wide risk mindset as set out by EGL's Executive Management.