Geopolitical Stress Testing Demands Flexibility Rather Than Certainty

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Speaking at Balance Sheet Management Europe 2026, Gabor Koncz, Head of Balance Sheet Risk Management at Raiffeisen Bank International, discusses the growing importance of geopolitical stress testing in an increasingly uncertain environment. He explores the need for flexible scenario design, faster decision-making during periods of market disruption, and the role of AI in supporting more effective risk assessment and response planning.

Oct 23, 2026

Gabor Koncz, Head of Balance Sheet Risk Management, Raiffeisen Bank International AG

Tags: ALM, Treasury and Liquidity Risk

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Geopolitical risks are becoming more complex, interconnected, and difficult to predict, making effective stress testing increasingly important for financial institutions. Gabor Koncz explains why banks must remain open-minded when developing stress scenarios, cautions against overconfidence, and highlights the importance of considering a wide range of potential outcomes, including those that may be more severe than expected.

The interview also examines the challenges of stress testing across diverse markets and jurisdictions, the value of collaboration between risk, treasury, research, and business teams, and the growing role of AI in accelerating scenario analysis and response planning. Koncz argues that in the early stages of a crisis, speed often matters more than precision, making preparation, flexibility, and rapid decision-making critical capabilities for risk managers.

Gabor Koncz Bio

Gabor Koncz is Head of Balance Sheet Risk Management at Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI), where he oversees liquidity risk, interest rate risk, P&L and reconciliation, and cross-functional balance sheet risk management initiatives across the RBI Group. Previously he headed Liquidity Risk Management, driving the Group's ILAAP framework, and earlier led Market Risk Modelling & Analytics, overseeing development of RBI's market-risk system and counterparty credit risk measurement. Gabor joined RBI in 2017 as a market risk manager; prior to that he worked at MSCI on quantitative validation for the RiskManager system. He holds an MSc in Economics from Central European University and a BSc in Finance & Accounting (quantitative finance) from Corvinus University of Budapest.