01Contents
How Nexus works in six parts.
In this dossier6 parts
02The cycle
Eight steps, each in its pillar.
- Question Universe Question: what GCRI contributes
- Evidence Foundry Evidence: what GCRI contributes
- Build Foundry Build: what GCRI contributes
- Organise Universe Organise: what GCRI contributes
- Test Universe Test: what GCRI contributes
- Publish Reports Publish: what GCRI contributes
- Decide Competent authority Decide: what GCRI contributes
- Renew Universe Renew: what GCRI contributes
Each step in the pillar it runs in; the decision stays with the competent authority, outside the programme.
- Labs
- Foundry
- Universe
- Nexus Standards
- Reports
- Risk Academy
- Competent authority (outside the programme)
- QuestionNational, regional or institutional priorityQuestion: what GCRI contributes
- EvidenceSTEM foundation of the platformEvidence: what GCRI contributes
- BuildFoundryBuild: what GCRI contributes
- OrganiseNexus ecosystemOrganise: what GCRI contributes
- TestUniverse (independent site)Test: what GCRI contributes
- PublishReportsPublish: what GCRI contributes
- DecideCompetent authorities and institutions, through NXS-RLS (participants, agreements and handoffs)Decide: what GCRI contributes
- RenewCorrections and the next annual agendaRenew: what GCRI contributes
03Why a cycle
Systemic risk does not stay inside one assessment.
Risk management standards describe a loop rather than a line. ISO 31000 sets out scope and context, assessment, treatment, monitoring and review, and recording and reporting. The UNDRR terminology frames disaster risk as a function of hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity, which changes as each of them changes. A cascading or compound risk crosses sectors, so the loop has to be run with several owners rather than one.
The work cycle is that loop made explicit for work that spans water, food, energy, health, infrastructure and finance. Each of its eight steps names who owns it, which keeps a research finding from being mistaken for a decision and a decision from being presented as a finding.
04Process
How the process runs.
Process
How Nexus works: Model risk lifecycle
US bank supervisors revised model risk guidance on April 17, 2026, with Fed SR 26-2 superseding SR 11-7; it sets no enforceable standards.
01 Inventory and development
- 02Model inventory and materialityDataset · Competent authorityAn effective inventory shows model risk for single models and in aggregate. Model purpose with model exposure sets materiality.
- 04Development and testingStep · Competent authorityDevelopment starts from a clear purpose aligned with business use and policy. Testing checks whether the model performs as intended.
- 05DocumentationRecord · Competent authorityAdequate documentation supports continuity of operations, the tracking of recommendations, responses and exceptions, and remediation.
02 Validation and challenge
- 03Effective challengeComponent · Competent authorityObjective experts critically evaluate model risk and drive change across the lifecycle. They need expertise, independence and standing.
- 06Conceptual soundnessStep · Competent authorityValidation of conceptual soundness assesses and documents model design, construction and developmental testing.
- 07Outcomes analysisStep · Competent authorityOutcomes analysis compares model outputs with real-world outcomes. It can include back-testing or outlier analysis.
03 Governance, use and monitoring
- 01Policies, roles and responsibilitiesComponent · Competent authorityPolicies set expectations and a framework for assessing model risk. Roles are clear, with attention to conflicts of interest.
- 08Decision to use, with limits where neededDecision · Competent authorityValidation generally comes before first use. Urgent earlier use calls for attention to limits, informed stakeholders and controls.
- 09Ongoing monitoringModel · Competent authorityMonitoring checks whether the model performs as expected as products, exposures, clients, data or markets change.
- 10Adjust, recalibrate or redevelopStep · Competent authorityWhen performance deviates meaningfully from expectations, the organisation considers adjustment, recalibration or redevelopment.
Outline of an external standard or method, from its public sources. It describes what the framework says, not a record of any run. It does not show that Nexus or any partner performs, certifies or approves a step. A gate is a step of the method, never a Nexus approval. The guidance is expected to be most relevant to banking organisations with over $30 billion in total assets.
05GCRI’s share of the loop
Where the science and technical office sit.
| Step | Risk-management analogue | What GCRI brings |
|---|---|---|
| Question | Scope, context and criteria | Turns a priority into a researchable question with stated criteria |
| Evidence | Risk identification and analysis | Methods from the STEM Commons, labelled data, uncertainty |
| Build | Analysis tooling | Foundry projects with versioned models and data |
| Test | Exercising and validation | Technical office for controlled tests in Universe |
| Publish | Recording and reporting | Editing Reports, with limits stated |
| Renew | Monitoring and review | Corrections, lessons and the next research agenda |
Organising communities and the decision itself sit with others: the Consortium bodies and the competent authorities.
06Six pillars
How this works across the six pillars.
The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) works through six pillars of one annual programme, led by the Nexus Consortium, with GCRI, the Global Risks Forum (GRF) and the Global Risks Alliance (GRA) each contributing in its role: explore, experiment and prototype in Labs, build, simulate and prepare in Foundry, convene and test in Universe, codify, correct and apply in Nexus Standards, publish in every format in Reports, teach in the open in Risk Academy.
Select pillars · hover lines18 / 18 handoffs
handoff in playrecorded handoffno direct handoff
Programme yearAll phases
Route
The whole programme
Every pillar hands its work to another; together they close the year’s feedback loops.
L · F · U · S · R · A
- Pillars
- 6 of 6
- Handoffs
- 18 of 18
- Loops
- 17 closed
Handoffs in play
- F01Universe → Foundry · Admitted mission becomes a cycle project with a decision caseReadiness preparation
- F02Foundry → Universe · Core Build Report and go or no-go evidenceControlled build
- F03Foundry → Reports · Sealed observations and indicator series behind a profileCloseout
- F04Universe → Reports · After-action and scenario findings for chapters 10 and 13After-action review
and 14 more
- LabsWhere questions become experiments and prototypes: new methods, data and tools are tried in the open, with their limits on record, before the Foundry builds them, under the Nexus Consortium.Labs at GCRI: Labs
- FoundryWhere methods, data and models become reproducible builds, each run with its inputs, version and limits on record.Foundry at GCRI: Foundry
- UniverseWhere a build is tested under controlled conditions with independent evaluators, so a method’s skill is measured, not assumed.Universe at GCRI: Universe technical officeuniverse.nexus
- Nexus StandardsWhere methods, identifiers and data schemas are codified in the open and corrected when a test finds a fault.Nexus Standards
- ReportsWhere findings are published with their method, uncertainty and evidence class, and corrected as new versions.Reports at GCRI: PublishReports
- Risk AcademyWhere methods and systems are taught on real data and real places, by working the case, on Risk Academy.Risk Academy
What each institution brings to each pillar
| Pillar | GCRI | GRF | GRA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labs | Runs the experiments: its science and technology teams design prototypes, record the method and publish what failed as well as what worked. | Brings the questions that policy and governance need answered, and admits an experiment to the programme at a recorded gate. | Brings finance questions to test, so a prototype is tried on evidence that financial institutions can read. |
| Foundry | Its science and technical platforms bring the methods, data and evidence that the Foundry builds on. | Admits missions and accepts the build for exercise at a recorded gate, so Foundry work enters the programme on the record. | Brings finance-readiness questions, so builds produce evidence that financial institutions can read. |
| Universe | Its technical office prepares the scientific and data readiness of each mission. | Stewards and governs the programme: the mandate, gates G0 to G7, convening and Action Week. | Runs finance-readiness dialogues on what each mission means for finance and insurance. |
| Standards | GCRI Canada is publisher of record and secretariat; GCRI stewards the evidence, methods, data and open research behind the standards. | Convenes participation and keeps the public record of recognition and standing. | Makes the standards readable to finance and insurance. |
| Reports | Hosts the canonical Reports site and publishes evidence on countries, sectors and methods. | Publishes governance analysis and authorises publication of the year’s results at gate G6. | Publishes sector analysis and the finance and insurance readiness series. |
| Academy | Authors courses on methods, data and the Foundry systems, hosted on Risk Academy. | Authors courses on governance, policy and programme roles, hosted on Risk Academy. | Authors courses on finance, insurance and readiness, hosted on Risk Academy. |
The pillars through the programme year
| Pillar | Q1 · State and Agenda | Q2 · Evidence and Build | Q3 · Stress Test and Readiness | Q4 · Annual Synthesis and Renewal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labs | Opens the year’s experiments on the questions the mandate names | Runs prototypes in short cycles; hands reproducible ones to the Foundry | Tests ideas alongside Action Week; records what failed and why | Writes up every experiment; proposes next year’s questions |
| Foundry | Opens cycle projects; National Portfolio baseline | Qualifies sources; one-month controlled build | Runs simulations in Action Week; releases temporary capacity | Supplies data bundles; registers capability gaps |
| Universe | Annual mandate (G0) | Missions admitted (G1), qualified (G2), build accepted (G3) | Action Week (G4), stand-down, evidence sealed (G5) | Publication authorised (G6), renewal (G7) |
| Standards | Routes missions to standards | Composes profiles; validates the build | Monitors conformance; findings become proposals | Council review; adopted changes published |
| Reports | State and Agenda edition | Evidence and Build edition | Stress Test and Readiness edition | Annual Synthesis, the flagship |
| Academy | Pathways open; cohorts enrol | Qualification courses; learning on the build | Exercise assessments; completion records | Course revisions; next cohorts open |
07GCRI’s part
What GCRI contributes.
| Step | GCRI contribution |
|---|---|
| Question | turns national and institutional priorities into researchable questions |
| Evidence | supplies the methods, data and evidence labels |
| Build | runs Foundry, where authorised projects build models and analysis |
| Organise | organises the specialist communities and the national working groups |
| Test | provides the technical office for tests in Universe |
| Publish | edits Reports and publishes findings with their limits |
| Decide | hands evidence to competent authorities, which decide under their own rules |
| Renew | records corrections and feeds lessons into the next agenda |
08Sources
Where this page’s references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
09Pages
Pages in this section.
10Questions
Questions and answers.
Who decides at the end of the cycle?
The competent authority or institution, under its own rules. The cycle supplies evidence and options; it does not decide.
The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation
Bring a method, a dataset or a question.
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