NEW YORK, September 2, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP, http://www.garp.org) today announced that it has registered its 100,000th individual for the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) Exam, the global benchmark for financial risk management professionals.

The FRM Exam, first issued in 1997, measures an individual's knowledge of the major strategic tools required to practice the discipline of financial risk management. Currently, there are over 24,000 professionals worldwide who hold the FRM certification.

Registrations for the FRM Exam continue to grow, increasing an average of 27% per year from 2001-2010. In 2009, 23,391 individuals from 125 countries registered for the FRM Exam, an increase of 70 percent from 2008; registration for the FRM Exam is still open for 2010.

As corporations around the world expand their risk management capabilities, they are looking for a way to objectively assess, based on globally accepted concepts, the risk management capabilities of their professional staff, which the FRM provides, said Richard Apostolik, Global Association of Risk Professionals President and CEO. Registering our 100,000th FRM candidate is a testament to our ability to read changing economic markets and adjust the exam to address the relevant issues facing practitioners in the field, and it's an objective measure of the global acceptance of the FRM program by companies and risk management professionals around the globe. No other financial professional certification program has achieved this type of growth in such a short time period.

To become a Certified FRM holder, candidates must pass two comprehensive examinations, which cover all the key areas of financial risk management. Exam questions are presented in the context of real-world situations that financial risk managers might face. Upon passing both parts of the FRM Exam, candidates must demonstrate two years professional work experience in financial risk management or a related field.

About The Global Association of Risk Professionals

The Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) is a not-for-profit global membership organization dedicated to preparing professionals and organizations to make better informed risk decisions. Membership represents nearly 150,000 risk management practitioners and researchers from banks, investment management firms, government agencies, academic institutions, and corporations from more than 195 countries. GARP administers the Financial Risk Manager (FRM(R)) and the Energy Risk Professional (ERP(R)) exams, certifications recognized by risk professionals worldwide. GARP also helps advance the role of risk management via comprehensive professional education and training for professionals of all levels. http://www.garp.org.

Contacts: Carl Hymans Keith Campbell G.S. Schwartz Co. G.S. Schwartz Co +1-212-725-4500, ext. 304 +1-212-725-4500 ext. 318 carlh@schwartz.com kcampbell@schwartz.com

SOURCE: The Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP)

CONTACT: Carl Hymans, +1-212-725-4500 ext. 304, carlh@schwartz.com, orKeith Campbell, +1-212-725-4500 ext. 318, kcampbell@schwartz.com, both forThe Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP)