The main purpose of the present paper is to provide an analysis of the operational risk from the perspective of the financial institutions in Romania exposed to this cathegory of risk in the context of the Basel II Agreement.The first part of the study describes a theoretical background based on the recent specialized literature regarding the concept of the operational risk. The second part presents an analysis of the operational risk under the basic indicator approach, the standardized approach and the advanced measurement approach, suggesting the necessity of adequate capital requirements for the appropriate functionning of the bank’s activity. The most relevant results of the analysis insist on the importance of identifying, measuring and modelling operational risk and the benefits of continuously improving the instruments, methodology and technics of operational risk management.The conclusions of the work are related to the fact that operational risk management is a necessity in the context of the new challenges of the contemporary world and it requies advanced methods in order to effectiv ely contribute to the development of the banking activity.