High-performing companies really do play as a team

Chief Compliance Officers (CCOs), Chief Risk Officers (CROs), Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and Chief Data Officers (CDOs) have more in common than they might think: a need for reliable, common data across the enterprise.

Tough compliance laws are both a headache and an impetus for change – they’ll ensure that the relationships between these groups become closer.

At most companies, compliance responsibilities are spread throughout the organisation. They developed independently over time and the result is a complex myriad of technologies and varying processes. The problems of this are multi-fold – systems are difficult and time-consuming to run and manage, can’t be easily expanded, and offer no clear group view of data.

Smart deployment of a common data platform will increase the efficiency of the organisation and lower the cost of compliance, while helping companies avoid fines, penalties and damage to reputation. Importantly, all parties will obtain a clear, consistent view on risk.

Beyond reliable, cohesive technology, companies must have a governance, risk management and compliance strategy aligned and in place that keeps pace with new legislation, stakeholder expectations and a highly competitive market landscape. Importantly, this needs to be built in to the culture of the firm to be successful.

Whatever their roles, all stakeholders will need to work together more closely to be effective.

• CRO: The greatest challenge is battling for a unified picture while under pressure from BCBS 239. Around 67% of CROs and their teams hold responsibility for developing stress-testing models.
• CFO: They need to understand data on a single contract or business transaction level to fulfil the requirements of IFRS 9, BCBS 239, and FINREP without disclosing excess information.
• CDO: Having tried to re-align data toward into a group view, CDOs often find that their corporate and investment banking divisions are fighting to keep IT within their own line of business.