Coping with high volatility in credit portfolios and earnings, financial service firms are embracing on new solutions to help them manage risk throughout their operations. Investigations of suspected criminal activity within a financial institution can often be cumbersome and inconsistent, exposing the institution to additional monetary loss as well as regulatory risk.

Expanding on Fortent's existing case management capabilities, Fortent's new independent Case Management system allows banks, securities firms, and insurance companies to standardize and streamline the investigation process. The system is designed with a built-in "business logic," or set of industry best-practice rules specific to each case type -- from suspected fraud and employee theft to money laundering and Know Your Customer cases originating from alerts triggered by monitoring systems.

"The business logic that is built into Fortent Case Management means that analysts can use the system efficiently from Day One," said Edward Wolfe, Senior Product Manager at Fortent. "Instead of users having to re-invent the wheel every time a case is opened, the system contains templates for each type of case that identify and integrate the data elements and evidence required to investigate each case -- all in a standardized framework. This saves time and money by eliminating expensive configuration costs and allowing investigators to spend their time analyzing data, not compiling it."

Increasing regulatory pressures and growing concerns about the risks of certain business lines have also prompted strong demand for case management solutions offering an "enterprise-wide view" of risk. In a recent Fortent survey of top compliance executives, respondents cited private banking, trade finance, and "beneficial owner" activity as areas to watch for financial crime risk, underlining the need for a centralized case management system that can bring together all risk and compliance investigations from disparate parts of the organization.

Fortent's new case management solution achieves an enterprise view of financial crime at an institution by allowing multiple points of entry for cases -- whether the source is a bank's transaction monitoring system or an alert from an employee who observes suspicious behavior at a branch. The system reduces human error in advancing a case from opening through completion -- creating an electronic "manila folder" -- and can be easily configured to reflect an institution's specific business needs or organizational structure.

When a case results in a need to perform a regulatory disclosure, Fortent's Case Management system features the capability to automatically popular SAR forms for multiple regulatory bodies, including FinCEN in the U.S., SOCA in the UK, and JAFIC in Japan. The interface allows institutions to more efficiently fulfill their reporting requirements to regulators.

"Our customers' input was critical to the development of this tool," said Mr. Wolfe. "What we learned from our user groups helped us make case management not only a cost-saver for organizations, but an even easier, more efficient process for all users who touch a case -- from the time a case is opened to the final reports prepared for management and regulators."