Wolters Kluwer Financial Services announced today that it has extended its ARC Logics for Financial Services suite with the launch of its new Regulatory Change Management solution which will enable U.K. financial institutions to keep up-to-date with regulatory changes, understand how the changes affect their business, and how policies and procedures should change accordingly.
Over the next few months, the Regulatory Change Management Solution will be rolled out to regulated firms and individuals in the U.K., providing a structured and comprehensive view of the changing regulatory environment in which they operate and the policies they have in place. This will help aid decision-making, promote resource efficiency and produce management information to assist in the demonstration of effective compliance, and ultimately help reduce risk.
Analysis from Wolters Kluwer Financial Services Regulatory Content Team shows that in 2011 the FSA awarded penalties totalling just over £66 million with the average financial penalty increasing from £31,654.00 in 2010 to £1,121,098.97 in 2011. Furthermore, a recent study by economic consultants NERA* also states that while the FSA will be dissolved in early 2013, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who will be responsible for maintaining market integrity, protecting consumers, and promoting competition in financial services, will enhance its scope for action in existing areas of FSA enforcement and so are not expected to fundamentally alter policy priorities.
"U.K. financial services organizations have to continuously analyze how their businesses will be affected by the growing amount of regulation they are faced with. Regulatory change can be swift and all companies want to ensure that they are protected from potential reputational damage and potentially large fines that can result from missing or misunderstanding changes that take place," said Richard Pike, Senior Market Manager EMEA, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services. "Our solution helps firms to manoeuvre the regulatory minefield, minimizing the cost of applying new regulation to internal policies and procedures in an effective and efficient manner."
The web-based solution will provide expert analysis of regulatory events, model policies based upon the current regulations, a research tool and a policy manaagement tool. It will also include daily updates via email and smartphone, clear dashboards of management information to assist in demonstrating compliance, and workflow and policy attestation functionality. This enables firms to avoid a piecemeal approach to compliance by creating a structured, comprehensive view of regulatory change and the associated internal policy updates.
ARC Logics helps financial organizations bring transparency, traceability and efficiency to managing compliance, operational and financial risks, as well as to the audit function. The solution's modular approach enables insurance companies, securities firms and banks to fulfill their immediate risk management objectives in a targeted, cost-effective manner while allowing for expanded future usage of the same platform.