Collaboration and information sharing is revolutionising the way Financial Services organisations work. This is not just within the organisation but also with the large networks of partners often required to deliver innovative services to customers.
The challenge for Financial Services organisations is how to effectively govern collaboration across a global and distributed environment, in a world of extensive and rapidly expanding regulations. The Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) function must find the correct balance between complete compliance and efficient collaboration.
The creation, sharing, analysis and processing of information is vital to deliver the products and services of every Financial Services organisation. Perhaps more than most industries, this information use and sharing places a greater exposure to risk of non-compliance in Financial Services, with its vast landscape of global laws, industry regulations and internal best practices.
In the past, the response of GRC has been to tackle compliance on a project-by-project basis. This can result in regulatory driven change, which accounts for up to 80% of the entire investment portfolio. However, a more strategic approach is required in order to centralise information management, minimise costs and future-proof the organisation from upcoming regulation while also providing an open and secure environment for collaboration.
Compliance versus Collaboration
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Information Governance and ‘Active Compliance’
Studies have shown that organisations relying on an project-by-project approach spend as much as 10 times more on compliance than firms with a corporate-wide strategic programme. Three common elements of a strategic approach will include:
Identify Common GRC Issues
Look across the organisation and identify areas with similar GRC issues. This will accelerate the creation of a central GRC framework
Develop Multi-Purpose GRC Policies and IT Solutions
Eliminate the creation of point-to-point solutions. Develop a corporate-wide platform that can leverage and secure existing investments
Encourage Authorised Collaboration
Collaboration is happening. It has to be supported and managed. Look to provide staff across offices and geographies with a collaboration environment that facilitates the collection and access of essential GRC data.
With a centralised, strategic GRC platform in place, Financial Services organisations can implement ‘Active Compliance’. This ensures that the business adheres to industry-standard best practice and procedures. By committing to continuous improvement, transparency and granularity of information, Financial institutions can drive cost for the regulatory process down, while being able to better identify where to focus future investments.
