“Digitalization is not confined to the banking industry, of course. But it has already left a strong imprint on banks, and all signs point to even more sweeping changes ahead.” Andrea Enria, chair of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank, September 2021 The RegTech industry had a banner year in 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to fuel the already existing trend of digitization of everything in our daily lives. Financial institutions (FIs) have followed suit and accelerated their pace to meet consumer experience expectations and regulatory demands involved in digital transformation to compete and survive in this increasingly unpredictable post-pandemic world.For the upcoming year, 2022, the RegTech sector anticipates the following themes to become focal points:The War for Talent During the “Great Resignation”Forrester predicts that in 2022 “Banks will double down on innovation” by spending lavishly on technology, talent, and fintech. Banks will find stiff competition with tech companies and other sectors for top engineering talent and technology workforce.Deloitte also reports seeing the need for technology talent. Individuals with process and technology backgrounds, be it in investment management, banking, capital markets, insurance, or real estate, will be highly sought after. “In fact, in every sector, we’re seeing the opportunity for this relationship between focusing on transformation and technology and the need to have talent that can help with marrying that technology to a much more seamless process to help improve the experience of the customer overall,” says Deloitte’s Monica O’Reilly.Already, JP Morgan has ramped up recruitment for its new UK digital bank and plans to take staff numbers above 1,000 in 2022. Additionally, opportunities for new roles within the global anti-money laundering market will arise as the market expands at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.6% from 2021 to 2028, reaching USD 3.19 billion by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc.People are resigning from their jobs in droves during the pandemic, unveiling a rarely seen time where the job market favors the candidate. As the war for talent wages on, an influx of new regulations, increased incidents of fraud, evolving customer demands, and the move towards digital transformation usher in new, more specialized roles. Finding the right talent fit may be a pain point for FIs in 2022.Financial Institutions will Fully Embrace the CloudIn 2022 financial institutions look to accelerate moving more data and compliance processes to the Cloud. By the end of the year, on-premise deployments will be a thing of the past and will soon be considered archaic. This change of opinion emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, as the rise in hybrid or work from home (WFH) arrangements demonstrated to FIs how valuable the flexibility of the Cloud is.The challenge of ensuring compliance within a distributed workforce is better suited for cloud-based RegTech solutions. These solutions allow financial institutions to scale their financial workflows to meet hybrid or WFH requirements and reduce compliance costs by eliminating the need for on-site computing and storage.Operational Resilience Continues to be of Key ImportancePredating the pandemic Regulators have long been concerned about operational resilience. The difference now is that the pandemic has accelerated its development and implementation. Operational stability pertains to the idea that digital solutions, which may operate critical business functions, must be resilient to any disruption. Also, risk and compliance applications must accommodate any shift to alternative working patterns such as remote and flexible working arrangements.Thomson Reuters’ recent report defines it as such; “There appears to be a consensus that operational resilience entails the following main steps: identify, prepare, respond and adapt, recover and learn. Versions of operational resilience definition can be applied in all jurisdictions as the basis upon which to develop approaches to operational resilience.”This past March, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) published their final policy and supervisory statements on operational resilience. It stated that by March 31, 2022, firms must have identified any critical business services, determined maximum tolerable disruption, and undertaken the necessary mapping and testing. As soon as possible after March 31, 2022 – and no later than March 31, 2025 – organizations must have performed mapping and testing to remain within impact tolerances for the services.In general, financial institutions that struggled with manual or legacy solutions throughout 2020 or 2021 should expect regulators to become more demanding in 2022.Prioritizing Holistic Compliance Will Ease the Burden of Regulatory ChangeHolistic compliance has been one of the most vital points of emphasis in the RegTech world in 2021. “In the last year, there has been much talk about the value of holistic compliance in managing existing and future obligations. 2022 will be the year where this will turn into action and firms start to invest in holistic or integrated data capabilities,” says Matt Smith, SteelEye, CEO.FIs are now changing how they approach regulatory change. In the past, financial firms have inefficiently addressed compliance by tackling different regulations and implementation deadlines as separate projects – creating other teams, solutions, and data sets for each obligation. The challenges of ad hoc or project-based approaches to addressing compliance needs have clarified the long-term benefits of working with consolidated data, platforms, and processes.Holistic, all-in-one solutions have recently gained popularity as many more companies were challenged to remain compliant in the face of pandemic-related restrictions.”The general concept of a holistic solution is to offer a range of compliance procedures in a single package, as opposed to going with individual vendors, each of whom offers a best-in-class solution for a particular compliance requirement. Arguments against this approach hinge on the idea of dead weight, of paying for unnecessary features, and even on the assumption that holistic vendors might boast an impressive range of features and solutions without providing the specificity and reliability of best-in-class vendors” stated Ben Parker, CEO, and founder, flow Global.One possible outcome is for FIs to seek heightened coordination among vendors. Strong vendors could offer some benefits of a holistic approach while minimizing the downsides. However, resource constraints among regulated companies may, in

The route to successful compliance with persistent regulatory flux can be complex and costly. Conversely, non-compliance has been cited as being 2.71 times more costly and riddled with missed business opportunities. Financial Institutions (FIs) know that a robust compliance infrastructure is increasingly critical for ensuring ongoing success. Yet for FIs, finding the right path forward can be daunting.That same path becomes less daunting and more manageable when you factor in RegTech. RegTech was designed to help financial institutions address the challenges of meeting compliance standards and to help ease the burden in filling in potential compliance gaps.  “Superior regtech can reduce costs significantly, allowing companies to free up capital to invest in more productive areas” says Simon Eacott, head of payments innovation at NatWestThe RegTech ecosystem currently offers a plethora of solutions and is expected to continue to grow. A Juniper study released this past March notes that spending on Regtech will exceed $130 billion in 2025, from $33 billion in 2020. This predicted 290% growth in RegTech adoption has been fueled by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic’s push in accelerating the already existing trend towards greater digital engagement.As the regulatory hurdles continue to proliferate, and the world becomes increasingly digitized, who will you choose to partner with? Below are our tips.Tip #1 – Consider the fitBy “fit” we mean that a RegTech partner should have a clear understanding of the external requirements and their implications for your institution in terms of product and culture. Together as a team, your organization and your RegTech partner should collaborate in a way that makes for a true match between the compliance demands of your business and the RegTech offering. This will aid in the successful incorporation of your RegTech partnership and demonstrate the benefit of using that particular RegTech provider as you continue on your regulatory compliance journey.Tip #2 – Assess your partner’s scalabilityDo your RegTech partner’s solutions have the ability to grow with the evolving regulatory landscape? The proactive approach of utilizing RegTech to tackle regulatory compliance is not always a one-and-done investment: as your company’s offerings grow, as the industry grows, and as regulations change and evolve, so too must your tools. You should expect that these tools will need to grow and scale with you.Tip #3 – Understand the level of engagementDoes your RegTech partner have the depth of experience to help with your ongoing compliance needs? Will this be a one-off transaction or an ongoing relationship? Because the regulatory environment is constantly in flux, an ongoing partnership is more important than a transactional one. As with any new solution or product, it can take time to bring organizations up to speed during implementation. Be wary of providers that don’t look to provide ongoing support. It may not be a partnership worth pursuing.The process of selecting a RegTech provider should include an in-depth assessment of your institution’s needs and the fit, scalability, and engagement potential of your partner. Finally, your cost-benefit analysis should also include the engagement fees in conjunction with internal costs and the effects of potential non-compliance.

Last month we touched upon Regulatory Relationship Management (RRM) as a framework used to satisfy regulators and their regulatory requirements. Here, we point to the next steps forward by addressing the challenges and impacts of non-compliance and providing you with thoughts on assessing your current compliance state—finishing off with actionable remedies to avert non-compliance. “The cost of non-compliance is 2.71 times higher than the cost of compliance” — Ponemon Institute and Globalscape “The True Cost of Compliance with Data Protection Regulations”The Top Challenge to Continued ComplianceFor highly regulated financial institutions, having an effective regulatory compliance strategy is a fundamental part of the business process. Organizations that are compliant with regulations have an advantage in terms of winning customer trust. A vigilant organization will reduce the potential negative impact on its brand. On the other hand, companies struggling with compliance are exposed to the risk of fines, business disruption, and reputational risk. The effort to repair a company’s reputation and restore customer confidence can be daunting.A compliant organization optimizes value for its customers and minimizes risks. Nevertheless, keeping up with the sheer amount of constantly evolving regulations has become increasingly challenging. A global survey by Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence backs this up by revealing that the top challenge to continued compliance is regulatory flux. Regulations are constantly being amended and revised to reflect social, cultural, political, and technological changes in the regulatory environment. Compliance requirements across international jurisdictions only add more complexity to the regulatory burden — a burden that does not look to loosen.The Price for Non-ComplianceOrganizations must remain vigilant for gaps in their regulatory programs. While the price tag for compliance measures may seem costly, the potential costs for non-compliance include operational disruption, decreased investor confidence, legal fines and penalties, diminished brand value, and loss of employee morale. Ultimately, according to a study by the Ponemon Institute and Globalscape, the cost of non-compliance is 2.71 times higher than the cost of compliance.Assessing Your PathKey indicators The ability to course-correct depends on people-readiness and process adoption. Asking the following questions will inform your next steps towards regulatory risk mitigation: Are adequate risk assessments in place? How thoroughly are you assessing your compliance risk exposure? Do you have enough skilled staff allocated for compliance? How sufficient is your technology in managing compliance? What is your company’s attitude towards compliance? Who is accountable for non-compliance? Actionable Remedies to Non-ComplianceBuild a Culture of ComplianceActionable Remedies to Non-ComplianceCompanies strengthen their compliance culture by plugging the gaps in their policies and procedures and putting into place reviewing and monitoring mechanisms. They conduct compliance training and communications with a strategic intent of curbing non-compliance. Making personnel policies, screening, and evaluation of employees, vendors, and agents mandatory for vigilance and course corrections is also part of the remedy. Instituting monitoring, auditing, and internal reporting systems, including disciplinary measures for non-compliance is another. Most importantly, setting the right tone at the top is vital to maintaining a healthy compliance culture. To do so, companies create the role of the chief compliance officer, who is empowered with responsibilities of monitoring regulations, managing compliance, and mitigating business risks.Make way for intelligent automationRegulatory technologies provide the capabilities for companies to be up-to-date with the magnitude of regulations as they change. Workflow tools enable the relevant stakeholders to access the impacted regulations so they can take corrective measures. Archiving, retention, and disposition technologies allow companies to preserve information as per compliance requirements and make this information searchable and accessible for future inspections. Encryption prevents leakage of confidential data and alleviates privacy concerns. Cloud storage technologies enable companies to save on hardware and infrastructure costs. End-to-end business process automation significantly improves productivity.Unify the information governance activitiesTie these individual regulatory technologies together, and you can create an automated, unified governance infrastructure. This unified infrastructure will enable you to achieve policy integration and process transparency across your records management life cycle. You can generate risk reports instantly and monitor the compliance health of your organization through comprehensive dashboards.One such product that can create your unified governance infrastructure is Infobelt Omni Archive Manager. Infobelt Omni Archive Manager is an advanced data archiving platform for all data types that enhances information protection and privacy and increases process efficiency. It gives businesses a comprehensive process to allocate, organize, and archive data according to industry regulations.Putting It All TogetherOnce your organization understands the value of compliance and is ready to take action, you may want to find and consult with a regulatory technology partner, such as Meji Partners or Infobelt, and utilize their services. Infobelt is the only company that delivers a complete end-to-end books and records management system. Meiji Partners provides an independent advisory voice that helps uncover hidden risks and challenges presented by regulatory obligations.Once your organization understands the value of compliance and is ready to take action, you may want to find and consulaBy proactively reducing the likelihood of a significant non-compliance event, an automated information governance strategy sets your organization apart in the marketplace. It gives you a competitive advantage while also protecting your brand.t with a regulatory technology partner, such as Meji Partners or Infobelt, and utilize their services. Infobelt is the only company that delivers a complete end-to-end books and records management system. Meiji Partners provides an independent advisory voice that helps uncover hidden risks and challenges presented by regulatory obligations.

Meeting compliance goals through Regulatory Relationship Management (RRM) FrameworkRRM stands for Regulatory Relationship Management. To understand RRM, let’s start with something more familiar to you, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Probably when you think CRM, Salesforce comes to mind.CRMs such as Salesforce align your business model to your customer relationships. The goal of CRM is to drive your sales to funnel and retain customers. Similarly, RRM aligns your business and compliance model with your regulatory relationships. The purpose of RRM is to satisfy regulators (precisely their regulatory requirements).In CRM, you are trying to understand the customer and satisfy their needs. In RRM, you are trying to understand the regulator and meet their needs.What is RRM?RRM stands for Regulatory Relationship Management. To understand RRM, let’s start with something more familiar to you, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Probably when you think CRM, Salesforce comes to mind.CRMs such as Salesforce align your business model to your customer relationships. The goal of CRM is to drive your sales to funnel and retain customers. Similarly, RRM aligns your business and compliance model with your regulatory relationships. The purpose of RRM is to satisfy regulators (precisely their regulatory requirements).In CRM, you are trying to understand the customer and satisfy their needs. In RRM, you are trying to understand the regulator and meet their needs. “Taking a proactive approach to regulatory compliance saves reputation, money and hundreds of man-years” — RegTech industry expert What are some of the key features to look for in an RRM solution?Modeling your operational and compliance frameworkMost importantly, your RRM should let you create a model that addresses your organization’s operational and compliance demands. Your RRM should link regulations to required regulatory records, then map your books and records to your compliant archives. These are just a few examples, but the RRM solution should be flexible enough for you to create an accurate representation of your real-world operational and compliance characteristics.Customizable workflows with built-in attestation modelsEqually as important, your RRM solution should have customizable workflows that ensure that each line of business within your organization completes specific regulatory tasks to remain compliant. The world’s top RegTech companies suggest that you customize these workflows to each line of business and be scalable as your organization grows. Keeping these workflows as simple as possible is a significant factor in ensuring adoption throughout your company. Actionable dashboards with real-time compliance health-scoresA good RRM solution should have actionable dashboards that give business leaders a compliance health score in real-time. Workflows with built-in attestation models will feed the dashboard, highlighting any areas within the organization that require remediation. “Taking a proactive approach to regulatory compliance saves reputation, money and hundreds of man years,” suggests a RegTech industry expert. “This approach will allow business leaders in the Financial Services Industry to get ahead of issues long before they have become a serious problem.”Notifications regarding regulatory changes and business impactWhat would a Regulatory Relationship Management system be without regulations? A significant component of any RRM is that it is updated with the newest rules and regulations constantly. The design of your RRM must notify relevant stakeholders about which regulatory requirements have changed, provide the impact that the regulatory change has on the organization, and have the necessary workflows to manage the regulatory change properly. “Without a constantly updated and direct feed, an RRM is rendered useless,” suggests a RegTech Operations LeaderNotifications regarding regulatory changes and business impactAnalysts suggest that the regulatory compliance technology industry will see a growth rate of over 52% through 2025. RegTech companies provide financial services firms, such as investment banks, commercial banks, private equity groups, and insurance companies a proactive and strategic approach to keeping up with the constantly changing regulatory landscape.Analysts suggest that the regulatory compliance technology industry will see a growth rate of over 52% through 2025. RegTech companies provide financial services firms, such as investment banks, commercial banks, private equity groups, and insurance companies a proactive and strategic approach to keeping up with the constantly changing regulatory landscape.Learn more about RRM RegTech solutions. Email us at info@infobelt.com.

For the financial services industry and global economy, COVID created unprecedented disruptions that ultimately required financial businesses to change pace. Although global markets and businesses are now on the path to recovery, these firms are still challenged with heightened risk and uncertainty. As we enter the second half of 2021, our team has identified areas that will require close monitoring from leadership and compliance teams.Ransomware AttacksRansomware attacks often target a company’s sensitive internal data, making unprotected, unbacked up data a key vulnerability within a firm. Without a safe, secure, and separate store of a company’s vital data, its operations can be brought to a complete standstill by a ransomware attack. Downtime caused by an attack can stretch to over a month as companies work to clean systems and restore data.While traditional ransomware protection comes in the form of anti-virus software, Infobelt Omni Archive Manager works differently. Omni Archive Manager is a secure data archiving platform, providing an additional layer of data protection from attacks by creating an immutable copy of your company’s data separate from your operational network, and therefore, safe from an attack. Omni Archive  Manager works by archiving all of your data hourly, ensuring a near real-time store of your company’s data that can be recalled and restored in the event of an attack.Scrutiny on market transactions, specifically related to COVID transactions and stimulus paymentsIn 2020, FINRA reviewed 79.7 billion transactions every day. Because of the large amount of aid that was distributed to businesses and individuals during this time period, regulators will be specifically reviewing for anti-money laundering and fund misuse. Proper documentation and policies will be integral to making sure your firm is not scrutinized during this time.Shift to digital businessThere is no doubt the pandemic has changed business and workplace activity. Operations evolved by implementing digital controls and processes, and this theme continues even as many businesses go back into the office. Regulators will require greater oversight on these digital transactions, specifically on technical innovation and operational changes.Preparedness is the key to tackling the compliance requirements posed by emerging regulatory changes. Regulators will continue to be stringent on requirements, and making sure your team is informed and prepared in case of scrutiny is vital to your firm’s success with regulators. Maintaining a positive relationship with a regulator is vital to your firm’s success, especially during this time. Our team has previously put together a blog on bolstering your relationship with regulators. To read, click here.

Throughout Infobelt’s interactions with both regulators and regulated industries, we have learned how to make the experience and the interactions smoother, more efficient, and cost effective. These are our top 3 recommendations.