Asia Awards 2022: Best regulatory reporting initiative—Kaizen Reporting

OVERVIEW

By 2015, it had become apparent that mounting costs and error risks faced by capital markets firms were making it difficult for them to meet the level of quality required for their regulatory reporting obligations. A solution was needed to reduce these costs and take control of their reporting. This led UK regulator Dario Crispini—who had been head of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) transaction monitoring unit—to launch Kaizen Reporting and develop its ReportShield suite of services. Its goal is to provide firms with affordable accuracy, completeness and timeliness in their regulatory reporting.

THE SOLUTION

Kaizen’s aim was to provide an exhaustive level of testing, tailored to firms’ governance and internal arrangements. Using an independent parallel reporting process, it provides end-to-end reconciliation service tests for reporting completeness by comparing the data from a firm’s trading systems with data reported to the regulator. The quality of the data reported to the regulator is ensured by checking every data field, and tests are performed on counterparty and client static data for accuracy. The continued development of Kaizen’s offerings has been built on a combined foundation of in-house regulatory expertise and advanced technology expertise. And to ensure adherence to regulatory change and provide for large-scale remediation projects, Kaizen’s services are updated regularly.

WHAT’S TO COME

Kaizen has functionality and user interface/user experience enhancements planned for its Kaizen Hub client portal. Meanwhile, ReportShield will have Money Markets Statistical Reporting and Sterling Money Market Daily reporting added to its covered jurisdictions. The company also plans to expand further into Asia, Europe and the US.

WHY THEY WON

Enhancements
Kaizen has added more than 300 new tests to its accuracy testing service. It has also expanded its service suite to maintain a broader range of regtech services, including single rulebook and shareholding disclosure. Additionally, the Kaizen Hub now includes a regulatory reporting wiki/encyclopedia and file transfer service.

Reports
Personalized benchmark reports are produced for each client, allowing firms to track themselves in comparison to their industry peers.

Community
Kaizen hosts meetings with its client community, where they can share opinions—on topics such as regulation changes and existing regulation issues—with each other and Kaizen’s SME team.