The UK's Financial Conduct Authority has launched a call for input on the use of technology to achieve smarter regulatory reporting
The collective demand on firms reporting regulatory data to the FCA is significant. Every year the regulator receives over 500,000 scheduled reports from firms, as well as additional ad hoc reports.
In November 2017, the FCA and the Bank of England held a two-week 'TechSprint' to examine how technology can make the current system of regulatory reporting more accurate, efficient and consistent.
The result was a proof of concept for a system that would enable firms to map the reporting requirements directly to the data that they hold, creating the potential for automated, straight-through processing of regulatory returns.
"This could benefit both firms and regulators," says the watchdog. "For example, the accuracy of data submissions could be improved and their costs reduced, changes to regulatory requirements could be implemented more quickly, and a reduction in compliance costs could lower barriers to entry and promote competition."
The Call for Input outlines how this ‘proof of concept’ was developed and asks for views on how the FCA can improve the process. The paper also seeks feedback on some of the broader issues surrounding the role technology can play in regulatory reporting.
The comment period will remain open until June, with a summary and proposed next steps published in Summer 2018.