RegEd, the market-leading provider of enterprise regulatory
compliance solutions to banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies and brokers,
is pleased to announce its appointment of Adam Schaub to the role of Vice
President, Platform Product Management. In this role, Schaub will direct
RegEd’s platform product management team and lead the strategy and vision for
the continuous evolution of RegEd’s enterprise platform.
“Adam comes to RegEd with deep industry, regulatory and compliance subject matter expertise. He has over 20 years of direct experience in the financial services compliance industry, and was a RegEd client leading the compliance services team at his last role, “ said Ethan Floyd, Chief Product Officer at RegEd. “We are very excited to have Adam join our team, he has strong knowledge of our platform solutions and the industry which make him invaluable to RegEd in our growth initiatives.”
Adam joins RegEd from Avantax, formerly known as 1st Global,
where he led the Compliance Services team, which was responsible for CE, branch
inspections, advertising, outside business activities, outside brokerage
accounts, regulatory requests, licensing, and many other compliance areas. As
Vice President of Product Management Platform, Adam will collaborate cross-functionally
to identify opportunities for new products and lead strategic initiatives.
John M. Schobel, CEO & Founder
of RegEd, commented on the appointment, “Adam’s extensive knowledge of our
software and the financial services industry as a whole makes him an
exceptional addition to our team. His decision to join RegEd at this point in
our growth speaks volumes about the exciting trajectory that we’re on.”
About RegEd
RegEd is the market-leading provider of RegTech enterprise solutions with relationships with more than 200 enterprise clients, including 80% of the top 25 financial services firms.
Established in 2000 by former regulators, the company is recognized for continuous regulatory technology innovation with solutions hallmarked by workflow-directed processes, data integration, regulatory intelligence, automated validations, business process automation and compliance dashboards. The aggregate drives the highest levels of operational efficiency and enables our clients to cost-effectively comply with regulations and continuously mitigate risk.
Trusted by the nation’s top financial services firms, RegEd’s proven, holistic approach to RegTech meets firms where they are on the compliance and risk management continuum, scaling as their needs evolve and amplifying the value proposition delivered to clients. For more information, please visit www.reged.com.
RegEd, the market-leading provider of enterprise regulatory
compliance solutions to banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies and brokers,
is pleased to announce its appointment of Chris Heggelund to the role of Chief
Client Officer (CCO). In this role,
Heggelund will direct RegEd’s Implementation, Customer Success and ongoing
Customer Support functions to drive continuous client satisfaction, and meet
and exceed growth objectives.
“Chris is an industry veteran who has spent the last
twenty years in the InsureTech space, with the last decade building world-class
services organizations. He brings a deep understanding of insurance
licensing and securities regulation, technology and customer success best
practices to RegEd,” said John M. Schobel, RegEd CEO and Founder.
“His proven ability to execute strategies that deliver best-in-class
customer service will help ensure RegEd’s continued success.”
Heggelund is a highly accomplished business leader with
significant experience in leading client services organizations through
transformation focused on client onboarding, relationship management and
customer success to deliver consistent revenue growth and client satisfaction.
In his prior career Chris held senior leadership positions in large U.S. and
multi-national corporations focused on software solutions for the insurance
vertical, responsible for leading and maturing their professional services,
customer support, solution architecture, managed services and customer success
functions.
“I’m thrilled that Chris has joined RegEd at this exciting
point in our growth,” continued Schobel. “He’s a strong addition to our
executive team and I’m confident that he’ll make material contributions to
RegEd’s future.”
About RegEd
RegEd is the market-leading provider of RegTech enterprise solutions with relationships with more than 200 enterprise clients, including 80% of the top 25 financial services firms.
Established in 2000 by former regulators, the company is recognized for continuous regulatory technology innovation with solutions hallmarked by workflow-directed processes, data integration, regulatory intelligence, automated validations, business process automation and compliance dashboards. The aggregate drives the highest levels of operational efficiency and enables our clients to cost-effectively comply with regulations and continuously mitigate risk.
Trusted by the nation’s top financial services firms, RegEd’s proven, holistic approach to RegTech meets firms where they are on the compliance and risk management continuum, scaling as their needs evolve and amplifying the value proposition delivered to clients. For more information, please visit www.reged.com.
Acquisition expands RegEd’s market presence with broker-dealers, insurance companies and investment advisors.
RegEd, the leading provider of compliance, education, training and regulatory management solutions and services for insurance companies, broker-dealers, banks, and other financial services companies, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of ComplianceMAX and FIRE Continuing Education businesses from National Regulatory Services (NRS), a provider of compliance and registration products and services for investment advisers, broker-dealers, hedge funds, investment companies and insurance institutions. These additions will expand RegEd’s capabilities and meet the needs of the broker-dealer industry so they can be compliant with FINRA and SEC rules and regulations. NRS is owned by Accuity, part of RELX. The acquisition is expected to close on January 8, 2021.
RegEd’s enterprise technology solutions, representing the
broadest compliance management and credentialing portfolio in the industry,
have evolved across hundreds of implementations to deliver the most robust
functional capabilities, a singular user experience and the ready ability to
scale to meet client needs as they evolve. With the acquisition of
ComplianceMAX and FIRE Continuing Education, RegEd strengthens its position in
compliance management solutions that serve the financial services industry and
further builds on its market and compliance expertise.
“We are very excited to welcome the employees of ComplianceMAX and FIRE Continuing Education to RegEd,” said John M. Schobel, CEO and Founder of RegEd. “This acquisition combines the strengths of these two businesses in a unique, strategic fit with RegEd and further enables RegEd in its mission to provide market-leading compliance, education and training solutions to the industry.” Schobel continued, “ComplianceMAX and FIRE Continuing Education have served financial services firms, including some of the nation’s largest broker-dealers, for more than 20 years, and we are confident that their customers and the market will benefit from the combination with RegEd.”
John Gebauer, NRS President commented, “I am confident that
the ComplianceMax and FIRE Continuing Education customers, employees and
products will flourish under RegEd and NRS will be in a position to sharpen its
focus on the Investment Adviser and Investment Company customer segments.”
RegEd is a leading provider of RegTech enterprise solutions with relationships with more than 200 enterprise clients, including 80% of the top 25 financial services firms.
Established in 2000 by former regulators, the company is recognized for continuous regulatory technology innovation with solutions hallmarked by workflow-directed processes, data integration, regulatory intelligence, automated validations, business process automation and compliance dashboards. The aggregate drives the highest levels of operational efficiency and enables our clients to cost-effectively comply with regulations and continuously mitigate risk. Trusted by the nation’s top financial services firms, RegEd’s proven, holistic approach to RegTech meets firms where they are on the compliance and risk management continuum, scaling as their needs evolve and amplifying the value proposition delivered to clients. For more information, please visit www.reged.com.
About National Regulatory Services
Owned by RELX, National Regulatory Services (NRS) is part of Accuity, the leading global provider of financial crime screening, payments and counterparty know your customer (KYC) solutions. NRS is the US leader in compliance and registration products and services for investment advisers, broker-dealers, hedge funds, investment companies and insurance institutions. NRS has the practical expertise, proven capability and unparalleled reach to deliver integrated and effective compliance solutions to a wide range of users within the financial services industry. NRS delivers these solutions through three interrelated offerings – comprehensive education, best-in-class technology and expert consulting services – enabling our clients to meet their regulatory requirements and minimize risk.
About Accuity
Accuity powers compliant and assured client transactions to help build an interconnected and trusted financial ecosystem. Our financial crime screening, payment services, and benefits compliance solutions help enable financial inclusion while identifying criminal activity and fraudulent players. With deep expertise and industry-leading data and analytics solutions from the Firco and Bankers Almanac brands, Accuity provides unmatched confidence, efficiency and compliance for customers around the world. Part of RELX, a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries, Accuity has been delivering solutions to banks and businesses worldwide for 180 years.
About RELX
RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. The group serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs over 33,000 people, of whom almost half are in North America. The shares of RELX PLC, the parent company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. The market capitalisation is approximately £35.3bn | €39bn | $47.9bn.
The session provided a snapshot of regulation in the financial services industry, including the impact of COVID-19, and outlined hands-on best practices for ensuring effective compliance.
RegEd, the leading provider of compliance technology solutions for the financial services industry, recently presented a webinar Regulatory Change Management: The State of Insurance Regulation and Compliance Best Practices in a Pandemic World. The webinar was co-hosted with The Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals (AICP), an organization offering the insurance industry compliance and ethics education, training, and opportunities to engage with industry experts and regulatory authorities.
Regulation of the insurance industry has been significantly
impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in an escalating rate of new and changed
rules and regulations, building on the trajectory of recent years. Regulators,
including state and federal entities, continue to expect insurers to administer
effective programs for monitoring, tracking and implementing new and changed
regulations amid the pandemic.
This presentation featured an expert panel including
Merlinda Johnson, FLMI, ACS, Director of Insurance Regulatory Compliance at
RegEd; Margie Webber, Director of Regulatory Compliance BD/IA at RegEd; De
Keimach, ALMI, ACS, AAPA, AIRC, Director of Compliance at Delaware Life
Insurance Company; and Debra Freitag, Chief Strategy Officer at RegEd. Panelists
provided an overview of the regulatory landscape, including the influence that
the pandemic has had on the volume and nature of regulation, and delivered a
case study on the ways one leading insurer is applying technology and process
best practices to streamline regulatory compliance.
“The pandemic has exacerbated trends that have been ongoing
for years, as the avalanche of regulatory information that inundates insurers
has continued to grow. As a result, a workflow-enabled, closed loop process for
managing regulatory change has become more important than ever,” stated Debra
Freitag, Chief Strategy Officer at RegEd. “As a longtime supporter, we value the
important work that AICP does for the industry, and we appreciated the
opportunity to present this session to their membership.”
RegEd is the market-leading provider of RegTech enterprise
solutions with relationships with more than 200 enterprise clients, including
80% of the top 25 financial services firms.
Established in 2000 by former regulators, the company is
recognized for continuous regulatory technology innovation with solutions
hallmarked by workflow-directed processes, data integration, regulatory
intelligence, automated validations, business process automation and compliance
dashboards. The aggregate drives the highest levels of operational efficiency
and enables our clients to cost-effectively comply with regulations and
continuously mitigate risk.
Trusted by the nation’s top financial services firms, RegEd’s
proven, holistic approach to RegTech meets firms where they are on the
compliance and risk management continuum, scaling as their needs evolve and
amplifying the value proposition delivered to clients. For more information,
please visit www.reged.com.
About The Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals® (AICP)
The Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals® (AICP) offers the insurance industry exceptional compliance and ethics education, training, and opportunities to engage with industry experts and regulatory authorities. AICP has earned a reputation for some of the best educational programming available to novice and experienced compliance individuals. With 9 Association Chapters supplementing the work of the national organization, our members are comprised of personnel from property, casualty, life, annuities and health insurers, regulatory agencies, consultants and product & service providers.
Commissioned by RegEd, the report identifies processes and technology best practices that leading firms employ to reduce risk in today’s environment.
RegEd, the market-leading provider of enterprise compliance
solutions to banks, broker-dealers insurance companies, and other financial
services firms, is pleased to announce the publication of a new analyst report,
“Keeping a
Grip on Employee Conduct and Conflicts of Interest,” from
research and consulting company Celent.
The report, authored by Neil Katkov, PhD, Head of Risk and
Compliance at Celent, provides an overview of the current landscape surrounding
employee conduct and conflicts of interest management, as well as the best
practices, processes and technology that firms can leverage to optimize
compliance and reduce risk.
“Among the greatest challenges faced by financial services
firms is the ability to readily identify potential risk among the firm’s
employee and registered population, before it causes reputational harm,” stated
Neil Katkov, PhD, Head of Risk and Compliance at Celent. “To do so, they
need to efficiently and accurately capture the actions and relationships of
potentially thousands or even tens of thousands of employees, yet many
technology systems do not support the relevant functionality.”
RegEd offers a suite of fully integrated conflicts of
interest modules, which enable firms to monitor, identify and remedy conflicts
of interest and code of conduct issues among the firm’s employee population and
third parties. The suite includes robust questionnaires solutions for managing Outside Business Activities; Gifts, Gratuities and Contributions; and
Personal Securities Account Management.
“Conflicts of interest continues to be high on the radar
of multiple regulators, and we certainly expect that to continue,” commented
John M. Schobel, CEO & Founder of RegEd. “RegEd Conflicts of Interest solutions were developed in collaboration
with the nation’s leading financial services firms, with sophisticated
capabilities that drive efficiency and significantly reduce risk in this area.”
Mr. Schobel continued, “Our
motivation for commissioning this report is to provide our clients, and the
industry as a whole, with a comprehensive analysis of the key factors at work,
and educate on the strategies that firms can apply to overcome the challenges
they face.”
About RegEd
RegEd is the market-leading provider of RegTech enterprise
solutions with relationships with more than 200 enterprise clients, including
80% of the top 25 financial services firms.
Established in 2000 by former regulators, the company is
recognized for continuous regulatory technology innovation with solutions
hallmarked by workflow-directed processes, data integration, regulatory
intelligence, automated validations, business process automation and compliance
dashboards. The aggregate drives the highest levels of operational efficiency
and enables our clients to cost-effectively comply with regulations and
continuously mitigate risk.
Trusted by the nation’s top financial services firms, RegEd’s
proven, holistic approach to RegTech meets firms where they are on the
compliance and risk management continuum, scaling as their needs evolve and
amplifying the value proposition delivered to clients. For more information,
please visit www.reged.com.
About Celent
For over 20 years, Celent has helped senior executives make
confident decisions around their technology strategies to execute at scale.
As the financial services industry rapidly evolves, there is
more complexity, with new regulations, startups, technologies, and applications
to stay on top of and prioritize. Celent helps you connect this ever-changing
puzzle. We offer objective advice and clarity, backed by a database of
thousands of solutions and award-winning global best practice use cases. With
real-life domain expertise, we also guide you through the maze of emerging tech
in the pursuit of value.
Our people, data, insights, and relationships form the
foundation for you to use Celent to make confident technology decisions in
financial services.
The session will provide a hands-on perspective on effectively conducting branch inspections during COVID-19 and beyond
RegEd, the leading provider of compliance technology solutions for the financial services industry, has announced an upcoming webinar that will be co-presented with Essential Edge Compliance Outsourcing Services, a regulatory and compliance/supervision consultancy. The webinar will be held on Thursday December 3 at 12:00PM EST. Attendees will include senior compliance, risk and audit professionals from the nation’s leading financial services firms.
Maximizing Value from Your Branch Office Inspections During Covid-19 and Beyond: A Hands-on Perspective
Branch office oversight has been significantly impacted by
the COVID-19 pandemic, requiring firms to be more adaptable than ever in how
they manage this critical process. As regulators continue to expect firms to
administer effective programs for monitoring branches and supervised
individuals, firms have had to significantly evolve their approach to keep up
with changing times. This presentation
will discuss best practices in conducting branch office inspections in an
environment that is constantly changing due to the pandemic and compliance
technology.
The webinar will feature Sander J. Ressler, Managing
Director of Essential Edge Compliance Outsourcing Services, LLC, who will
provide an overview of current trends in the industry, ongoing impacts related
to the pandemic, and a forward-looking view as to how firms are likely to
continue to advance their programs. Essential Edge currently conducts more than
650 branch inspections annually for over a dozen broker-dealers. Sander draws on more than 30 years of
frontline experience with broker-dealers and registered investment advisers,
and will share practical insight on what his clients are experiencing,
observations from the field, and best practices to streamline the management of
branch exams.
RegEd is the market-leading provider of RegTech enterprise solutions with relationships with more than 200 enterprise clients, including 80% of the top 25 financial services firms.
Established in 2000 by former regulators, the company is recognized for continuous regulatory technology innovation with solutions hallmarked by workflow-directed processes, data integration, regulatory intelligence, automated validations, business process automation and compliance dashboards. The aggregate drives the highest levels of operational efficiency and enables our clients to cost-effectively comply with regulations and continuously mitigate risk.
Trusted by the nation’s top financial services firms, RegEd’s proven, holistic approach to RegTech meets firms where they are on the compliance and risk management continuum, scaling as their needs evolve and amplifying the value proposition delivered to clients.
About Essential Edge
Compliance Outsourcing Services, LLC
Essential Edge Compliance Outsourcing Services, LLC
(“Essential Edge”) is a strategic consultancy specializing in
compliance and regulatory affairs.
Headquartered in South Florida, and utilizing 10+ seasoned compliance
supervision professionals across the country, Essential Edge delivers
outsourced branch inspections to Offices of Supervisory Jurisdiction (OSJs) and
independent financial advisor practices affiliated with broker-dealers
throughout the country. Essential Edge’s
service offerings are designed to rapidly identify and resolve compliance
issues in branch office sales and operations for independent broker-dealers
before they escalate into expensive and time-consuming issues. For more information, please visit
www.eeoutsourcing.com.
RegEd, the market-leading provider of enterprise regulatory
compliance solutions to banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies and brokers,
is pleased to announce its appointment of Joe DiAngelo to the role of Executive
Vice President (EVP) of Sales. In this role, DiAngelo will direct RegEd’s
enterprise sales development team to exceed growth objectives.
“Joe brings extensive knowledge of enterprise software
and the financial services industry, in combination with a successful track
record of coaching sales executives, to RegEd,” said Glen Jasionowski, Chief
Revenue Officer at RegEd. “His proven ability to build extremely
successful sales organizations in the compliance management software industry
will help ensure RegEd’s continued success.”
DiAngelo is an accomplished sales leader with significant experience
building and developing high performing sales teams, while increasing revenue
and exceeding growth objectives. He joins RegEd from FIS, where he was the Head
of Sales for the FIS Protegent line of business for the last 15 years. While at
FIS, he successfully helped launch and grow the company into a RegTech market
leader. Joe coached sales executives on a disciplined, value-based sales
process where his team drove consistent achievement of growth objectives. Over
his career, Joe has had the privilege of helping numerous sales executives go
on and have incredibly successful sales careers in the industry.
John M. Schobel, CEO & Founder of RegEd, commented on
the appointment, “We’re very excited to have Joe join our team at this exciting
point in our growth. His decision to join RegEd speaks volumes about the
strength of our position going forward.”
About RegEd
RegEd is the market-leading provider of RegTech enterprise solutions with relationships with more than 200 enterprise clients, including 80% of the top 25 financial services firms.
Established in 2000 by former regulators, the company is recognized for continuous regulatory technology innovation with solutions hallmarked by workflow-directed processes, data integration, regulatory intelligence, automated validations, business process automation and compliance dashboards. The aggregate drives the highest levels of operational efficiency and enables our clients to cost-effectively comply with regulations and continuously mitigate risk.
Trusted by the nation’s top financial services firms, RegEd’s proven, holistic approach to RegTech meets firms where they are on the compliance and risk management continuum, scaling as their needs evolve and amplifying the value proposition delivered to clients. For more information, please visit www.reged.com.
RegEd subject matter experts contribute to multiple conference sessions and will be considered for awards in recognition of leadership and service to the industry
RegEd, the leading provider of compliance technology
solutions to the financial services industry, including Xchange, the
market-leading Enterprise Licensing and Registration solution, is proud to be a
Diamond Level Sponsor of the 2020 SILA National Education Virtual Conference,
held from Oct. 1-21, 2020.
The conference provides more than 30 substantive sessions
and an educational forum for attendees to address current industry challenges,
discuss licensing and registration best practices, and build their overall
compliance knowledge.
A number of RegEd compliance thought leaders and subject
matter experts are participating in sessions. Margie Webber, Governance Chair
on the SILA Board of Directors and a Senior Member of RegEd’s Regulatory
Affairs Group, is moderating the NASAA / State Securities Regulatory Roundup.
Brandi Brown, SVP of Regulatory Affairs at RegEd, is a co-moderator for the
Education Open Forum.
Kaitlyn Small, Regulatory Specialist at RegEd, is a Co-Moderator
for the Adjusters Open Forum and a guest speaker for the Adjuster Licensing
Advanced Pre-Conference Class. Kaitlyn is also nominated for the Robert Kennedy
Appreciation Award. The Robert C. Kennedy Award honors an individual who has
made an outstanding contribution to SILA and who demonstrates dedication in
continuous volunteer service to SILA, in addition to the advancement of the
SILA objectives and principles.
On October 5, RegEd hosted a session titled Driving Unparalleled Efficiency in Your Licensing and Registration Operations. This session focused on the advancement of Licensing and Registration technology over the last few years and best practices the most efficient licensing operation centers are employing to enable an entirely new level of efficiency.
About RegEd
RegEd is the market-leading provider of RegTech enterprise solutions with relationships with more than 200 enterprise clients, including 80% of the top 25 financial services firms.
Established in 2000 by former regulators, the company is recognized for continuous regulatory technology innovation with solutions hallmarked by workflow-directed processes, data integration, regulatory intelligence, automated validations, business process automation and compliance dashboards. The aggregate drives the highest levels of operational efficiency and enables our clients to cost-effectively comply with regulations and continuously mitigate risk.
Trusted by the nation’s top financial services firms, RegEd’s proven, holistic approach to RegTech meets firms where they are on the compliance and risk management continuum, scaling as their needs evolve and amplifying the value proposition delivered to clients. For more information, please visit www.reged.com.
The only for-purpose technology solution to seamlessly manage the request, approval and reconciliation process while simplifying the user experience for employees and supervised persons
RegEd, the leading provider of compliance technology solutions for the financial services industry, has released an all-new enterprise solution to address the multitude of requirements associated with gifts, gratuities and contributions management. Gifts, Gratuities and Contributions Management(GGC) leverages RegEd’s powerful platform capabilities to enable comprehensive monitoring, workflow-directed task management, real-time alerts to exceptions, and sophisticated hierarchy management to enable firms to drive efficiency throughout the end-to-end tracking of gifts, entertainment, non-cash compensation and political contributions.
“The SEC, FINRA, state departments of insurance, OCC, FDIC, and other federal regulators, as well as international supervisory bodies, have placed gifts and entertainment management and other conflicts of interest high on the list of topics of focus for regulatory examinations and audits,” commented John M. Schobel, Founder & CEO at RegEd. “To ensure compliance, companies must install organization-wide procedures and technology to enable the efficient review, approval, management and monitoring of gift and entertainment requests against firm-defined thresholds, so that all gifts, regardless of the amount or point of origination, are tracked accurately.”
The solution centralizes the management of submissions and approvals, enabling compliance managers and other stakeholders to holistically monitor the exchange of gifts, gratuities, contributions, and other non-cash compensation, track the preclearance approval process and identify limit violations. Comprehensive reporting and full audit trails provide valuable documentation to satisfy requests from internal stakeholders and regulators.
Gifts, Gratuities and Contributions is part of a fully integrated suite of for-purpose conflicts of interest solutions, which enable firms to seamlessly monitor, identify and remedy conflicts and code of conduct issues among the firm’s employee population and third parties. The solution suite comprises robust questionnaires modules which can be implemented individually or together, including GGC, Outside Business Activities and Personal Securities Account Management.
About RegEd
RegEd is the market-leading provider of RegTech enterprise solutions with relationships with more than 200 enterprise clients, including 80% of the top 25 financial services firms.
Established in 2000 by former regulators, the company is recognized for continuous regulatory technology innovation with solutions hallmarked by workflow-directed processes, data integration, regulatory intelligence, automated validations, business process automation and compliance dashboards. The aggregate drives the highest levels of operational efficiency and enables our clients to cost-effectively comply with regulations and continuously mitigate risk.
Trusted by the nation’s top financial services firms, RegEd’s proven, holistic approach to RegTech meets firms where they are on the compliance and risk management continuum, scaling as their needs evolve and amplifying the value proposition delivered to clients. For more information, please visit www.reged.com.
Each year, thousands of regulatory changes are made that
could materially affect the insurance industry, and the number is rising. In
any given year, more than 40,000 regulations—including legislative bills,
administrative rules, bulletins, advisories, alerts, directives, and interpretive
guidance—must be vetted to determine if they affect the business of insurance. According
to RegEd’s internal research, there were about 2,400 new or revised state regulations
enacted or adopted that directly affected the insurance industry in 2013. In
2019, there were about 3,600, an increase of 53%. As the number escalates, new regulations
themselves are becoming more complex, especially around risk management,
corporate governance, cyber-security, and privacy, with wider-ranging effects that
reach further across geographies, business lines, products, and processes.
Managing the regulatory change process can be complicated and
time consuming. Simply to identify a new regulation is a monumental task, to
say nothing of methodically analyzing each one to determine how—and whether—it
could affect an insurance company’s sales operations, actuarial procedures,
product features, financial obligations, or any number of other areas of the
business. When a new regulation does affect the organization, an organization
must take steps to bring itself into compliance. Finally, a company must
demonstrate compliance to regulators.
A Repeatable Closed-Loop Process
If an organization has implemented an established and repeatable closed-loop process to manage regulatory change, it can avoid missing key regulations, determine how new regulations affect the organization with more precision, take measures to bring itself into compliance more efficiently, and demonstrate proof of compliance with comprehensive documentation and reporting. There are five steps: Be aware of new regulations; determine relevance to your organization; identify areas of ownership and translate changes into business requirements; execute, monitor, and validate a workflow plan to bring the company into compliance; and demonstrate compliance to regulators and internal stakeholders.
1. BE AWARE
An organization must be aware of what new, revised, and
amended regulations have been made, and each year, there could be thousands of rule
changes. As insurance regulation is decentralized, the process can be
enormously challenging. There are at least 50 separate insurance jurisdictions,
and it’s necessary to monitor each state legislature and agency that has the
authority to regulate the business of insurance—there is no central
clearinghouse. An organization’s compliance department has to know where to
look.
Myriad state and local agencies are authorized to regulate
the insurance industry. State departments of insurance are an obvious place to
start, but it’s critical not to overlook others that may not regulate as often
or as widely, including departments of transportation, departments of labor,
and departments of health and human services. Equivalent regulations in
different states may have different requirements, and if the company offers numerous
lines of insurance in different markets, the company is subject to each rule
for each product in each state.
Once aware of new regulations, it’s best to have a central system
to manage them actively. Regulations that are handled through different
departments within the organization with different methodologies, workflow
practices, and levels of accountability can easily be lost or addressed
inconsistently, creating a risk of noncompliance and inefficiencies throughout the
organization.
2. DETERMINE RELEVANCE
Once in the door, a regulation must be reviewed and
evaluated for relevance to an organization’s business, its spirit and intent, the
areas and processes it may affect, and the types of changes necessary to
comply. It’s a time-consuming and laborious process that can take months for a
single regulation, and it involves a great deal of research and dialogue. In
many instances, a new regulation’s relevance may not be obvious, and although a
regulation ultimately may be deemed not applicable to the organization, the
process to make this determination can represent a great deal of staff time,
effort, and other resources.
3. TRANSLATE
CHANGES INTO BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
When it’s determined that a new regulation affects the
business, an organization must identify the areas of ownership—claims
department, underwriting, or actuarial, for example—and the individuals who are
responsible to bring the company into compliance. As some legislative bills and
administrative rules can reach hundreds of pages with a high degree of
complexity, it is critical to review, interpret, package, and deliver—in plain
English—a new or revised regulation to the different affected parts of the
organization. This can represent a lot of work, but someone on the receiving
end may not be able to interpret legal or legislative language in an effective
way that’s actionable and makes sense for the business.
Many companies, especially those that haven’t established a
strong compliance management cycle, don’t have the staff and resources to translate
new regulations effectively. When left to individual divisions to interpret a
new regulation and take measures to comply, the effort often can be like a fire
drill: reactive, incomplete, and inconsistent with other areas of the company.
Without a central, managed closed-loop process, this step is almost impossible
to do; merely hoping for the best outcome rarely results in the best outcome.
4. EXECUTE,
MONITOR, AND VALIDATE
An organization’s compliance department must assign the recommended
tasks and requirements to the correct departments to make sure the changes needed
to bring the company into compliance are in fact made within the required time
frame. This should include guidance and a complete framework of workflow, with
processes for oversight, monitoring, and accountability built in. Organizations
that don’t have an established, closed-loop process can find this difficult—email
usually can’t handle the job.
5. DEMONSTRATE COMPLIANCE
It’s not uncommon for regulators to ask an insurance company
to show what it did to comply with a new regulation. After all, it’s the law,
there are consequences for not being compliant, and the entire process is
useless unless an organization can provide positive proof. In addition to
providing legitimacy to regulators, it serves as valuable risk management data
to senior management and other internal stakeholders.
A closed-loop process makes managing regulatory change
vastly easier. Without one, complications can arise when regulators arrive,
such as during a market conduct examination, that can result in a fire
drill—tracking down the people involved, looking through email correspondence,
searching for documents, and wading through files—that can be chaotic. If done
correctly, running a quick report can provide proof by highlighting the details
of how and when an organization complied.
REGULATORY CHANGE MANAGEMENT
RegEd’s Regulatory Change Management incorporates a complete, workflow-enabled, closed-loop process to be aware, determine relevance, create and execute a compliance strategy, and demonstrate compliance with all regulatory changes.
Subject Matter Experts and Specialists
A full staff of subject matter experts with deep, hands-on
experience in the insurance industry, monitors the regulatory landscape,
documents changes, and evaluates each new or revised regulation for relevance
and applicability.
Regulatory specialists interpret, summarize, and translate
legal language to business-appropriate plain English before distributing them
through RegEd’s system to clients based on their lines of business. Streamlined
tools enable the tasks necessary to achieve compliance and reporting functions demonstrate
to executive management and regulators that an organization was aware of a regulatory
change and steps were taken to comply along with a current status report and a
full audit trail.
About the Author
Merlinda Johnson
Merlinda Johnson is the Director of Insurance Regulatory Compliance at RegEd, Inc.
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