Peter Gargone is CEO of n-Tier.
What were the key theme(s) for your business in 2023?
One of the key themes and drivers for our business in 2023 included US regulators’ continued focus on the accuracy and completeness of data submission. As part of this, regulators have continued to scrutinize firms’ regulatory reporting data quality, with a core focus on key reporting regimes and reviewing overall data governance processes..
These forces are driving broad adoption of our platform in the US as we cover the full range of US regulations, from Fed reporting to 605/606, CAT, CAIS, LOPR, EBS and others. Our flexible approach also easily supports regulatory reporting obligations outside the US, such as EMIR and MiFID II.
What are your customers’ pain points and how have they changed from 1 year ago?
Data resubmissions—historical corrections for both CAT and EBS continue to be a pain point across firms, especially when layered on top of ongoing reporting. To help deal with this, firms are implementing evidence-based reporting controls—a key expectation of regulators. Where these kinds of tools are lacking, firms face another pain point in satisfying regulatory requests to demonstrate data controls and processes and prove the work that is done, every step of the way, to ensure clean data and complete, accurate reports.
What advice do you have for firms across the industry?
Take a broad, cross-regulation view of reporting data controls, with an eye on error detection and correction capabilities. The underlying technology, processes and organization can be shared across regulatory frameworks, with the right systems in place.
Where there are gaps, firms should implement automated solutions, particularly those with demonstrated track records of working with comparable firms. This often is much more cost effective
than building and maintaining separate tech stacks for individual regulatory reporting obligations, and can help inform and upgrade other data governance processes.
Capital markets regulations are always evolving. It’s critical for firms to take a long view, both when considering their tools and the way they engage with regulators and the broader market.
What are your expectations for 2024?
With the CAT and CAIS rollouts now mostly complete, firms are moving to plug gaps in overall data quality and to address their underlying data control processes. This effort comes amid the context of further regulatory change, with new and revamped requirements always on the horizon.
Firms are also displaying a lot of interest in cross-regulatory solutions, both in the US and globally. This move towards coordination and efficiency lies in contrast to the current state, where different systems are often in place to cover different sets of regulations—and also, in at least some cases, entire teams dedicated to each distinct regulatory framework and system.
