Solutions for risk data compliance under BCBS 239

Purpose – BCBS 239 sets out a challenging standard for risk data processing and reporting. Any bank striving to comply with the principles will be keen to introspect how risk data is organized and what execution capabilities are at their disposal. With this in mind, the current paper advises banks on the growing number of solutions, tools and techniques that can be used to support risk data management frameworks under BCBS 239. Design/methodology/approach – This paper, based on a survey with 29 major financial institutions, including G-SIBs and D-SIBs from diversified geographical regions such as North America, Europe and APAC, aims to advise banks and other financial services firms on what is needed to become ready and compliant with BCBS 239. This paper discusses best practice solutions for master data management, data lineage and end user implementations. Findings – The primary conclusion of this paper is that banks should not treat BCBS 239 as yet another compliance exercise. The BCBS 239 principles constitute a driving force to restore viability and improve risk governance. In light of the new standards, banks can benefit from making significant progress towards risk data management transformation. This report argues that banks need to invest in a solution that empowers those who use the data to manage risk data. Thus, operational complexities are lifted and no data operations team is needed for proprietary coding of the data. Only then banks will stay abreast of the competition, while becoming fully compliant with the BCBS 239 principles. Practical implications – As noted by Prorokowski (2014), “Increasingly zero accountability, imposed, leveraged omnipresent vast endeavors, yielding ongoing understanding […] of the impact of the global financial crisis on the ways data should be treated” sparked off international debates addressing the need for an effective solution to risk data management and reporting. Originality/value – This paper discusses the forthcoming regulatory change that will have a significant impact on the banking industry. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published its Principles for effective risk data aggregation and risk reporting (BCBS239) in January last year. The document contains 11 principles that Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs) will need to comply with by January 2016. The BCBS 239 principles are regarded as the least known components of the new regulatory reforms. As it transpires, the principles require many banks to undertake a significant amount of technical work and investments in IT infrastructure. Furthermore, BCBS 239 urges financial services firms to review their definitions of the completeness of risk data.