December 15, 2011 - Speakers at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' FRSGlobal breakfast briefing advised industry to participate in consultation and ensure preparation is on track for COREP before 1st January 2013 deadline. Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, the leading worldwide provider of comprehensive compliance, risk management and audit solutions for the financial services industry, has urged the UK banking industry to engage with the European Banking Authority (EBA) on the refinement of COREP - the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) reporting standard - to avoid extraneous burdens and costs. The directive, which will impact all UK banks, building societies and investment (BIPRU) firms from 31st December 2012, is designed to create a common reporting framework across Europe and is set to significantly alter UK firms' current reporting processes.

Speaking at a recent breakfast briefing – Faridah Pullara, Manager, Reporting Policy at the Financial Services Authority (FSA), and experts from Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' FRSGlobal, including Selwyn Blair-Ford, Global Head of Regulatory Policy, Mark Piper, Vice President UK, Ireland and the Middle East, and Graham Southall, Application Development Director - warned senior industry figures that the impact of this regulation, which could also potentially include additional and extensive financial reporting (FINREP) and prudential ad hoc reporting requirements that could emanate from the regulatory change, needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

Faridah Pullara, Manager, Reporting Policy at the FSA commented:
"The balance of power has shifted from the FSA to the EBA in terms of the COREP directive. This will mean that the FSA will be just one voice of 27 member state regulatory authorities. Consequently UK firms will need to engage heavily to identify cost burdens and quantify the regulation's potential impact. Firms should take the opportunity to reply to the EBA directly or via trade bodies during the consultation period for COREP in December 2011."

Selwyn Blair-Ford, Global Head of Regulatory Policy at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' FRSGlobal says:
"Clearly COREP is set to have a seismic effect on the way that the UK banking industry will need to report its findings. There will be much more data to collect which will need to be properly identified and with the correct granularity and accuracy. Consequently staffing and systems provisions will all need to be prepared as well as a new calendar driven quarterly approach to reporting findings taken into account. With all this, combined with the need to try and extract some business benefits from the changes, there is a lot to think about for firms and not a lot of time to consider it." Blair-Ford continues:
"Firms need to start seriously planning how they intend to comply. Project planning should have already begun to ensure that they are able to meet the requirements effectively."