Canadian Lawyer InHouse

25 canadianLawyErmag.com/inhousE august 2014 Introducing: COMPLIAnCE PrOJECT BrInGS CLArITY, COHESIVEnESS TO BMO BY JENNIFER BROWN Mark Moody, vice president, corporate compliance & chief privacy offi cer Nicholas Bray, senior manager, compliance infrastructure In 2013 BMO Corporate Compliance rolled out an enterprise-wide governance risk and compli- ance tool. The technology (Thomson Reuters Accelus Compliance Manager tool) leverages all core com- pliance activities including the centralized library of regulatory requirements for the enterprise, per- forming risk assessments, managing and tracking issues, and monitoring and testing. Information in the solution serves as the book of record for all of these functions. Outside of compliance, the tool will be used by the lines of business across BMO to assist with the management of their regulatory risk, including iden- tifying issues in a timely fashion. Compliance staff have near real-time insight into emerging issues, the ability to effectively assess the issue's potential im- pact, and develop action plans for the business. "As the implementation of the solution pro- gressed across the enterprise, many critical ca- pabilities were expanded," said Blair Morrison, senior vice president and chief compliance offi cer at BMO in his nomination of the project. "For example, analytic capabilities signifi cantly improved as we standardize and structured all of our data — we now have ability to effectively roll up information through our organizational structure." This solution has enabled BMO to surge for- ward with its overall compliance program — au- tomating workfl ows, streamlining redundant pro- cesses, and enhancing data collection and approval processes. The tool allows for clarifying roles, effectively managing regulatory information, and assigning clear accountabilities. All employees have a central, consistent and credible tool to manage day-to-day and event- based compliance related work. "Our approach is to have convergence across our corporate functions. As we implemented this solution for all core compliance activities we lever- aged the tool beyond Compliance — for example, the regulatory offi ce, the strategy offi ce, and au- dit," said Morrison. The solution will enable the business units and the compliance staff that support them to be confi dent they are fully up-to-date on regulatory changes. Automated updates and alerts will remove bot- tlenecks in the process fl ow throughout the orga- nization. Leveraging this tool shifts the dynamic from reactionary to proactive management of regulatory change and risk. BMO has realized several key benefi ts. Initial investment was reduced signifi cantly by licencing an out of-the-box solution. BMO gained the sim- plicity of a hosted application while maintaining high levels of security. The company fulfi lled tight delivery times and met all expectations. The standardization and centralization of core compliance data and activities has enabled BMO to identify new and improved metrics to enhance the compliance function. One of the most signifi - cant wins for the team has been the way in which the solution has brought previously disparate groups together to focus on a common goal. the project is completely dedicated to enhancing the compliance function while making things easier for users (rather than adding to already heavy workloads). catEgory: Compliance dEpartmEnt siZE: Large company: BMO Financial Group saNDRa stRaNgEMORE

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