Wolters Kluwer to Share CECL Expertise at Major Industry Event

Wolters Kluwer’s Finance, Risk & Reporting (FRR) business is a co-sponsor of the 4th Edition CECL conference taking place in New York on March 27th and 28th. The conference, which is devoted to exploring the Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) accounting standard, is organized by the Center for Financial Professionals (CFP) and will feature presentations and debates from more than 20 CECL thought leaders. Wolters Kluwer’s experts will share their expertise at the event and the firm will also have senior experts on hand at its stand during the course of the congress.

When the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) introduced a new impairment model through CECL, it represented a major shift from the existing incurred loss model. Like IFRS 9, financial institutions in U.S. GAAP based countries such as the United States, Israel, Japan (limited), Switzerland (optional), now need to adopt a forward-looking expected loss model. Unlike IFRS 9, CECL permits historical factors to retain a greater role in the process. Additionally, there is a difference in how the results of expected loss calculations are used throughout an organization and in reports to regulators and shareholders. CECL changes will take effect in Q1 2020 for financial institutions that are registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and in Q1 2021 for financial institutions that are not registered with the SEC. As a result, banks impacted by the changes are reported to be eagerly exploring all opportunities for ensuring compliance with the standard.

Sharing their expertise at the event will be Will Newcomer and Bill Collette, senior executives in the Americas business for Wolters Kluwer FRR.

Newcomer has more than 35 years of experience in risk and finance with major and regional banks as well as leading technology firms, making him uniquely qualified to lead clients to the forefront of integrated finance, risk and compliance solutions. In addition, Newcomer uses his extensive experience in enterprise-wide management information systems to help financial institutions in the areas of risk adjusted performance management, budgeting and planning, asset and liability management, incentive compensation, financial reporting and stress testing.

Collette has held senior roles in the financial services industry for more than 20 years, specifically focused in product management for 10 years. He has traveled extensively, working with banks in more than 20 countries throughout the America’s, Europe and Asia. In his product management capacity, he managed several product suites and teams across product lifecycles, including the launch of three products. These products were focused on Balance Sheet Management, Risk (Interest Rate, Liquidity, and Credit) and Financial Performance. Today, Collette and his team are focused on how Financial Regulatory Reporting, Risk and Finance are coming together to meet the advancing regulatory and financial analysis requirements of banks.

Wolters Kluwer FRR says its offers a “market leading CECL solution through OneSumX CECL which leverages Wolters Kluwer’s integrated finance, risk and reporting platform, enabling compliance with all CECL requirements, from data management and governance, to credit risk models, expected credit loss calculations, accounting and disclosures.” There is, interestingly, independent verification of the solution’s capabilities. In 2018 Chartis Research named Wolters Kluwer a Category Leader in its CECL Technology Solutions report. Chartis uses in-depth research and a clear scoring system to determine which solutions in the marketplace can best meet an organization’s needs. Chartis has also named Wolters Kluwer as a Category Leader in its International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 9 Technology Solutions: Market Update report.

The report from Chartis evaluates CECL technology solution providers on two key factors— completeness of offering and market potential. According to Chartis, Category Leaders, such as Wolters Kluwer, are “risk technology vendors that have the necessary depth and breadth of functionality, technology, and content, combined with the organizational characteristics to capture significant market share by volume and value.” Category Leaders offer best-in-class solutions and deep domain knowledge “addressing the needs of very large clients with complex risk management and technology requirements, as well as addressing the needs of smaller clients with standardized requirements looking for integrated solutions from a single vendor.”

Wolters Kluwer FRR has been enjoying a busy start to 2019 in the Americas with a number of major announcements from the firm. Earlier this month Investors Bank chose Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX for Regulatory Reporting to provide its regulatory reporting software. Investors Bank, which operates from its corporate headquarters in Short Hills, New Jersey, has approximately $25.52 billion in assets and 151 branches located throughout New Jersey and New York. OneSumX for Regulatory Reporting combines bank data into a single source of data to ensure consistency, reconciliation and accuracy and includes Wolters Kluwer’s Regulatory Update Service. This unique service is maintained by Wolters Kluwer experts who actively monitor regulation in 30 countries.

And in January BBVA Compass also said it has chosen Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX for Regulatory Reporting to provide regulatory reporting software for its operations in the U.S. BBVA Compass is the U.S.-based subsidiary of Spanish multinational banking group BBVA, with a major presence throughout the Sunbelt region of the U.S. and total assets of more than $90 billion.

Wolters Kluwer FRR, which is part of the company’s Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) division, “is a global market leader in the provision of integrated regulatory compliance and reporting solutions,” according to Paul Lyon, London-based Global Director for Corporate Communications, Marketing & Planning at Wolters Kluwer GRC. “It supports regulated financial institutions in meeting their obligations to external regulators and their own board of directors,” he added. “Wolters Kluwer FRR receives frequent independent recognition of its excellence and innovation. In mid-2018, for example, Risk magazine awarded the company its coveted Regulatory Reporting System of The Year Award and Central Banking magazine recently named OneSumX for Regulatory Reporting its Best Technology Solution For Regulatory Compliance. Wolters Kluwer FRR is also this year’s Category Winner for Regulatory Reporting in the annual RiskTech100® report. Notably, this is the seventh time in eight years that Wolters Kluwer FRR has achieved this honor.”