WIRES, Whistlebrook Integrated Regulatory Submissions
Article 74 of Directive 2006/48/EC (new)
"In order to ensure uniform conditions of application of this Directive, for the communication of those calculations by credit institutions, the competent authorities shall apply, from 31 December 2012, uniform formats, frequencies and dates of reporting. In order to ensure uniform conditions of application of this Directive, EBA shall develop draft implementing technical standards to introduce, within the Union, uniform formats (with associated instructions), frequencies and dates of reporting before 1 January 2012."
The role of the European Banking Authority is that of: Financial integration and stability in Europe. This includes the role of strengthening the regulatory framework for European banks, following an unprecedented five year period of serious weaknesses within financial regulation and supervision.
The EBA plays a significant role in the establishment of the so-called Single Rulebook. These are technical definition rules consistent throughout the European Union, adopted through legal instruments that are directly binding in all 27 States of the Union.
A major task necessary to support the EBA objectives is that of developing binding technical standards, guidelines and recommendations, now known as COREP, Common Reporting.
COREP will introduce common templates and definitions to Regulatory Reporting, a single format and concise IT standards.
The introduction of COREP is a major challenge for the EBA, given the envisaged number of tasks and technical standards required to meet the necessities of all European members.
One directive from COREP, which has yet to receive much publicity, is that of removing the option to enter forms directly to a website, stipulating that all submissions must be system to system. Whilst this new rule may have little impact on the larger financial organisations, it will undoubtedly cause challenges for the smaller members of the financial services sector.
There are of course serious risks associated with poor or non COREP compliance:
All firms regulated under BIPRU (Banks, Building Societies and Investment Firms) will need to comply with the COREP regulatory standards. The EU Commission has set an implementation date of the 1 January 2014, although this could be postponed to 1 July 2014, for the UK financial services sector.
Following several enquiries from existing Whistlebrook clients, Whistlebrook investigated the feasibility of producing a COREP solution in time for the implementation deadline.
Whistlebrook is probably best known in the financial services sector for ALFI, Analytics for Financial Institution. ALFI® gives retail banks, building societies, investment banks and other financial institutions a central, interactive solution for collating and analysing vital management information.
Following due diligence in the research stage and the creation of a solution prototype, Whistlebrook was delighted to be joined in collaboration by a financial services blue chip client. The result of which is a COREP solution that not only meets all necessary requirements and guidelines issued by the EBA, but does so utilising the latest technical tools, standards and best practices: WIRES, Whistlebrook Integrated REgulatory Submissions.
As well as meeting the requirements of COREP and FINREP, WIRES also includes all the FSA and Bank of England forms that need to be submitted by UK Banks and Building Societies.
If you would like to learn more about WIRES please call Jef Cawdell, Andy Hudders or Mark Seymour on 01480 309550, who will be happy to talk you through the WIRES solution. Alternatively, follow one of the links below for more information.
WIRES Product features
WIRES Technical design
+44 (0) 1480 309550 
