Less than a week to go until SFTR go-live, what should firms be doing?

Four and a half years after the SFTR regulation was published, we are finally looking at the go-live for investment firms in just under one week’s time!

I don’t doubt that many operations managers, project leads and regulatory reporting teams wish they were better prepared for 13 July. Final UAT testing is still going on, final system changes and enhancements are still being made but day one looks likely to be far from perfect.

At this moment, it is important to take stock. Having an understanding of what doesn’t work, what is not going to be reported, what isn’t going to be reported correctly and what controls are not in place will be more fruitful than knowing what works.

Controls are often the first thing that gets sacrificed in any rushed regulatory go-live. And go-live under lockdown after a less than generous three-month delay is likely to come at the detriment of controls more than ever.

As we enter the final week, the importance of governance, control frameworks, action plans, management information and periodic regulatory testing cannot be overstated. Ensuring that it is not the same minds perpetuating mistakes that were made in the initial regulatory interpretation and build; that they have independence, is also key to the effectiveness of regulatory testing and controls. 

At Kaizen, our multi-award winning ReportShield™ quality assurance services are designed to do just that. Our testing and controls have been tailored for SFTR to give you full visibility of the quality of your reporting – giving you confidence that you’re compliant with the reporting obligations.

Contact us for a conversation about your SFTR reporting accuracy and completeness.