FFIEC News

Polivec to Demonstrate Industry's First Policy-Driven Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) Platform at Risk and Control Conference

(Aug 01, 2007)-- Polivec announced that it will be demonstrating its Enterprise Governance Solution, the first policy-driven Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) platform, at this month’s 2007 Risk and Control Conference.

Launched in May 2007, the Polivec Enterprise Governance bridges organizational “silos” and aligns policies, processes, people, and technology, enabling companies to actively manage compliance efficiently throughout their enterprises.

“We are very much looking forward to this conference, our first public appearance since we announced EGS,” said Polivec CEO Kim Nelson. “Many of the thought leaders of our industry will be there. What they have been saying recently tells me that our strategic decision to focus on the policy set as the key to containing the compliance costs and controlling its risks was prescient and spot-on.”

Nelson cited The Power of Principles, a May, 2007 white paper by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), another conference exhibitor, as an example of business leaders’ recognition that companies can bring compliance under control and take advantage of best practices to re-direct more people and capital to profit-making activities.

“PwC maintains that ‘anchoring the analysis in principles and systematically evaluating how people, processes, and technology are used to apply the principles enables management focus on what has to be done.’ Polivec has devoted the last few years to developing the tool set that enables companies to do exactly as PwC recommends,” said Nelson.

Small Initial Steps Can Lead to Big Gains in Efficiency

“Another key point that PwC makes is that not everything needs to be done in one fell swoop,” added Polivec vice president Tom Grubb. “They advise companies that it’s best to ‘take small steps, demonstrate value, and move on to the next step.’

“Our case study on Banco Santander is a perfect illustration. It shows what can happen when a company decides to solve for one regulatory issue – in this case the provisions of FFIEC. The bank didn’t just comply and save time and money. Their implementing EGS elevated the visibility of the entire compliance process throughout their organization and made the policies come alive, as their CIO put it.”

Grubb also noted that banks like Santander are facing a good deal of scrutiny in the areas of staff training and testing. They need to demonstrate that employees have the requisite level of understanding of the regulations that the policies address.

“Training and testing are additional strong points of the Polivec solution. Our Awareness Manager module records employee acceptance and attestation, and measures comprehension through regular testing. Management can assess accurately and continually the degree of understanding their people have of policies and regulations,” said Grubb.

“It can all start with one single compliance initiative. Succeed with the first regulation, and you’ll have the platform and processes set to go for the next one and the next one. With every step, you introduce further efficiencies, and the barriers topple like dominoes,” he concluded.

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