Calling All Investment Firms: Christmas Has Come Early

New year, new me, new regime…?

Come 1st January 2022 the new UK Investment Firm Prudential Regime (or “IFPR”) will come into force for all UK MiFID Investment Firms. For firms regulated by the FCA, this means a closer look into the potential harm firms might pose to consumers and markets, in addition to the existing expectations the FCA has of these businesses.

If you’re a firm already swimming against the tide of regulatory obligations, the IFPR may inspire dread ahead of the deadline. While others are deciding this is the year they’ll finally conquer the gym, you’ll be forgiven for wanting to start the New Year with a spot of comfort eating.

That is, until now.

We’ve partnered with Change Gap to make the Christmas wishes of MiFID Investment Firms come true. Woolly socks and scented soaps move aside as the greatest gift of all has arrived: digital access to the base set of IFPR regulatory interpretations.

You may be wondering, what does this mean? And why on earth is this better than an ample sock collection?

Let us explain.

Change Gap: the Father Christmas of risk and regulatory services?

Change Gap is a RegTech consulting business that provides risk and regulatory technology and services with the purpose of creating more resilient and sustainable financial services.  They describe their work as “joining the dots” for the financial industry – ensuring regulated firms have access to easy to use, sustainable technology and services that help them understand and comply with their obligations. And that’s where Change Gap’s newest offering comes in.

Delivered as an entry level module through Change Gap’s cloud-based solution MIDEUM and in partnership with Stephenson Law’s legal team led by Gareth Malna, investment firms can now gain access to the complete view of IFPR obligations, including how they link to the data, logic and assumptions used in company K-Factor calculations and reporting. In other words: Christmas has come early in the investment world.

Analysed by Change Gap and verified by Stephenson Law, firms can now manage these increasing levels of scrutiny while mitigating their regulatory risk. All of this can be accessed in Change Gap’s cloud-based platform MIDEUM for a simple single fee.

Head of FinReg at Stephenson Law Gareth Malna had this to say on the Christmas miracle,

“… Regulatory reporting is becoming increasingly burdensome for firms, and the reporting requirements of IFPR will create a new layer of complexity. The content of the regulation means that reporting will sit somewhere between the Finance Director and the Compliance Team, so it’s super important for everyone to be on the same page when it comes to interpreting the wording of the regulations and implementing it in their business.

I’m delighted to see that Change Gap has moved into this space to create a product that can help our clients and other investment firms reach that consensus interpretation and potentially save themselves a headache further down the line in the event that the regulator comes along to ask questions. Change Gap has incredible experience and a fantastic reputation in the compliance consulting and regulatory reporting spaces, so firms who adopt this product into their ecosystem are going to be in safe hands.”

So, as you prepare for the upcoming deadline on the 1st of January rest easy with the knowledge that you have renewed time for mulled wine and mince pies. Consider Change Gap and our Head of Finreg Gareth Malna as the regulatory elves who’ve got your back this season.

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