Today, the time has finally come, and the senior executives have scheduled a joint meeting with the management to make a decision regarding the group-wide digitalization of legal entity management. It seems that everything is ready and well-prepared, as the workshop has brought very clear requirements for a new, digital legal entity management management. The decision proposal is correspondingly clear and well-structured, and the advantages for all areas already outweigh in the medium term. – In preparation for the meeting, Ms. Müller goes through the most important points.
1. Audit compliance
Everyone agreed on this point, especially as a financial service provider, it is enormously important to have audit-compliant investment and company master data. As a result, the rest is almost automatically obtained. With the introduction of a central IT system for participation management, the user-defined access and processing rights are controlled. The documentation is generated via an automatic, time-stamped, automatic memory for data, users, workflows, data transfer and any other functionalities. Apart from this, there is a central, permanently available database with complete, reliable data and information for legal entity management.
The benefits are clear, and the risks so far are largely eliminated. Unlawful procedures and, above all, manipulation are prevented. In addition, the change and flow of data and information in the context of legal entity management are transparent and also effectively traceable. Apart from this, there is a time-stamped archive with a 360° view of the entire investment structure. This saves a lot of time both in reporting and in responding to requests.
2. Efficient, Group-wide cooperation
Clear workflows with clear access and editing rights that consistently ensure that all legal requirements applicable to the Group are complied with. In addition, all changing and supplementary activities are traceable and provided with a time stamp. Everyone knows what to do, how and where, and may be automatically reminded. In addition, it is also clear which data elements are processed in which system and nothing is overwritten, so there is a continuous, correct history. In addition, data and information are easily retrieved when restructuring and name changes take place.
The investment and company master data are reliable, complete and centrally available. Everyone only sees what they should and the legal regulations and control principles are always implemented. This will minimize the risk of providing incorrect information or, in the worst case, of making a mistake in the disclosure requirements. With clear, understandable workflows, the time required for classic administrative tasks and for data preparation and transmission is also further reduced.
3. Reporting related to the reporting date
For Ms. Müller and her team, the absolute highlight is the prospect of time-related, proper reports, graphics, analyses and exports. Working in a web-based user interface that supports your team in reporting. The reaction time, and the expenditure of time, are thus considerably shortened. There is nothing standing in the way of correct reports and ad hoc evaluations on the cut-off date. In addition, it is again controlled who is allowed to see which information and this is applied 1:1 to reports, graphics and analyses or exports. This drastically reduces the risk of unwanted information leaks. Last but not least, no one is dependent on IT anymore, thanks to an intuitive user interface.
The decision for a group-wide, digital legal entity management system was made unanimously. This makes the goal clear for Ms. Müller and also the time frame, a maximum of six months for the search and selection of a provider. From this decision, there will be about nine months or a maximum of one year until the final goal of “Go-live and rollout in the entire group”. This cannot be determined more precisely at the moment, since the time required for the implementation strongly depends on the data volume, the data quality and the complexity of the underlying master data model. In short, the initial situation is as follows: a lot of data, very poor quality (partly incomplete) and medium to high complexity for the data model. But now, with the support of IT, she is preparing the specifications. The offer to help came quite unexpectedly and with the argument that, in the medium term, time and, above all, other interfaces would be saved there as well.
First story: Typical legal entity management – nothing but hardship, stress and risk? ››
Third story: The first month with legal entity management in live operation. ››
