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www.risk.netDecember 2014/January 2015SOLVENCY II ■ CAPITAL ■ RISK MANAGEMENT

BEST REGULATORY REPORTING SOFTWARE

AGILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY have been the watchwords for Invoke over the last 12 months. The software firm has helped its growing number of clients with the technical burden of Pillar III reporting by cutting com-plexity and fostering cooperation between insurers and regulators.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority’s (Eiopa) uniform format for Pillar III reporting since May 2011 has been eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), which is now adopted by firms and regulators across Europe. Invoke has focused on cutting out XBRL’s inherent complexity and creating software that centres on an easy to understand, usable taxonomy. Being tax-onomy-driven, generic and integrated with legacy infrastructure ensures the software is agile and flexible.

Anne Leslie-Bini, head of international development at Invoke, based in Paris, says: “We have really focused on usability for non-technical users, making sure that even on very large data volumes the usability for non-tech-nical users remains as optimal as possible. This means users will not be distracted by the technical XBRL formats required by Eiopa.”

In developing user-friendly software, Invoke’s XBRL reporting requires zero coding to adapt to any given taxonomy, which means users do not need to learn the in-depth complexities of the XBRL format. In other words, firms can benefit from the complexity of XBRL reporting and be Eiopa-compliant, without the need to learn the language back to front.

The software also adapts to changes in reg-ulatory reporting requirements, which keeps maintenance effort and costs to a minimum. Invoke stands out among the crowd for its Solvency II expertise, and goes beyond just providing a technology solution by provid-ing to clients access to an in-house team of regulatory specialists as well as software experts. Leslie-Bini says Invoke has “an in-house team of domain experts who keep a

very tight, close watch on the various itera-tions of taxonomies coming out from Eiopa”.

The firm has kept a close eye on the needs of both regulated firms and supervisory authori-ties. Evidence of this is clear when considering high profile clients such as Lloyd’s of London, Swiss Re Asset Management and Banque de France ACPR (the Autorité de Contrôle

Prudentiel et de Résolution).One client says: “The fact that Invoke is a

trusted technology partner for some of Europe’s largest regulatory bodies, such as the ACPR in France and the Deutsche Bundesbank in Germany, reassured us and influenced our final decision.”

As a business based in France, Invoke recently showed its capabilities in XBRL

reporting as French clients participated in the first round of Pillar III reporting in Europe.

“On September 24, all of our French clients participated in the first round of Pillar III reporting to the French supervisor, ACPR. This was really the European pilot project for Pillar III reporting across Europe. We have 70 clients that we assisted with that, with a 100% success rate,” says Leslie-Bini.

Invoke is able to foster synergy between firms and regulators as it has been in the XBRL space for almost a decade. The com-pany’s recent example of success with the French regulator prepares it well for interim reporting guidelines in 2015, as well as final implementation in 2016.

By going beyond merely the production of mandatory QRTs and narrative reports, Invoke allows firms to generate personalised internal reports that improve the information available to management for decision-making purposes.

Leslie-Bini sees an opportunity beyond compliance in the future. “When we get over the initial hurdle of firms bedding down pro-cesses for managing Pillar III, what they will have is a massive amount of data available. We are creating tools that allow personalised, configurable, ad-hoc reporting, re-utilising quantitative data in-house and going beyond pure external reporting requirements.” IR

“We are creating tools that allow personalised, configurable, ad-hoc reporting, re-utilising

quantitative data in-house and going beyond pure

external reporting requirements”

Anne Leslie-Bini, Invoke

Best regulatory reporting software: Invoke

L-r: Antoine Rouques, Grégory Roquin, Anne Leslie-Bini, Yasmine Tebaa, Sébastien Varnier, Antoine Bourdais, Amandine Geffroy of Invoke

Reprinted from Insurance Risk