Data Management at Heart of New Regulation

Among the changes sought by new financial regulation, data protection and integration requirements to reduce risk and improve reporting will drive change in bank IT policies, according to a report from Deloitte.

The challenges in reform as seen by regulators is in the complexity of the systems and data that drive the infrastructure of financial institutions, reads the Deloitte report "The sound of rumbling thunder: Assessing the impact of U.S. financial regulatory reform." Creating meaningful information from the data comprising a bank's legacy and other systems is an ongoing test for banks.

"The challenges of information provision are significant," the report reads. "However, integrating data across an organization can also yield significant benefits in the form of lower finance costs, more effective capital management, and more informed strategic management of business portfolios."

Data challenges exist in the form of customer data, legal entity data, product codes, contract data, position data and transaction-level data.

The full report is available through Deloitte's website.