TheFinancial Services Authority (FSA)is
simplifying how it collects information from the companies it
regulates by replacing a range of reporting systems with a single
system.
The Gathering Better Regulatory Information Electronically
system (Gabriel) will be introduced in the second half of this
year. It will replace older FSA systems, including Firms Online,
and paper collection processes, some of which were inherited from
earlier regulators.
The FSA said Gabriel will make reporting easier for regulated
firms and improve the accuracy of information collected by the FSA.
Gabriel will also ensure it can expand to regulate more than the
28,000 firms it currently regulates.
Companies regulated by the FSA need to report information such
as their balance sheet, operating risk, as well as non-financial
data on issues such as training.
"It will ease the regulatory burden on the financial services
industry by making regulatory reporting simpler and easier, while
at the same time tightening compliance by improving the accuracy
and consistency of information within the FSA," said the financial
services watchdog.
"The system will enable the FSA and the firms we regulate to
operate against a clear, consolidated reporting schedule, removing
much of the complexity inherent today," it said. "The FSA is an
information driven business and the
technology infrastructure supporting information flow is
vital."
The system is being built using standard
XML technology with support from
Capgemini and is being implemented by Fujitsu.
