Solvency II Data Quality Data Governance

According to the recent Moody's Analytics survey titled "Solvency II: A field of missed opportunities?" the European insurance industry is still struggling to meet the requirements of the Solvency II regulation. The survey highlighted three challenging areas, one of which was data quality management.

In particular around data quality management, it was noted that there were huge differences in approach to the challenge of data quality management. Some firms are embracing this as an opportunity for them to better manage their data generally. Sadly others are treating it as a "tick box exercise" and are doing what they consider the minimum in order to meet the regulation. Whilst this seems to be an approach that companies are able to get away with, I believe that they are missing out on the benefits of taking a more holistic proactive stance towards data quality and data governance.

The survey noted that delays to the implementation dates of Solvency II have increased the number of companies adopting the "tick box" approach. This is very disappointing, as I believe that this is short sighted of those companies and they are missing the opportunity to gain business benefits from meeting the Solvency II requirements now. Indeed I advised embracing this regulation as an opportunity back in January 2012 when I wrote the article "Leveraging the Regulatory Stick".

I have been lucky enough to work with insurance companies who have had the foresight to see this as an opportunity to enhance their capabilities around data management. Sadly it seems that for many others, data quality management has been a lower priority. The authors of the Moody's Analytics report believe that the revised consultation guidelines published by EIOPA this March, which propose interim measures in advance of the full implementation, will re-energize the insurance industry and their Solvency II programmes.

If you are struggling with the data quality and data governance part of your Solvency II Programme and want inspiration and the opportunity to network with your peers, why not join the 'Data quality and Governance Course For Insurers Under Solvency II" which I am delivering for CTP Training in London this October? Feedback from the course when I ran it earlier in the year was excellent, with attendees saying that it had helped them get their head around the Solvency II data requirements (which can be at times both vague and very onerous) and helped understand how they could meet the requirements in a way that delivered business benefits now.

If you work in Banking rather than Insurance, you will find that there is a lot that Banks can learn from Solvency II and they can start implementing a Data Governance framework now as a solid foundation to facilitate meeting Basel III data requirements.The good news is that readers of my blog can get a 10% discount for both these courses by quoting code "DQM" when booking. Follow the links below for more information and how to book:

Data Quality and Governance for Insurers under Solvency II course 22/10/13

Data Quality & Governance for Banks & Building Societies course 22/10/13

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