An eye on the future:
Overview of the data collection transformation in the UK financial sector
Amongst the turmoil of the ravaging pandemic, the Bank of England published a report on transforming data collection from the UK financial sector, laying out the principles for reshaping data transformation over the next decade.
The timeline:
2019
Launch of the data collection review
2020
Publication of the discussion paper:
“Transforming data collection from the UK financial sector”
2021
Publication of the report:
“Transforming data collection from the UK financial sector: a plan for 2021 and beyond”
Over the past years, the emphasis on providing and analysing large volumes of data has grown in every sector, with the results showing that data allows for deeper insights on complex regulatory matters and identification of patterns invisible to the human eye. On the other hand, the current processes of data collection are strained, as more and more data becomes available.
The report on “Transforming data collection from the UK financial sector: a plan for 2021 and beyond” is a response to these challenges, and notes that the Bank of England, along with the industry will need to transform data management processes, including data collection and reconciliation.
The key takeaways include:
- The integration of reporting to include a more efficient approach to data collection, unifying the process across various sectors and jurisdiction of data reporting.
- The adoption of common data standards that identify and describe data consistently across the financial sector. The common data standards should be made accessible to all entities that need them, reaping benefits that span beyond the data reporting processes themselves.
- Changing and improving regulatory reporting instructions: how they are drafted, interpreted and implemented, including setting up better quality Q&A’s or entirely rewriting the instructions as a code.
Next steps of the Bank of England:
- Setting up a multi-phase transformation program
- Dividing the transformation program into phases, where each phase will deliver use-cases focusing on different types of data collection
The first phase is expected to last 24 months and the second to span over a period of 3 years.