Managing Compliance with Master Data Management

DMReview published an excellent article on How Financial Services Firms are Improving Adherence to Regulations using Master Data Management. It says, U.S. corporations spent an average of $4.6 million implementing Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) section 404 controls in their first year of implementation, and Forrester Research estimates the five year cost of Basel II implementation for the largest banks to be $150 million. The size and scale of investment on compliance is forcing organizations to invest in technology solutions. It goes further by saying, considering that SOX, Basel II and the USA Patriot Act all share the need for reliable control of master or reference data, leading Financial Services firms are looking to master data management (MDM) as the foundation for managing regulatory compliance. By creating a centralized master reference hub, organizations can deliver the most reliable, complete views of key business data within their existing business processes and more importantly leverage these data assets within operational business processes to remain in compliance, adhere to various privacy requirements and simplify the reporting process.

Among all the new data technology initiatives, MDM is one that is getting a lot of attention because of its ability to make compliance and reporting a whole lot easier.