How MIntegrity supports regulatory change management

Regulatory change management is an ongoing challenge for Australian Financial Service Licence (AFSL) and Australian Credit Licence (ACL) holders. The process is difficult due to numerous financial regulators, strict guidelines and dozens of weekly changes — but there are even more factors to consider.

Talent and skill shortages, for example, leave AFSL holders without the resources to handle regulatory changes and their impacts.

That’s why many financial firms turn to a partner like MIntegrity for expert advice, support and regulatory risk and compliance solutions including change management. Join Andrew Tait and Amanda Mark, Co-Founders and Managing Directors at MIntegrity, as they explain what these partnerships look like and how AFSL holders can benefit.

‘What types of clients does MIntegrity serve?’

‘We provide services to a broad range of financial service firms,’ says Mark. These organisations include:

• Large global investment bank.
• Aussie ‘big 4’ banks.
• AFSL and ACL holders.
• Trading firms.
• Exchange operators.
• Industry bodies.
• Fund managers.
• Wealth managers.
• Startup AFSL holders.
• Energy traders.
• Digital Asset firms.

Tait adds that MIntegrity’s services span more than just the local Sydney area, encompassing plenty of international firms, too. ‘We have clients from other jurisdictions — Europe, the U.S. and Asia-Pacific,’ he says. ‘They’re often looking to start operating in Australia or expand their financial services business here.’ 

That means MIntegrity is a partner through all the various phases of a business. According to Mark, this includes:

• Setting up a financial services business.
• Risk & Compliance due diligence on target firms.
• Applying or varying an AFSL or ACL).
• Applying for their market participation at an Australian exchange for trading, clearing and settlement.
• Updating and managing policies and procedures.
• Conducting annual compliance reviews.
• Reviewing new products and services for compliance.
• Navigating regulator inquiries and audits.
• Compliance support for demergers, mergers and acquisitions.
• Independent expert reviews.
• Remediation as a result of regulatory action.

‘We’ve got a team with a deep understanding of those different areas,’ says Mark. ‘We’re capable of providing really specific insight into a problem, challenge or area a client would like to understand better.’

‘What problems does MIntegrity solve?’

MIntegrity’s partnerships often begin when a potential client starts feeling overwhelmed with all the rules and regulations in the financial landscape. As Mark and Tait point out, this feeling certainly isn’t unreasonable.

‘Regulatory change management is an ongoing and complicated process,’ says Mark. ‘It’s not just about documenting the policies and procedures. You can have beautifully written documentation, but if you’re not actually doing those things, it can become problematic — especially if you aren’t able to demonstrate to regulators that you’re compliant.’

This lack of proof often leads to enforcement actions. The result may include fines, licence conditions and even criminal charges — all of which, according to Tait, ‘can stem from a lack of regulatory change management and monitoring the business for any potential breaches.’

The MIntegrity team often services AFSL or ACL holders who are in one of the following situations:

• They’re doing the right thing, but they can’t provide proof of regulatory compliance updates.
• Their business has expanded rapidly and they need help reframing their policies and procedures to fit their new scale and purpose.
• They don’t have the resources or solutions necessary to track, interpret and implement every regulatory change.

‘We offer practical solutions to help firms solve these problems,’ says Mark. One such solution is MIntegrity’s independent licence reviews covering different areas of a business that could be impacted by regulatory changes. Tait explains that this could be related to potential enforcement action. ‘Clients decide proactively that a compliance expert needs to perform a comprehensive review,’ he says. ‘Or our engagement is often approved as an independent expert by ASIC under licence conditions or enforceable undertakings.’

Tait adds that MIntegrity also does a lot of transformation work. ‘A business might be looking to buy another licensee, and they ask us to do some due diligence on the risk management stream before they decide whether to go through with the deal,’ he says. 

‘How does MIntegrity approach regulatory change management?’

According to Tait and Mark, the key to MIntegrity’s approach is its team of specialists. ‘We’re really proud of the fact that our consultants have all worked in the industry or for regulators. They’ve all got more than 10-15 years of practical experience, too.’ Mark adds that the team has deep product knowledge and can navigate many niche topics for clients.

On top of that, Tait adds that MIntegrity puts a high value on collaboration. ‘We understand our clients’ businesses and get to the heart of the matter. We’re able to recommend and resolve questions very quickly, adding value and efficiencies to the firm.’ Mark agrees, pointing out that ‘if you know what the risks are, it’s much easier to fix an issue before it becomes problematic.’

However, the team doesn’t just specialise in compliance; MIntegrity also provides support for operations, technology and even systems expertise. ‘There’s often an impact on day-to-day processes,’ says Tait. ‘We go beyond just regulatory and compliance to offer operational expertise — we cover all those areas at once.’

‘Why does MIntegrity stand out?’

‘We’re coming up on our tenth year of helping AFSL and ACL holders raise their integrity standards and meet requirements,’ says Mark. ‘We’ve got a long record of assisting firms with their risk, compliance and operational needs.’

‘We’re proud to say that we are definitely a trusted partner in this area,’ says Tait — and 100+ clients agree. 

From startup support and risk management to proactive reviews and help navigating regulator inquiries, MIntegrity does it all. Plus, with RegsWeb — a regulatory change management platform that links regulatory content to internal policies and procedures — it’s easy for financial firms to get ahead.

Want to learn more about MIntegrity and RegsWeb? Request your platform demo today.