Banking and financial services

The financial services industry is exposed to many risks from operational, to regulatory, insurance, market, customer and supply chain risks. ISO 31000 provides a foundation for implementing other ISO risk management standards and guidelines. It has been developed to provide a common approach.

“A majority of investment banks had more work to do in order to implement effective anti-bribery and corruption systems and controls.”

UK Financial Services Authority (now the FCA)Review March 2013

BS 10500 is a useful tool to support financial services organizations in turning the legal requirements of the UK Bribery Act into practical measures. It ensures that the right controls are in place to mitigate the risk of bribery across the organization and its supply chain.

Financial institutions are increasingly being targeted by criminal gangs attempting to infect machines and steal login details. The regulator has come down heavily on a number of financial institutions that have lost data, imposing fines of upwards of £3 million. Don’t let this happen to you – ISO/IEC 27001 can help. It takes a risk-based approach to help financial institutions plan and implement an information security management system, which delivers an appropriate and affordable level of organisational security.

Regulation requires all applicable Mobile phone traffic (both voice and data) to be recorded and stored in a compliant fashion for a minimum of 6 months. BS 10008 can help in that it specifies the requirements for the implementation and operation of an electronic information management system and covers a variety of information including page based, dynamic and video/voice recordings.

With retail markets changing BS ISO 22222 sets a benchmark for personal financial planners. It gives them a badge of professional competence and offers consumers confidence that a financial plan will be tailored to their needs. For planning and advisory firm BS 8577 creates an operational management framework designed to ensure policies and procedures support a customer-oriented approach.

Managing complaints effectively is vital for regulated financial services. Follow the recognized BS ISO 10002 standard to ensure your complaints handling processes are up to scratch. BS 18477, the BSI standard, can help organizations understand the different needs consumers have including those in vulnerable circumstances and provide the right assistance and flexibility.

As one of those industries hit hardest by downtime financial services firms need arrangements in place to ensure they can continue to function in the event of an unforeseen interruption. Although not every eventuality can be planned for, by putting in place an ISO 22301 business continuity management system, organizations can demonstrate that they have a robust system in place, and are operating in compliance with FSA advice.

With increasing consolidation and competition in the industry, the financial services sector can benefit from building better collaborative business relationships with partners, suppliers and clients. Improvements in collaboration are seen as a major contribution to higher efficiency and productivity. BS 11000 provides a framework to help organizations build effective partnerships that deliver value internally and to customers.