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Wolters Kluwer Financial Services Offers Tips to
Help Insurers Adopt Successful Compliance Practices
Documentation, Tracking and Educating Employees Are
Among Key Suggestions
BOSTON – May 8, 2006 – According to Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, implementing five key compliance practices can help insurers effectively manage in today’s demanding regulatory environment.
“Compliance should be a high priority for insurance companies for several reasons,” said Joe Bieniek, manager of regulatory compliance for CCH INSURANCE SERVICES, a Wolters Kluwer Financial Services brand . “Not only can an effective compliance program save insurers thousands of dollars in fines, fees and related costs, it can also help them maintain a strong reputation with their community, key stakeholders, and customers. And a company’s reputation might be its most valuable asset.”
Following are five compliance best practices Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ CCH INSURANCE SERVICES regulatory compliance professionals have observed through their regular interaction with insurance companies throughout the United States:
Ensure that senior management endorses the compliance program—The best compliance programs have buy-in from the top down, according to Bieniek. When senior management understands the implications of a company’s compliance program and promotes its importance throughout the ranks, it is more likely that the organization as a whole will embrace compliance within its culture.
Establish an effective self-examination process—Identifying and correcting errors before regulators do can mean the difference between a satisfactory market conduct exam and an exam that results in fines, negative press and unhappy customers.
- Track your company’s performance—The best way to know whether a company needs to re-evaluate its compliance program is to look at its past performance and to note any areas that consistently need improvement, noted Bieniek.
- Make everyone at the company responsible for compliance, not just the compliance department—Because nearly every job at an insurance company has some impact on whether the company is in compliance, hold employees accountable for the compliance-related duties and tasks that are associated with their particular positions.
- Document your company’s compliance procedures—According to Bieniek, it’s a good idea to keep documentation of a company’s compliance procedures so employees, management and examiners can all be clear as to which employees and departments are responsible for the various elements of the company’s compliance.
“Our CCH INSURANCE SERVICES compliance tools are designed with an understanding of the unique market needs insurance companies face today,” said David Stephens, vice president of the Securities and Insurance unit of Wolters Kluwer Financial Services. “We help insurers save time and money as they streamline their compliance processes, while also taking advantage of the long history of industry expertise behind our products.”
CCH INSURANCE SERVICES is the leading brand of insurance-focused compliance tools, research, analysis, and forms. With more than 140 years of insurance regulatory experience, the CCH INSURANCE SERVICES line offers some of the industry’s most highly respected product brands—NILS INSource, ComplianceWare®, Uniform Forms, and AuthenticWeb™. The CCH INSURANCE SERVICES line provides a complete compliance solution—from research and market conduct analysis to forms processing and integration services.
About Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Wolters Kluwer Financial Services provides best-in-class compliance, content, and technology solutions and services that help
financial organizations manage risk and improve efficiency and effectiveness across their enterprise. The organization’s prominent brands
include Bankers Systems, VMP® Mortgage Solutions, PCi, GulfPak, Desert Document Services®, AppOne®, GainsKeeper®, CCH® Capital
Changes, NILS, AuthenticWeb™, Uniform Forms™ and CCH® Wall Street.
Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ solutions include integrated and stand-alone compliance and workflow tools, documentation, analytics,
authoritative information and professional services. Customers include banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders, and securities and
insurance organizations of all sizes throughout the United States. For more information on Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, visit www.WoltersKluwerFS.com.
Wolters Kluwer is a leading global information services and publishing company. The company provides products and services globally
for professionals in the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, legal and regulatory sectors. Wolters Kluwer has
annual revenues (2007) of €3.4 billion ($4.8 billion), maintains operations in over 33 countries across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific and employs approximately 19,500 people worldwide. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in
Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Visit www.WoltersKluwer.com for information about our market positions, customers, brands and organization.
