NEW YORK, May 5, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- E*Assist, a provider of business growth and compliance management solutions for the financial advisor community, announced today the availability of an online calculator that brokerage firms can use to evaluate the percentage of firm tasks that can be automated, the improved rate of efficiency that can be achieved through automation, and the reduction of firm overhead.
The calculator, which can be accessed at www.eassistllc.com/compliancecalculator, is a critical tool for empowering compliance officers, direct supervisors, chief risk officers, and other senior executives to quickly determine the potential savings of implementing a scalable technology platform to monitor compliance and manage business processes.
According to "Navigating the Compliance Labyrinth: The Challenge for Banks," a survey of chief compliance officers, chief risk officers and other senior executives at 20 of the top 50 banks and thrift institutions produced by the Deloitte Center for Banking Solutions, "Compliance costs grew significantly faster than net income for the financial institutions in our survey. While compliance spending as a percentage of net income for the financial institutions surveyed was 2.83% in 2002, by 2006 it had grown to 3.69%." The survey also found that "As costs have risen, financial institutions appear to have responded more by applying people to monitor compliance rather than focusing on process improvement and technology to manage it. This is suggested by the greater increase in spending on people rather than technology."
"Technology delivers a tremendous opportunity for broker-dealer firms to increase productivity and grow their business," explained Ted Tsung, chief executive officer of E*Assist. "The calculator is based on models that were initially developed at E*Assist to help us quantify the value proposition of our own technology platform. It later occurred to us that by using these formulas, broker-dealers could calculate the exact cost savings and growth potential they could achieve through automation. Armed with this information, firms can make informed technology decisions, knowing exactly what the bottom line benefit is and how much they can afford to spend," Tsung explained.
The Deloitte Survey concludes that, "Financial institutions have an opportunity to mitigate rising costs by approaching compliance comprehensively - reducing duplicative processes, eliminating unnecessary procedures, and building the business case for more investment in technology solutions to improve efficiency and provide actionable reporting. Rethinking compliance will require executives to question familiar assumptions and business processes. Yet, taking a more holistic approach to compliance management offers the potential to leverage the common elements of many regulations to achieve more effective compliance management at significantly reduced cost."
About E*Assist
Founded in 2006, E*Assist partners with companies in the financial advisor community to facilitate immediate bottom-line impact and long-term business growth through an automated approach to improved client service and compliance management. The company's technology platform integrates real-time compliance data capture into a client management application, enabling clients to address complex compliance and client management issues, while facilitating increased client contact and productivity. E*Assist's offices are located in New York, NY. For more information, please visit www.eassistllc.com.