News: 2011

February 2011: NAMFISA, Namibia builds Retirement Fund Supervision Solution with Vizor Software

The Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA), having gone live to the long term insurance industry with Vizor Software within a three-month timeframe in October 2010 (see news piece below), has launched a retirement fund supervision solution using Vizor Software.

The retirement fund supervision solution was designed and implemented by the NAMFISA team using the Vizor Builder toolset. The solution enables:

• Retirement funds to report their annual report via online web forms.
• The retirement fund supervision department to track progress on annual report completion throughout the industry.
• The retirement fund supervision department to automatically generate regulatory intelligence reports once the annual reports have been collected.

The solution has gone live this month to enable retirement funds to report their 2010 annual returns online.

Over the coming months, the NAMFISA team will be designing and implementing supervision solutions for the following regulated industries:

• Capital Markets
• Microfinance
• Medical Aid
• Short Term Insurance
• Public Complaints

February 2011: Vizor to Exhibit at IOSCO 2011, Cape Town

Vizor will be exhibiting at IOSCO 2011, Cape Town, 17-21 April.

Vizor is building a demonstration system specifically for the conference, which will showcase how Vizor Software can assist Securities Commissions in the supervision of markets and market intermediaries.

We look forward to seeing you there!

To learn more about the conference, visit http://www.iosco2011.co.za/iosco/. To learn more about IOSCO, visit http://www.iosco.org/.

News: 2010

December 2010: EFSA, Egypt Chooses Vizor Software

Vizor is delighted to announce that the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) has chosen Vizor Software.

EFSA signed a contract with Vizor on 5th December 2010 for the provision of Vizor Software Licenses and associated implementation services.

EFSA is a relatively new supervisory authority, established in 2009, replacing the Egyptian Insurance Supervisory Authority, the Capital Markets Authority, and the Mortgage Finance Authority. EFSA is responsible for supervising and regulating non-banking financial markets and instruments, including the Capital Market, the Exchange, all activities related to Insurance Services, Mortgage Finance, Financial Leasing, Factoring and Securitization.

Vizor Software will be used by EFSA as a strategic platform for supervisory data collection and analysis, eventually used by all financial institutions supervised by this new ‘Super-Regulator’.

The first phase of the Vizor Software rollout will focus on the supervision of listed companies on the Cairo and Nile stock exchanges by the Financial Reporting Compliance Unit (FRCU), previously the responsibility of the Capital Markets Authority. The solution will enable the following:

• Scanned copies of a listed company’s quarterly audited financial returns will be uploaded to the system, along with key financial data from the return
• A FRCU team member will then complete a Disclosure checklist and make observations against the financial return
• The system will automatically run a number of ‘materiality checks’ against current and previously reported financial data, and raise flags if any thresholds are exceeded
• Based upon observations made and materiality checks run, the listed company’s financial return will receive an overall score, which will determine its ranking in the industry risk profile and thus determine further levels of required review
• If any disclosures are not made in the financial return, a draft letter will be automatically generated describing the failed disclosures, which can then be sent to the reporting institution as formal correspondence
• The EFSA system will be fully available in Arabic

To learn more about EFSA, visit www.efsa.gov.eg

December 2010: Vizor presents at CISNA Annual Meeting, Maseru, Lesotho

Vizor had the honour of presenting Vizor Software at the annual meeting of the Committee of Insurance, Securities and Non-Banking Financial Authorities (CISNA), which was held on 1-3 December 2010 in Maseru, Lesotho.

Vizor presented the NAMFISA ERS system, which was developed for the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority using Vizor Software over a three month period (July to October 2010).

Vizor would like to thank both the Chairman and Secretary of CISNA for organising our attendance at the event. Vizor is looking forward to spending a lot more time in Southern Africa in 2011!

October 2010: NAMFISA, Namibia Goes Live with Vizor Software

The Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA) went live this month with Vizor Software, 3 months following project initiation in July 2010.

NAMFISA Electronic Regulation System (ERS) version 1.0, which is based on Vizor Software, has gone live to long term insurance (LTI) industry participants within Namibia. Industry orientation sessions, presented jointly by Vizor and NAMFISA, were held in Windhoek on 20th and 21st October 2010.

LTI industry participants will use Vizor Software to perform the following activities online:

• Application for registration of long-term Insurer or Broker
• Application for LTI agent licenses
• Reporting of quarterly and annual financial returns
• Corporate notification of change to corporate structure (Add Director, Add Shareholder etc.)
• Annual renewal of professional indemnity insurance
• Ad-Hoc applications for foreign reinsurance dispensation

NAMFISA will use Vizor Software internally to:

• Schedule online data collection activities for the industry
• Review and approve all data submitted by the industry online
• Perform detailed analysis on data submitted by the industry online
• Publish selected reports back to the industry through the system (e.g. market aggregates)
• Schedule on-site inspections to be performed by NAMFISA staff
• Take a risk-based approach to supervision, with automated risk profiling of regulated entities
• Move away from reliance on paper, as all data collection and analysis now takes place within the NAMFISA ERS system

NAMFISA ERS version 2.0, which will automate annual reporting for the pension fund industry within Namibia, is scheduled for delivery in January 2011. NAMFISA staff will build the pension fund solution themselves using the Vizor Builder.

October 2010: Vizor Exhibits at 17th Annual IAIS Conference, Dubai

Vizor exhibited at the 17th Annual International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) Conference, in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Dubai, UAE. The event took place from 27 – 29 October.

Two of Vizor’s executive directors, Conor Crowley and Ross Kelly, were in attendance for the entire event, along with other members of the Vizor team. Vizor Software was demonstrated to more than 20 insurance supervisors, and it has become clear from the response that Vizor Software is an indeed a unique offering in the financial supervision space.

Conor Crowley and Ross Kelly at the Vizor exhibition space, IAIS 2010

Vizor would like to thank the Dubai Financial Services Authority for organising the event, and we look forward to IAIS 2011 in South Korea.

July 2010: Namibian Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority Chooses Vizor

We are delighted to announce that the Namibian Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA) has signed a contract with Vizor for the implementation of Vizor Software.

NAMFISA regulates and supervises a broad range of institutions, which include pension and retirement Funds, long-term Insurance, short-term Insurance, medical aid schemes, friendly societies, unit trust management schemes, the stock exchange, asset managers, participation bond schemes, public accountants and auditors, micro lenders, and hire purchase outlets.

NAMFISA will user Vizor Software to automate interactions with all the above industry participants. The objective of the first phase of the project, however, is to automate interactions with the long-term Insurance industry. The project is already underway, with go-live for long-term Insurance activities scheduled for October 2010. On go-live of this phase, Vizor Software will automate the following long-term insurance regulatory processes:

• Application for registration of long-term Insurer or Broker
• Collection and detailed analysis of quarterly and annual financial returns
• Corporate notification of change to corporate structure (Add Director, Add Shareholder etc.)
• Application for insurance agent licenses
• On-site inspections
• Annual renewal of professional indemnity insurance
• Ad-Hoc applications for foreign reinsurance dispensation

Immediately following go-live, Vizor will provide comprehensive training to NAMFISA in the Vizor Builder. Following this, NAMFISA will be able to automate other departmental activities without Vizor assistance. The second phase of the project is currently intended to automate short-term Insurance activities, which NAMFISA will automate themselves using the Vizor Builder.

To learn more about NAMFISA, visit http://www.namfisa.com.na

May 2010: NCFM Goes Live with Vizor

The National Commission for Financial Markets of Moldova (NCFM) went live this month with Vizor Software.

The new NCFM Management Information System (MIS) enables the electronic reporting & supervision of Securities, Life & Non-Life Insurance, Microfinance and Pensions business sectors.

The system will be used for data collection and reporting and the strength of the validation controls in the system will also enable the early detection of problem areas allowing the NCFM to move to a risk-based supervisory approach and to use resources more efficiently by eliminating paper based reporting mechanisms.

Vizor's implementation of MIS will not only improve NCFM reporting and analysis capability and help to monitor more closely the solvency and other key aspects of financial market participants in the short term, but will also help with capability building in the medium to long term.

April 2010: DIFCA signs new contract with Vizor

The DIFC Authority has signed a new contract with Vizor for the provision of support and technical services involving the extension of their system to Client Services and Anti-Money Laundering departments.

The rollout to these departments will take place over the coming months and is expected to complete in Q3 2010.

To learn more about Vizor’s DIFCA system, click here to see the case study.

March 2010: Insurance Commission of Jordan Chooses Vizor

We are delighted to announce that the Insurance Commission (IC) of Jordan has signed a contract with Vizor for the implementation of Vizor Software.

The IC, established in 1999, is responsible for supervising the insurance industry within Jordan and is recognised regionally as being at the forefront of regulatory best practice.

IC will use Vizor software to effectively automate the quarterly and annual supervisory process of the insurance industry. The project is already underway and is due to complete in June 2010.

To learn more about the IC, visit the website: http://www.irc.gov.jo/.

Vizor is very active in the Middle East region, with offices in Dubai, UAE.

February 2010: AMF Albania Goes Live with Vizor

The regulatory system developed by Vizor for the Albanian Financial Services Authority (AMF Albania) is complete and ready for Go-Live.

The system, built on Vizor’s unique regulatory technology, will automate regulatory reporting for Albanian companies operating in the insurance and pension fund management sectors.

For further information on the launch, please see the news pieces on the AMF Albania website here and here.

For background on the project, please see the following presentations:
1. Elisabeta Gjoni, Chairperson of AMF Albania
2. Alma Qamo, specialist advisor to AMF Albania

January 2010: DIFC Vizor System Gets 95% Approval Rating from Industry

The Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFCA) has conducted a customer satisfaction survey on the ‘DIFCSTAT’ system. The DIFCSTAT System was built using Vizor Software.

DIFCSTAT consists of:

• An online portal that can be used by DIFC firms to submit data to various DIFCA departments via online forms. The portal also acts as a repository for all submissions.
• A data processing and reporting centre that is accessible within DIFCA which receives and stores data submitted by firms on the online portal.
• The first phase of the DIFCSTAT system was released to the DIFC industry in May 2009 and has been used to date to collect data for the Registrar of Companies, Data Protection and Chief Economist Offices.

The vast majority of the 1,000 firms based at DIFC have used the DIFCSTAT system in some capacity.

Last month, a customer satisfaction survey was built and launched on the DIFCSTAT system by DIFCA to gauge the DIFC industry perception of the system. The results, just released, have been overwhelmingly positive with a 95% approval rating from the industry.

The vision of the DIFCSTAT system is to provide an online portal for DIFC firms that will handle all formal communications between DIFC firms and the DIFCA. Vizor’s unique technology ensures that this vision will be achieved by DIFCA in a short time-frame and at a low cost.

To learn more about the DIFCSTAT application, please visit the DIFCSTAT home page. Web tutorials are available and are of interest.

News: 2009

December 2009: Vizor Software Extended for Feasibility Assessments & Improved Regulatory Intelligence

Vizor has just released an upgrade to its Regulatory Intelligence reporting package. The upgrade includes:

• Dashboards: Our Clients using the Vizor Builder can now add regulatory dashboards with ease. Dashboards, which display key industry or firm data on a single screen, can be added to the Vizor Portal and/or the Vizor Supervision Centre. Access to dashboards can be controlled to allow access by a particular firm on the portal, or a senior-level executive regulator in the supervision centre. The dashboard feature is integrated with our graphing component, allowing key information to be displayed visually in a number of formats.
• Feasibility Analysis: Regulatory data that is submitted on the Vizor Portal can now be assessed for feasibility. The functionality allows regulated entities to assess the feasibility of the data they are submitting based on a threshold-based comparison with data submitted in previous periods. The feasibility assessment aims at streamlining the collection process and eradicating legitimate mistakes made during data entry. The result is cleaner, more accurate data that is collected on time without lengthy resubmission cycles, which in turn frees up the regulator to concentrate efforts where they are needed most.

If you are interested in seeing these new features along with the rest of our product, please contact us at info@vizorsoftware.com.

November 2009: Vizor Establishes New Office in Dubai

Vizor has relocated to new offices in Dubai to accommodate its growing team in the region. The office is located on The Walk in the JBR district.

The Vizor UAE office in Dubai handles all sales and implementation activities in UAE and the larger GCC region. The Dubai office is also responsible for dealing with clients in MENA, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Subcontinent and the Far East.

Ross Kelly is our UAE Director and can be contacted at ross.kelly@vizorsoftware.com if you have enquiries or are in the region and would like to drop by.

September 2009: Vizor Publishes Whitepaper “3 Pillars of an Effective Supervision System”

To mark a decade of successful software implementations in the regulatory space, Vizor has published a white paper entitled ‘3 Pillars of an Effective Supervision System’.

Since we are the only software company in the world focused on writing software for financial regulators, our experiences in this field with our many regulatory clients has given us a unique insight into what systems regulators require to succeed.

In the document we propose that there are 3 main factors a regulatory body needs to consider when implementing a supervision IT system: Data Quality, Real-Time Regulatory Intelligence and Flexibility.

The white paper elaborates on these 3 ‘pillars’ and also analyses the various approaches that can be taken to achieve these 3 pillars.

Click here to download a PDF Version of the whitepaper.

May 2009: DIFC Goes Live with Vizor Software: “DIFCSTAT”

The Dubai International Financial Centre’s ‘DIFCSTAT’ system, developed by Vizor using Vizor Software, has gone live to the DIFC industry this month.

DIFCSTAT consists of:

• An online portal that can be used by DIFC firms to submit data to various DIFCA departments via online forms. The portal also acts as a repository for all submissions.
• A data processing and reporting centre that is accessible within DIFCA which received and stores data submitted by firms on the online portal.

In the first phase of DIFCSTAT, the following DIFCA departmental activities have been launched:

• Registrar of Companies: Firms can now register for a commercial license online using the DIFCSTAT applications. Registered firms can renew their licenses online and also submit corporate notifications to update their standing data.
• Data Protection: As part of the registration process, firms can now determine using a dynamic online form what level of Data Protection they required and apply for the appropriate license. Firms can also renew their Data Protection licenses online.
• Office of the Chief Economist: The Office of the Chief Economist have launched the ‘Economic Activity Survey 2008’ to the entire DIFC industry. Over the coming months DIFC firms will complete the survey online and once this process is complete a comprehensive report will be produced automatically from the DIFCSTAT system detailing aggregate economic activity in the jurisdiction for the year 2008.

The first phase of DIFCSTAT will last until the end of 2009. It is hoped that based on the success of the first phase that other DIFCA departmental activities will be introduced onto the DIFCSTAT system. Additional activities will include visa applications (Government Services department), contact management (Client Services department) and anti-money laundering registration (AML department). The vision of DIFCSTAT is to provide a comprehensive online portal for DIFC firms to perform any formal communication with DIFCA.

To learn more about the DIFCSTAT application, please visit the DIFCSTAT home page. Web tutorials are available and are of interest.

March 2009: Vizor Executive Vice-Chairman Presents at 3rd GCC Regulators Summit

Martin Murnaghan, Vizor’s Executive Vice-Chairman, was a speaker at the 3rd GCC Regulators Summit, held in Dubai, UAE on March 1 and 2, 2009.

The summit attempted to address hurdles that regional regulator and regulated entities face on a daily basis. The summit acted a special platform for regulators to showcase their regimes and to communicate directly with the industry practitioners.

Mr. Murnaghan’s presentation focused on how use of regulatory software (or lack thereof) was a contributor to the global financial crisis and what lessons could be learned from this in the future.

See the list of speakers here
See Vizor's presentation here

January 2009: NCFM Moldova Chooses Vizor

We are delighted to announce that Vizor has been selected to deliver a Vizor system for the National Commission of Financial Markets of the Republic of Moldova (NCFM), which will automate regulatory reporting for Moldovan companies operating in the following sectors:

• Insurance
• Pension fund Management
• Microfinance
• Securities

The objective of the project is the development of a system to automate the NCFM supervisory process for the aforementioned sectors in Moldova.

Vizor will utilise its unique platform to deliver a system that will be used for data collection and reporting functions and will also help with capability building within the NCFM in the medium to long term.

The project is funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD), who actively support capability development of regulatory bodies throughout the region.

January 2009: CBFSAI Signs New Contract with Vizor

We are delighted to announce that the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland has signed a new contract with Vizor for 2009. The contract extends Vizor’s involvement in the Electronic Reporting project.

Vizor was originally selected in 2006 for the provision of software and implementation resource for the Electronic Reporting project. The project has been a success to date and is currently deployed on Vizor’s XBRL technology, allowing regulated entities to submit financial returns in this format.