Rising regulatory pressure on financial firms including insurers has led Gadens Lawyers to develop a platform to simplify and improve processes for the handling and reporting of potential breaches.

The cloud-based Gadens Breach Manager application is powered and hosted externally by Australian legal technology company Lawcadia.

Gadens Director Liam Hennessy says the mandatory reporting of potential regulatory issues has become a key concern for organisations, given the volume of information involved, time and resourcing required and legal complexities, and it is particularly a concern for the insurance sector.

“There is just such a lot of regulation hitting them at the moment, far more to my mind than the banking sector or the super sector,” he tells insuranceNEWS.com.au.

The app steps the user through a process that clarifies the issues under the various regulatory areas, with options for the information to be further assessed internally, or for details to be sent to Gadens for fixed-fee advice.

Mr Hennessy says the reporting platform assists firms in identifying issues including Australian Financial Services Licences breaches and in managing cyber and privacy breach reporting responsibilities.

Insurers also have Australian Prudential Regulation Authority obligations, while regulatory pressures will further step up from October when new product design and distribution obligations take effect.

“Regulatory reporting regimes in the Australian financial services industry are rapidly becoming more onerous in an attempt to regulate and improve culture, with liability for getting it wrong judgmentally or timing-wise,” he said

Mr Hennessy says some clients have also requested changes to the app to include requirements under the new General Insurance Code of Practice.

“The goal is to leverage our expertise and capability to de-risk major clients when it comes to potential regulatory breaches,” he says.  “The system is protected from a cyber and legal privilege perspective, and has in-depth monitoring and audit functionality.”