Intelliflo has formed a working group comprising representatives from 11 major networks and advice firm customers to identify and solve challenges for financial advice firms arising from the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
A recent survey by Intelliflo among 270 Intelligent Office (iO) users highlighted that many advisers are not yet on course to be ready to meet the requirements of the GDPR by the enforcement date of 25 May 2018. Two thirds (67%) said they don’t yet have a plan they are working to, with almost one in ten (9%) saying they were not even aware of the new regulation.
The first meeting of the working group was held in late July, with the aim of establishing common understanding of the implications of the regulation and to allow firms to share information about how they will look to meet the requirements of the regulation.
As well as leaders of some of the UK’s largest advice firms and networks, representing around 2,000 advice firms, experts on GDPR from NCC Group and DAC Beachcroft are also involved in the working group. The NCC Group already works with Intelliflo as a cyber security specialist and is also assisting UK firms in readiness and implementation of the GDPR. Legal firm DAC Beachcroft also works with Intelliflo and is recognised as UK legal experts in the field of data protection regulation.
The Intelliflo GDPR Customer Working Group is meeting regularly to discuss how firms interpret the key articles of the GDPR regulation and how they plan to meet the requirements. After each working group, a consultation paper will be produced that is shared with all Intelliflo customers for feedback. The aim of the initiative is to, during the first quarter of 2018, get to a common interpretation of the impact of the GDPR regulation on financial service firms and a best practise approach of implementation that will assist all Intelliflo customers in meeting the challenges of this new regulation.
The first consultation paper, entitled ‘GDPR and the Financial Advice Industry: Intelliflo Customer Working Group – 1st Consultation Paper’ has been produced and made available to all Intelliflo customers for review and to provide feedback.
Rob Walton, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Intelliflo comments: “It is clear there is a significant lack of understanding of the GDPR, both in terms of the differences with current data protection regulation and the impact it will have on the financial advice industry. As such, we have decided to seek engagement and feedback from our client community as to their plans and interpretations of the GDPR in order to map out a clear path and strategy for all firms to achieve compliance with this regulation. Given that advice firms deal with and process significant amounts of data on individuals, it is paramount that all have strategies developed and action taken by the deadline of next May.”
The next working group is scheduled to be held in late October, when further recommendations will be made and documented to share with the wider industry. The group comprises both advice and mortgage firms and networks and attendance is by invitation only.
