Document Management Procedure Doesn’t Equal Compliance
Compliance is a key issue for every broker. That’s not a new or surprising statement for people who own or run a brokerage. But it is something that staff sometimes forget. Which is why document management procedure is key for anyone in the financial industry.
Financial institutions and advisors spend a huge amount of time wading through documentation every day. These documents need to be managed in an appropriate and compliant manner. That means documents need to be properly recorded. They need to be filed accurately and then they need to be stored securely.
Document Management Procedures are Vital for Brokers
These documents should remain accessible at all times, so that a call from the regulator can be easily answered. In order for brokers to function effectively, they need to implement an effective document management procedure. These procedures usually involve a combination of document logs, stamps and traceable signatures. They can be time consuming, but are a necessary evil in ensuring regulatory compliance.
In order for document management procedure to work, every member of staff needs to follow it exactly. As soon as one person allows standards to slip, it can impact the whole company. All it takes is one missed document to damage the integrity of the procedures in the eyes of the regulator.
Digital Document Management Can be Difficult
With so many important documents being created online these days, these procedures can easily be overlooked. After all, if you’re just sending a quick email, does it really need to be recorded as part of a case file? The regulator would have a very brief and direct answer to that question.
Selecting file types and creating file names can also be an issue in this digital age. If two different people use different file names for different docs, it can make document retrieval incredibly difficult. Digital document management procedure is just as, if not more, vital for regulatory compliance.
Having these procedures doesn’t guarantee compliance though; people are fallible so there’s always the chance of a slip up. For financial advisors, that uncertainty over procedures could be really damaging.
Services like Brokerprove remove that uncertainty. They create customized document management systems that ensure compliance and easy retrieval of documents. In an industry where regulatory compliance is so vital, that peace of mind is priceless.