Financial services firms face a number of challenges in effectively protecting their sensitive information, ensuring that its IT infrastructure are up-to-date and meeting the required compliance regulations. Increased control by regulatory bodies such as Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pile the pressure on compliant data archiving because of severe penalties including high fines and legal action.
The SEC is the authorized institution to issue recordkeeping rules for broker-dealers which became the standard for the financial sector and other regulated markets. Rule 17a-4(f) defines the adequate types of storage technology, the required retention periods, and other details related to compliant recordkeeping.
The SEC states that "the preserved records are the primary means of monitoring compliance with applicable securities laws, including antifraud provisions and financial responsibility standards. Recent events involving the deletion of emails by broker-dealers have affirmed the need to have measures in place to protect record integrity." 1)
A recently finished assessment by Cohasset Associates states that the combination of iTernity Compliant Archive Software (iCAS) and HP StoreEasy Storage meets the storage-related requirements of SEC Rule 17a-4(f). It is a cost efficient solution for financial customers as it allows SEC compliant recordkeeping without locking in customers with a certain storage platform. Compared with other archiving solutions, where the archiving license is often bound to the dedicated hardware (e.g. on a controller of an appliance), iCAS does not require iterated licensing when the storage system gets changed during the archiving period. Talking about retention periods of 10 years and more this means considerable cost savings because the archiving license doesn't have to be repurchased multiple times.
"As the software layer manages the statutory provisions customers are free to choose the storage platform which works best for them." said Georg Csajkas, Director of Product Management, iTernity
"Midsize customers are struggling with the tidal wave of new data sources and regulatory requirements," said Patrick Osborne, Senior Director of Product Management, HP Storage. "HP StoreEasy's efficient, secure and highly available storage, paired with iTernity iCAS, provides an affordable and secure solution for compliance archiving that integrates with the major business applications customers are using."
Safeguarding your relevant records with HP and iTernity solutions is a smart way to protect your enterprise from silent data corruption, unforeseen legal circumstances and to meet compliance standards of the SEC.
More information can be found on the iTernity webpage.
1) SEC Interpretation: Electronic Storage of Broker-Dealer Records
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
17 CFR Part 241, [Release No. 34-47806]
Dated: May 7, 2003
Download of the Cohasset Assessment can be found on:
http://www.iternity.com/...