RegTech FAQ: Regulatory, Digital and Prudential Reporting
BM&A’s Advisory & RegTech teams support financial institutions, listed companies and international groups with their regulatory, financial, prudential, tax and sustainability reporting requirements.
BM&A’s RegTech Approach
BM&A combines regulatory, financial, accounting, prudential, ESG and technology expertise to help organisations improve data quality, secure their reporting obligations and develop sustainable reporting frameworks.
Our teams support clients on a wide range of topics, including digital financial reporting, ESEF, XBRL, CSRD, sustainability taxonomies, prudential reporting, COREP, FINREP, Basel IV, CRR3, public Country-by-Country Reporting, integrated reporting, market regulations and the automation of reporting processes.
Our services are tailored to each organisation’s specific challenges, regulatory status, geographical footprint and supervisory authorities, particularly across the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Digital Financial Reporting and ESEF
What is digital financial reporting (ESEF) and why is it important for my organisation?
The European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) is a reporting standard required for listed companies across the European Union and the United Kingdom. It enables annual financial statements to be structured using specific tagging, making financial information more accessible, comparable and standardised.
For your organisation, mastering ESEF is strategic in order to anticipate taxonomy updates and the introduction of IFRS 18, helping ensure compliant, transparent and efficient year-end reporting.
Sustainability Reporting and XBRL Taxonomies
What about the digitalisation of sustainability reporting (ESEF for CSRD) and the use of XBRL taxonomies for GRI, VSME and other sustainability reports?
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) extends the use of the ESEF format, originally designed for IFRS reporting, to non-financial disclosures. This digitalisation aims to make sustainability reporting electronically available and fully machine-readable for analysis and scoring purposes, reducing the risk of interpretation errors.
Ahead of the mandatory application of the ESRS taxonomy, organisations can prepare by voluntarily publishing data using the GRI taxonomy or the simplified VSME framework, facilitating the transition towards ESG tagging requirements.
Public Country-by-Country Tax Reporting
What are the digital reporting requirements for Public Country-by-Country Reporting (pCbCR) in Inline XBRL format?
The public Country-by-Country Reporting regime requires large multinational groups operating within the EU to publicly disclose key tax and business information on a country-by-country basis.
For financial years commencing on or after 1 January 2025, pCbCR reports must be prepared in XHTML format and tagged using Inline XBRL in accordance with the European taxonomy. This exercise requires organisations to structure a dataset designed specifically for public transparency rather than solely for regulatory exchange purposes.
For further details, see our analysis: “CbCR: Tax Reporting Goes Public and Digital”.
Banking Prudential and Financial Reporting
How can I secure my prudential and financial regulatory reporting (COREP, FINREP) and reduce compliance risks?
Securing regulatory reporting (FINREP, COREP) requires a combination of regulatory expertise and technology solutions. As CRR3 significantly increases data requirements, the European Banking Authority recommends adopting a common data dictionary, cross-functional governance and greater use of technology.
BM&A supports organisations in optimising reporting processes and ensuring data quality for submissions to the EBA, ECB and PRA/FCA.
To anticipate model changes introduced by Basel IV, see our article on COREP reporting under Basel IV.
EU and UK Regulations
How can organisations manage the complexity and divergence of prudential and financial reporting regulations across Europe and the UK (CRR/CRD, PRA/FCA, ECB/EBA)?
Managing differences between European and UK regulatory frameworks requires a comprehensive RegTech approach. Our London-based specialist team combines expertise across IFRS, ESG and Risk disciplines to help organisations maintain compliance with both EU and UK regulatory requirements.
Investment Firms, Payment Institutions and E-Money Institutions
What are the key prudential reporting requirements for investment firms (IFR) and payment and electronic money institutions (PIs/EMIs)?
Investment firms and payment institutions are subject to specific regulatory reporting obligations, including Investment Firm Returns, which differ from those applicable to traditional banking institutions.
Our specialists provide operational support to help organisations prepare these submissions while ensuring compliance with the regulatory requirements applicable to their status.
Discover the expertise of our Advisory & RegTech team, including FCA frameworks applicable to Investment Firms and Payment Firms.
Crypto-Assets and MiCA
What new regulatory and reporting requirements apply to crypto-assets under MiCA?
The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) introduces a new regulatory framework for crypto-asset market participants. Designed to complement existing financial market regulations, MiCA establishes new transparency and reporting obligations aimed at enhancing market integrity, operational resilience and investor protection.
Market Regulations
How can organisations ensure compliance with financial market regulations such as MiFIR and EMIR in both the EU (ESMA) and the UK (FCA)?
Market regulations such as EMIR and MiFIR require continuous adaptation of data collection and reporting processes. To remain compliant with the expectations of both European and UK supervisory authorities, our RegTech team assists organisations in preparing, reviewing and optimising their market reporting obligations.
Reporting Process Optimisation
How can I optimise banking and insurance regulatory reporting processes to improve reliability and efficiency?
Optimising reporting processes requires centralised data management and the implementation of effective technology solutions. By following EBA recommendations, including establishing a common data dictionary and a centralised data collection point, organisations can significantly reduce reporting costs.
BM&A supports teams in delivering complex accounting and reporting transformation projects while automating reporting production processes.
Learn more in our article: How Can Banks Reduce Regulatory Reporting Costs?
Integrated Reporting: IReF and BIRD
What are the principles of integrated reporting for banks (IReF/BIRD), and how can institutions prepare?
Integrated reporting initiatives such as IReF and BIRD aim to harmonise regulatory data and eliminate duplicate reporting requirements.
To prepare, banking institutions must rethink their data architecture in light of Basel 3.1 requirements, a major challenge explored in our analysis of the evolving regulatory data landscape.
Operational and Financial Impacts
How can banking regulatory requirements be translated into operational and financial impacts?
With the implementation of regulations such as CRR3 in early 2025, banks must collect, validate and aggregate increasingly large volumes of data.
Translating these requirements into tangible business impacts requires close collaboration between Internal Audit, Finance, Risk and Regulatory Compliance functions to assess capital implications and adapt organisational structures accordingly.
Building a Robust and Sustainable Reporting Framework
How can organisations build a robust and sustainable reporting framework in response to ongoing regulatory and prudential changes in the financial sector?
The long-term resilience of a reporting framework depends on combining Regulation and Technology. Organisations need both advanced regulatory monitoring capabilities and intelligent technology solutions to produce accurate, reliable and fully digital reports.
BM&A’s Advisory & RegTech team supports financial institutions across financial reporting, prudential reporting and sustainability reporting requirements within both European Union and United Kingdom regulatory frameworks.
