Today there was a truly exciting press release: The Austrian AuRep will use Nasdaq’s AxiomSL platform in the future – a SaaS solution for bank regulatory reporting.
From my experience in regulatory reporting projects, I find this current development in Austria remarkable. While many banks already use cloud solutions for various processes, the truly innovative aspect here is something else.
The Real Innovation: From National Cooperation to International Standard Solution
The AuRep initiative in Austria demonstrates a remarkable two-stage transformation process:
First Wave of Innovation (since 2013)
The establishment of AuRep is a unique cooperation between the most important banks and financial service providers in Austria, creating a consolidated infrastructure for bank reporting on a common platform.
• Centralized Compliance Architecture: AuRep is the world’s first banking consortium to harmonize the reporting of over 700 financial institutions on a single platform – a model that German banks have not implemented to this day.
• Cost Reduction: Avoidance of redundant infrastructure and software adaptations due to changes in regulations.
• Standardized Data Models: Harmonization with the OeNB reduces error rates – a noticeable advantage over German institutions with individual solutions.
Current Transformation to SaaS
The next major step for around 90% of Austrian credit institutions is now the international Nasdaq AxiomSL platform – a SaaS solution used by banks worldwide for regulatory reporting.
What’s special about this development is that an already cooperative model at the national level is now switching to a global standard solution, rather than pursuing individual paths. The current evolution towards SaaS is not a system rejection but an evolution of the proven AuRep model: cooperative collaboration in an industry to efficiently meet regulatory requirements.
From Traditional to “as-a-Service”: The Paradigm Shift in Regulatory Reporting
Generally, we see a fundamental shift towards “Regulatory Reporting as a Service” (RRaaS), which offers several advantages:
• Focus on Core Business: By outsourcing regulatory reporting, companies can focus on their core business
• Cost Reduction: Cloud-based solutions are noticeably cheaper on average than on-premise solutions
• Automation and Intelligent Features: RRaaS providers increasingly use AI and ML to automate processes and reduce human error
Why (Too) Many Companies Are Hesitant:
• Data Sovereignty: Concerns about storing sensitive data in cloud environments despite modern security standards
• Technological Deficits: Use of on-premise or desktop applications in reporting
• Regulatory Uncertainty: Lack of clarity about the acceptance of cloud solutions by ECB, FMA, BaFin, and other supervisory authorities
The Appeal to CIOs: From Silo Thinking to Ecosystem Thinking
Certainly, the solution presented so far is very specific to the banking environment. But what has been achieved here should also be a topic in many other regulated industries: finding cross-industry solutions so they can be operated together in a secure, highly scalable environment – namely the public cloud.
Of course, there are some positive examples from other industries, but why aren’t there many more? There is a lot for CIOs and other managers to do to leverage similar potential in their industry.
Collaboration Readiness Check:
• Which compliance processes are the same across the industry?
• Where do legacy systems block synergies?
Building Alliances in Regulation:
• Learning from Deutsche Börse and Allianz: How do financial market players create joint platforms?
• Pilot projects with early adopter companies from different industries
Rethinking Software Selection:
• SaaS models instead of installing products in your own data center
• Evaluating community cloud models for industry-specific data pools
Conclusion: Learning from Pioneers
The switch from AuRep to AxiomSL shows how banks can evolve from individual solutions through national cooperation to international standards. It’s not the cloud technology itself that is revolutionary, but the cooperative approach to standardizing regulatory processes, which should also be adopted in many other industries.
Because the formula is well known:
Cooperation in the industry + Standardization in reporting + Cloud as an operating platform = Compliance as a strategic lever
I can confirm this from my experience: The technical challenges are solvable. What it takes is the courage to cooperate – because regulatory requirements don’t get easier just because we work on them in silos.