Penta has successfully met the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority’s (FINMA) compliance standards for outsourcing. The audit – completed by EY (Ernst & Young) – means that Penta’s operations and IT infrastructure meet the strict IT standards required for banks, securities dealers and larger financial groups in Switzerland.
Penta CEO Farhad Khalilnia said:
“The standards established by FINMA are some of the most stringent for any business that seeks to be under regulatory compliance. As a consequence, Penta meets the standards of one of the most tightly regulated industries, across many areas, from operations excellence to financial stability and adherence to confidentiality and data protection laws.”
The FINMA IT outsourcing standards are referred to as Circular 08/7, first published in 2008 and updated in 2012. Meeting the standards set out in the circular means identifying, mitigating and monitoring the market, credit, default, settlement, liquidity and reputational risks. Furthermore, it means mitigating the operational and legal risks, when outsourcing part of a financial institution’s operations. The standard also requires adherence to Swiss data protection laws.
Penta provides tailored IT solutions based on its own network of data centers in Geneva, Lausanne, Dubai and Tokyo. The particular emphasis is put on security, confidentiality, business continuity and regulatory compliance. Solutions can be complete IT outsourcing – including servers, IP telephone systems and mobile communications – to hosting specific services or applications.
“Our clients – whether FINMA regulated or not – all benefit from the same high standards,” adds Khalilnia. “In addition, EY continuously audits our entire operations to ISAE 3402 Type 2 standards. We assume the cost and hassle of meeting regulatory IT compliance and any client can ask us for the compliance reports to submit to their industry regulator. Or simply for peace of mind.”