The Challenge
One of Canada’s largest wealth management providers, Credential Financial Inc., required operational support for their transition from a broker/dealer to a self-clearing securities firm. They came to us to design and implement the new processes required to support this transition, while ensuring the new processes stayed compliant with specific industry regulations.
The Objectives
- Implementation of Two New Software Packages: We mapped out the system architecture and created and documented over 75 new processes to be FICOM Compliant. These would be used for decision-making and functional testing by over 30 members of the project team, including business analysts and business users. These process maps would also be used to train new staff going forward.
- Creation of a Trading Desk: We interviewed Credential staff to determine the most effective processes to meet self-clearing requirements while ensuring compliance with FICOM, IIROC and MFDA regulations. We developed process and procedure documentation, facilitated process review sessions to ensure complete understanding, and developed process test cases.
- Management of User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Presentations, status updates, workshops and training sessions were developed and delivered to senior management and other organizational stakeholders. We also helped the change management team prepare for the transition. This involved maintaining effective communications with all stakeholders to gather feedback on processes, foster consensual buy-in and transfer expertise in-house.
The Result
The project successfully met all scope requirements and was implemented on time and on budget with minimal disruption to daily operations. The Credential team was ready to “go live” in just four months. Key results included the creation and documentation of over 75 new processes as well as the system architecture to support the new trading desk and three newly created departments.
