Mac Bartine is the CEO of SmartRIA, a market-leading compliance software platform. Tom Fox welcomes him to this week’s show to talk about his company’s services and contributions to the compliance sector, what SmartRIA offers clients in terms of cybersecurity, and the future of technology solutions.
The Minimum Viable Product
The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the first part of the startup process for platforms. It is recognizing the problems within your platforms and also believing that you can solve them. Mac explains to Tom that the problem SmartRIA solution identified in terms of the MVP is the compliance obligations. So many individuals are not experienced in managing compliance in their given industries, and so need a source of structure that understands where they are. SmartRIA offers them that, as well as the tools and frameworks needed.
Vendor Due Diligence & Data Governance
Vendor due diligence and vendor management are key to managing cybersecurity risk. “You have to understand who you’re working with and what precautions they’re taking as a business to protect you from cyber risk,” Mac tells Tom. Having access to the proper documentation that reflects this is also important. SmartRIA has a plethora of different policies and procedures to protect clients’ data and takes the lists of vendors their clients have and itemizes each risk. Data governance falls under the same bracket as due diligence, that is, who has access to the vendors and what devices they use to access the data from those vendors.
SmartRIA as an SEC Solution
The solutions that you use for compliance obligations have to be done in a way that documents everything as it happens. “If it isn’t documented, it didn’t happen,” Mac says. Internal auditors aren’t in the position of giving the benefit of the doubt because they have no evidence of due diligence. SmartRIA has the tools to help its clients through this by way of PDF files, workflows, and documents.
To The Future
Tom asks Mac what the future will be like for technology solutions. Regulations in every industry are going to increase. “Across every industry, there is an increasing need for cybersecurity-related evidence, and tracking of what’s happening in that space,” Mac says. Data governance and vendor due diligence are big parts of that, but compliance management is going to also become more important.
Resources
Mac Bartine | LinkedIn | Twitter
SmartRIA
Korrine Kohm is CSS’s Director of Retail Wealth Manager Services. Prior to CSS, Korrine was the Chief Compliance Officer and Head of Operations at Estabrook Capital Management where she was responsible for all compliance functions of this SEC-registered, $2.1B investment advisory firm. Korrine began her regulatory career while working at Allied Irish Bank (NY) in the Operations Department where she was a key member of AIB’s Compliance Committee, responsible for ensuring compliance with Federal and State regulations. An active member of the National Society of Compliance Professionals for over 10 years, Korrine earned her Investment Adviser Certified Compliance Professional (IACCPTM) designation in 2006, is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, and obtained her Certified Fraud Examiner designation. In addition to her experience in compliance and banking, Korrine began the 16-week intensive training course in Quantico, Virginia, to become a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She has particular experience in crafting customized policies and procedures, developing and implementing compliance programs, conducting on-site compliance reviews, acquisition due diligence reviews, risk assessments and mock SEC examinations. She routinely councils clients on various regulatory matters, including SEC registration issues, social media and advertising, policies related to diminished financial capacity, disclosures and the annual review process.
