The bank initially put out RFPs for seven different areas they believed would need to be addressed – with the initial intention of engaging seven separate service providers. However, EY teams evaluated the problem and recognized it could help the client address all their needs with a single solution. Starting in 2016, EY teams were brought on board to build and provide this all-in-one solution.
Going live in 2018, the solution had two main components: an automated reporting engine and a data classification engine.
The core of the solution was built on Microsoft stack technology, and provides a broad range of customer tax solutions. These allow the client to comply with its detailed customer tax compliance requirements in a cost-effective and automated way.
The EY Customer Tax Operations and Reporting Services (CTORS) solution suite can be provided to clients as a managed service, through our Microsoft Azure hosted instances. Alternatively, it can be deployed directly to clients via either on-premises or cloud environments.
The data classification engine and reporting engine adopted by the bank helps in several ways. It helped automated review of tax status changes when a customer changes their personal details (for example, following a change of address). It provides automated determination of customers whose details are required to be reported. And it automates the production of filings to be submitted to global tax authorities.
The solutions are also fully maintained by EY teams, determining that tax rules and requirements within the solutions remain in step with an ever-changing regulatory landscape. Based in offices around the world and providing coverage of more than one hundred global tax jurisdictions, EY teams could observe local regulatory conditions and update the platform accordingly, with the bank’s compliance measures shifting in turn.
For example, if tax regulation changed in Malaysia, the regional EY teams would flag this, and update the impacted solutions. The bank’s compliance would be guaranteed, without internal stakeholders needing to lift a finger. This information then populates a library of tax regulation information, which can be used for other clients.
In addition to the managed service elements, the solution also gives the bank enhanced access to customer and operational data – providing an opportunity to generate much deeper insights around customer behavior and other operational risks.