The London Interbank Offered Rate – commonly known as LIBOR – will expire by December 31, 2021. The move is the result of major manipulation scandals and reduced trading based on the rate, which is linked to everything from credit cards to leveraged loans. Libor is deeply embedded in financial markets. Some $200 trillion of derivatives are tied to the U.S. dollar benchmark alone and most major global banks will spend more than $100 million this year preparing for the switch.

Anyone who has bought computer systems over the last 30 years has come up against the same dilemma – shall we go for a ‘best of breed’ packaged solution, or shall we build it internally, using the skills of the internal IT teams? It is the classic “Make or Buy” dilemma.

You talk about your requirements with IT. They look at the problem – it looks like a few database tables with a couple of front-end screens for data entry/update will do the job. Chuck in a couple of reports and hey - the job’s done. It won’t take more than a couple of months, tops. Surely that’s better than spending more money on what looks like an expensive solution from a vendor?

At the start of November 2017, BaFin published the Supervisory Requirements for IT in Financial Institutions (Bankaufsichtliche Anforderungen an die IT – BAIT, see BaFinJournal November 2017).

The BAIT have now become the cornerstone of IT supervision for all credit and financial services institutions in Germany. The requirements are directed at the management boards of such companies. They specify what BaFin considers to be adequate technical and organisational resources for IT systems, particularly in relation to the requirements for information security and suitable contingency management.

Nowadays we take spreadsheets for granted. Their power is simply at our fingertips. But it wasn't always this way. How did we come to have these useful tools so readily available? There is surprisingly little formal information about how they came to be, but luckily, there are others who share our passion and have done something about it. 

Steve's team finished  the month-end close ahead of schedule without any mistakes. This humorous 15-second video shows how he celebrates! 

Imogen doesn't worry about errors in her models - she has automated controls!  This humorous 15-second video explains why she is so relaxed. 

A small error in a spreadsheet can cause a very public material error. Easily find all your spreadsheet errors BEFORE you finalize your acquisition.

Given your dependence on Microsoft Audit & Control Manager's Server, are you concerned about the sustainability of your spreadsheet risk management now that official support has ended. Or, are you migrating your critical Excel files to the cloud (e.g. SharePoint Online) which is not supported in Microsoft ACM Server?  CIMCON Software can help you maintain effective governance on Excel & Access files whether they’re stored in the cloud or on-premises.

The consequences of trusting - but not verifying - that your spreadsheet has no errors. 

Happy Valentine's Day -- This 15-second video is a  humorous, tongue -in-cheek tribute to you and your love affair with Excel!!