Swiss GRC strengthens Thurgauer Kantonalbank’s Risk Management and Operational Resilience

Find out how Thurgauer Kantonalbank implemented the GRC Toolbox to strengthen its risk management, compliance and operational resilience.

Initial situation

Thurgauer Kantonalbank (TKB) is an essential part of the financial system in the canton of Thurgau and plays a central role in the regional economy. As a cantonal bank, TKB bears a special responsibility, both to its customers and to the canton, which guarantees its stability. In this role, the bank must meet the highest standards in terms of risk management and compliance in order to maintain financial security and operational resilience. In view of the increasing regulatory requirements and the complexity of modern banking, it has become increasingly difficult to make the previous manual processes efficient while ensuring the necessary transparency and accountability.

Challenge: Meeting the increasing requirements of regulators and operational resilience

TKB faces the challenge of meeting the complex requirements of regulators while maintaining strong risk management and a resilient operational structure. To manage the growing complexity, particularly in relation to transparency, accountability and operational resilience requirements, a solution had to be found that integrates all aspects of risk management and compliance, strengthening operational resilience while improving efficiency.

Swiss GRC impresses with deep integration and simplicity

After a comprehensive review of the GRC solutions available, Thurgauer Kantonalbank opted for the GRC Toolbox from Swiss GRC. The solution impressed with its comprehensive integration and simplicity, as well as its ability to meet the bank’s specific requirements. The key benefits included:

• Integration of multiple modules: The GRC Toolbox enabled TKB to manage risk management, outsourcing management, contract management, information security, business continuity management, internal controls and compliance in a single system, resulting in a significant improvement in process overview and control.
• Strengthening operational resilience: The platform helped the bank to improve its operational resilience by identifying risks early and implementing robust control mechanisms.
• Efficiency and automation: By automating risk and control assessments, the bank was able to significantly reduce the manual workload, use resources more efficiently and, above all, meet the many regulatory documentation requirements.
• Transparent reporting: The GRC toolbox enabled detailed and transparent reporting, which facilitated both internal decision-making and compliance with regulatory requirements.

Since the comprehensive implementation of the entire GRC toolbox, Thurgauer Kantonalbank has made significant progress in several areas. The full implementation of this solution, which covers various modules of risk management, internal controls and compliance, was a significant project for the bank.

Thanks to improved transparency and accountability, the bank can now provide comprehensive reports on its risks and control mechanisms, which has made it much easier to meet its accountability obligations to supervisory authorities and stakeholders. The automation of risk and control processes has led to a reduction in manual activities, particularly in monitoring, which has improved the efficiency of resource use and optimized workflows.

TKB’s operational resilience has also been strengthened, as the bank has a transparent and rapid overview of risks, BCM, information security and the associated controls per business process and/or function of the bank and can react quickly to operational risks. This is particularly important for a bank with regional responsibility. In addition, the GRC Toolbox enables TKB to reliably fulfill all regulatory requirements and to react flexibly to changes in the regulatory environment. The successful implementation of the entire solution underlines the long-standing cooperation between Thurgauer Kantonalbank and Swiss GRC and demonstrates the importance of a comprehensive and integrated solution for an institution of this size.

Takeaways

• Integrated solution: Thurgauer Kantonalbank benefits from the comprehensively integrated GRC toolbox, which combines governance, risk management and compliance in one system.
• Efficiency and resilience: Automated processes have increased efficiency and at the same time strengthened the bank’s operational resilience.
• Transparency and compliance: The GRC Toolbox ensures increased transparency in reporting and strengthens the bank’s regulatory compliance.