This week sees the launch of PX Partners, an outsourced Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) firm that is addressing the growing challenges faced by Australia’s financial services industry in finding a solution to the increased need for GRC assistance.
Founded by, Tanushree Dabral, and, Jon O’Keefe, who have over four decades of GRC experience between them, PX Partners is set to challenge the notion that static, in-house GRC teams is the only model by which FSI organisations address their GRC requirements – especially during a time of disruption and change.
In fact, a recent survey carried out by PX Partners found that over 90% of senior executives see a shortage of GRC practitioners as ‘limiting business success’. In addition, 94% agreed that accessing variable or scalable GRC teams would ‘better support their business’.
Talking about the launch and the research findings Co-founder & Co-CEO, Tanushree Dabral, commented: “Like most financial services professionals, I have seen the increased investment in GRC since the Global Financial Crisis, but what is also obvious is that there’s more to be done in how these functions operate efficiently and effectively.
“Traditionally, firms have always been comfortable outsourcing distribution, operations and legal services but until recently, less so with GRC. At the same time, businesses are faced with growing uncertainty on many fronts – technological disruption, growing community expectations, regulatory and political scrutiny to name a few.
“With the role of the GRC function expanding and the skill set of the function moving from rule-setter/enforcer to coach/influencer, it’s clear that the future is the consulting model. GRC teams must to be more elastic to address these new challenges and business leaders recognise that having the right people at the right time enables success.”
Outsourcing GRC is the future
Fellow Co-founder & Co-CEO Jon O’Keefe, added: “The financial services industry has been investing in governance, risk and compliance solutions in a significant way in the past few years, however nearly every day there is a story about a GRC failure and the painful consequences organisations have faced as a result of it. There is no doubt that ASIC, AUSTRAC and APRA have become more probing in response to community expectations and outcomes of the Royal Commission.”
Mr O’Keefe continued: “The demand for GRC services is exploding and we believe a more dynamic and innovative approach to resourcing is required. Businesses must critically assess their GRC support models to ensure that the investment is yielding results which support good business and customer outcomes. Access to experienced GRC resources on-demand has a key part to play.”
PX Partners believes that, when done correctly, compliance should never compete with customer experience and that an insight from the Financial Services Royal Commission is that the industry often chooses form over substance – tick box compliance that does not necessarily lead to good customer outcomes.
“The renewed focus on the core financial service licensing obligation to provide financial services efficiently, honestly and fairly is a reminder that the way financial services firms go about achieving compliance really matters.” Mr O’Keefe added.
“Our experience at organisations, large and small, locally and overseas, is that by the time information is reaching senior management and Boards, it is sanitised to the point of being almost meaningless. Boards and senior leaders need to be proactive in ensuring they are receiving useful data from across their business. PX Partners, an outsourced third party can offer an unbiased, impartial and pragmatic perspective on how to do this, as well as a host of specialist solutions.”
The firm has an aggressive growth plan over the next five years and is actively identifying additional best-in-class GRC practitioners to join the team.
