JP Morgan Treasury Services has announced several critical enhancements to its web-based, enterprise-wide Horizon(SM) operational risk management solution. The Horizon tool will now feature a Loss/Risk Events Module to further improve client’s ability to identify and manage operational risk. It will also include new functionality to support Sarbanes-Oxley section 404 regulations that require management to create and maintain an adequate control structure and procedures for financial reporting, and assess the structure and procedures currently in place.

“Managing operational risk is no longer an option, and with regulatory agencies mandating requirements, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, JP Morgan’s Horizon becomes a practical tool for establishing good practices concerning the handling of financial reporting, conflicts of interest, corporate ethics, internal processes, and accounting oversight,” explains Craig Spielmann, Horizon business executive for JP Morgan Treasury Services. “And perhaps the most compelling reason for a business to employ the Horizon operational risk solution is to attain excellence and become more competitive. Knowing your company’s strengths and weaknesses is critical to achieving success.”

The Horizon solution offers firms an innovative approach to optimise operational risk management. Horizon can improve management of internal processes, link strategy to business activities and help to facilitate change to a proactive business culture, resulting in reporting transparency and increased shareholder value. Horizon provides companies and enterprises with a clearer picture of the operational risks they face and saves them time and money by significantly streamlining manual control procedures. Horizon helps management document the controls established to mitigate risk, evaluate the effectiveness of business units’ compliance with defined controls, identify areas of risk which lack control procedures, and establish and monitor control action plans. By understanding the organisation’s risk profile, management can make more informed strategic and expenditure decisions.

The new Loss/Risk Events Module, which is due out in July, will transform Horizon from a self-assessment tool into a comprehensive risk management solution. The Module features:

  • Data capture for specific information pertaining to loss/risk events and impacts.
  • Basic reporting and charting capabilities (trending, details, basic analysis).
  • Integration with Horizon’s basic structure of an organisation’s hierarchy, risks, sub-risks and action plans.
  • The ability to categorise losses per firm and/or regulatory requirements.
  • Linkage to internal accounts, cost centres, and/or legal entities.
  • Simple web interface (HTML).
  • Enhanced search capabilities.
  • Audit trail of activities.
  • E-mail notifications.

The new Sarbanes-Oxley functionality, which is part of the new release of Horizon available this month, makes the risk management solution a full compliance tool. These features not only help clients with stringent new regulations, but improve client’s self-assessment and audit programmes.

New features include:

  • Account searches
  • Type of account
  • Attachments
  • Attestation capability
  • Control testing
  • Additional reporting
  • E-mail and audit trail capability