Third Party Risk Management and Compliance for the Financial Services Sector

FSQS (Financial Services Qualification System) is a community of financial institutions including banks, building societies, insurance companies and investment services, collaborating to agree a single standard for managing the increasing complexity of third and fourth-party information needed to demonstrate compliance to regulators, policies and governance controls.

Governance Group Members

Benefits of Membership

Benefits for buyers

  • EASIER REGULATORY REQUIREMENT
    Comprehensive, accurate and regular updated insight into third party risk.
  • SINGLE SOURCE OF TRUTH
    Thousands of third parties in a single, searchable, reportable and easily accessible system
  • REDUCED PROCUREMENT TIMESCALES
    Instant access to third party information, reducing the time needed to qualify new suppliers or renew contracts.
  • HIGH QUALITY VALIDATED INFORMATION
    We check all third party information in accordance with a consistent, objective and continually updated process
  • COST AND RESOURCE EFFICIENT
    Costs are shared amongst community members, significantly reducing the cost of an in-house solution
  • PEER NETWORK
    Access to the combined experience and resources of other members in the community with shared goals and challenge

Benefits for suppliers

  • EASIER CUSTOMER COMPLIANCE
    Simpler route to demonstrating compliance to multiple customers at the same time
  • RESOURCE AND TIME EFFICIENT
    Single profile for multiple customers, information request is tailored to goods and services being supplied
  • SIMPLER APPROACH
    Information is collected using selectable answer options rather than free text responses, making completion quicker compared to traditional questionnaires
  • CONTROL YOUR INFORMATION
    Your company information can be amended or updated at any time through a secure online portal
  • BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT
    Identify the common requirements of multiple customers and how your business might improve its compliance
  • FASTER QUALIFICATION
    Completed profiles are visible to all buyer members using FSQS when sourcing and qualifying third parties for new business

How it works

One of the key aims of FSQS is to ensure that the information that suppliers and third parties are asked to provide to their clients is proportionate to the types of goods of services being supplied. A dynamic three-stage process is used to ensure that the process is tailored, and therefore as efficient as possible.

Stage 1 collects basic information about a supplier or third party to produce a profile on their legal entity, financial status and the nature of goods and services being supplied. This information allows an inherent risk assessment to be performed to determine if Stage 2 is needed in order to collect more detailed information.

Stage 2 requires the completion of a more detailed questionnaire along with supporting evidence, such as policies and certificates. To make the process as efficient as possible, only questions relevant to the nature of goods and services indicated in Stage 1 are asked, and most of the questions have selectable answers rather than requiring lengthy written responses.

Compliance assessment

Stage 3 involves an onsite assessment to test a number of the key areas in Stage 2, including cyber security, business continuity, data privacy, fourth parties, and conduct risk. Stage 3 is applicable for suppliers of services where more detailed due diligence is needed to demonstrate regulatory and legal compliance.

Hellios’ expert team of validators check all information that is submitted against strict guidelines set by the buyer members of the community and work with each supplier to ensure the information is as accurate as possible before being published on the FSQS system.

Once published, buyer members can access the supplier’s information securely and use in searches, reports and graphical dashboards to help manage the due diligence and compliance process.

The Service

FSQS offers benefits to both Buyers and Suppliers. Click your link to find out more:

FOR BUYERS

FOR SUPPLIERS

FSQS Case Studies

What our Buyers and Suppliers are saying
FROM OUR MEMBERS

Testimonials

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