The Colombian bank Bancolombia announced that it had significantly optimized its regulatory reporting processes using the Workiva platform. The financial institution states that it reduced the time required to prepare its Form 20-F for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by 57%.
This transformation comes amid stricter regulatory requirements and accelerated deadlines for publishing financial reports.
Growing regulatory pressure
In 2024, Bancolombia set out to modernize and accelerate its Form 20-F filing process. Until then, this procedure relied heavily on manual processing involving nearly 150 employees across 45 different functions.
According to the company, the complete cycle required approximately four months of work, or 79 business days, and generated nearly 1,000 email exchanges between teams.
The situation became more complex with the introduction of Circular 012, a local regulatory requirement mandating the consolidation of the Form 20-F with the management annual report, thereby reducing the execution timeframe from four to two months.
Centralizing financial data
To address these new challenges, Bancolombia chose the Workiva platform to centralize financial data, strengthen collaboration between teams, and improve information traceability.
The bank explains that it selected the solution in particular for its features dedicated to SEC reporting, its multi-user collaborative management, and its audit trail capabilities for tracking data changes and approvals.
Using the platform also helped limit the number of document versions circulating by email and simplify exchanges between the various internal and external teams.
Measurable operational gains
According to figures provided by Bancolombia, the time spent collecting data for the Form 20-F fell from 79 to 34 business days after Workiva was deployed.
The institution also reports having reduced its operational risk by 70% through improved information centralization and the automation of several reporting tasks.
Several departments reportedly achieved significant time savings:
- the accounting team saved more than 80 hours by automating the consolidated financial statements;
- the legal teams reallocated more than 80 hours to work related to disclosure policies;
- the investor relations department recovered more than 200 hours by automating certain financial releases and producing graphic materials.
A phased rollout
The project began with a small team of three people before expanding to nearly 90 participants during the 2024 Form 20-F pilot.
Today, more than 300 employees are reportedly involved in various platform workspaces, including at the Grupo Cibest holding company level.
Bancolombia also states that it is considering extending the use of Workiva to several Central American regional banks, including Banistmo, Banagrícola, and BAM.
The Bancolombia case illustrates the growing determination of financial institutions to automate their regulatory reporting processes in order to meet increasingly stringent compliance requirements.
Specialized platforms such as Workiva are therefore seeking to position themselves as tools capable of centralizing financial data, reducing manual processing, and improving collaboration between finance, legal, and compliance teams.
source: Workiva
