Colombian bank Bancolombia announced that it had significantly optimised 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 US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by 57%.
This transformation comes amid increasingly stringent regulatory requirements and faster financial reporting publication timelines.
Growing regulatory pressure
In 2024, Bancolombia set itself the objective of modernising and accelerating its Form 20-F filing process. Until then, this procedure had relied heavily on manual processes involving nearly 150 employees across 45 different functions.
According to the company, the full cycle required around four months of work, or 79 working 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 and the annual management report, thereby reducing the execution timeframe from four to two months.
Centralising financial data
To address these new challenges, Bancolombia selected the Workiva platform to centralise financial data, strengthen collaboration between teams and improve information traceability.
The bank explains that it selected the solution in particular for its SEC reporting features, collaborative multi-user management and audit trail capabilities, which make it possible to track data changes and approvals.
Using the platform also helped limit the multiple versions of documents circulating by email and simplified exchanges between the various internal and external teams.
Measurable operational gains
According to figures released by Bancolombia, the time spent collecting data for the Form 20-F fell from 79 to 34 working days after Workiva was deployed.
The institution also states that it reduced its operational risk by 70% through better centralisation of information and the automation of several reporting tasks.
Several departments reportedly benefited from significant time savings:
- the accounting team saved more than 80 hours by automating 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 communications and producing graphical materials.
Gradual adoption
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 different platform workspaces, including at holding company Grupo Cibest level.
Bancolombia also states that it is considering extending the use of Workiva to several regional banks in Central America, including Banistmo, Banagrícola and BAM.
The Bancolombia case illustrates the growing willingness of financial institutions to automate their regulatory reporting processes in order to meet increasingly stringent compliance requirements.
Specialised platforms such as Workiva are therefore seeking to position themselves as tools capable of centralising financial data, reducing manual processes and improving collaboration between finance, legal and compliance teams.
source: Workiva
