HotDocs in Challenging Times: The Impact of Brexit

This is the third in a series of blogs looking at the effect Brexit may have on the UK financial market. The first blog looked at general Brexit-related issues the UK financial industry may be facing. If you haven’t had the chance to read that yet, you can do so by clicking here. The second blog looked at how banks and financial businesses can prepare documents for Brexit.

Both blogs identify that there is a climate of change looming over the banking and finance industry and provide insight into how banks and other financial institutions can prepare for the upcoming period of regulatory uncertainty. This blog looks at how HotDocs provides the control and flexibility financial services companies will need to react to the regulatory updates that will accompany Brexit. We will also touch on the significant investment in Fintech since Brexit was announced; underlining that there has never been a better time to invest in HotDocs.

Control

When a change to a document is required, it may just be a simple text edit or the addition of a clause. Sounds easy, right? But how do you ensure that all of your staff are using the most up to date version of the document?

With HotDocs, your document templates are stored on the HotDocs Hub, which is comprised of a suite of interconnected, extensible and configurable modules, including enhanced template storage and management, user management, document storage and answer management.

This means no sending emails requesting staff use certain information going forward or emailing round an updated document template for everyone to use. The Hub also allows the set-up of user management rules to ensure that no one can make any changes without the sign off of the document administrator.

So, when Brexit regulations arrive, you can be certain that your documents are compliant and risk-free, company-wide.

Flexibility

As with most regulatory changes, it is unlikely that all of the changes that come as a result of Brexit will be rolled out all at once. When a change is made and you are under pressure to update your documentation, unfortunately another change won’t be too far away.

Using HotDocs, organisations can update document templates instantly and rollout the changes to a whole suite of documents from one location.

Simply make the change, update the template and all documents produced going forward will include the correct, up to date information.

Investment in FinTech Since Brexit

It is well known that financial institutions look to reduce costs and improve processes in turbulent economic times. A report by KPMG found that: “overall fintech investment in Europe grew in Q1’17, with $880 million invested across 89 deals. Of these totals, venture capital investment accounted for $610 million across 67 deals.” This shows that this has been the strongest quarter of European venture capital FinTech investment in recent history.

Another report by EY also showed that the UK financial industry has retained its title as Europe’s most attractive location for international investment. The sector attracted 99 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects in 2016, the highest level since 2006, and an increase of 5% on the previous year.

EY surveyed 80 foreign investors in 20 countries and found that the UK’s quality of life, culture and technology were each cited by 83% of respondents as key factors. The UK’s booming FinTech sector was another significant factor, with 72% of investors saying that this made the UK a more appealing market for investment.

Time to Invest in HotDocs

If you do not have a document automation system in place, there has never been a better and more important time to invest in HotDocs. Brexit will bring a period of economic and regulatory confusion, so you must ensure that your business has the agility to update documentation easily and avoid risk of non-compliance.

If your company’s documentation is facing changes in the wake of Brexit,get in touchto find out how we can help.