Oyster Solutions To Add CAT Reporting Agent Services To CAT, CAIS Modules

Oyster Solutions, the premier provider of GRC software for financial services firms, announced that it will be offering Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) Reporting Agent services. This designation will further strengthen the platform’s ability to support clients with end-to-end CAT and CAIS compliance and reporting solutions in one central program.

The Oyster Solutions CAT and CAIS modules are built on the success of Oyster Solutions’ previous investments into governance, risk and compliance technologies, which to date have helped financial services professionals improve the efficiency and accuracy of their compliance programs.

Users of the Oyster Solutions CAT/CAIS modules also benefit from direct access to Oyster Consulting’s experts, who provide strategic guidance, regulatory insight, and hands-on support to optimize reporting accuracy and ensure ongoing compliance.

The Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) Module

The Oyster Solutions CAT module consolidates CAT reporting events, error analysis, and validation data into a central program. It finds mistakes, connections, and holes, and quickly fixes them in large quantities that the FINRA CAT Portal cannot. This powerful application helps identify errors, connections, and missing information in vendor data and CAT-reported data, making the reporting process easier and more efficient for you.

Unlike many of its competitors, the Oyster Solutions CAT module provides CAT file aggregation into a single surveillance platform. This includes:

• Unlimited CAT/CAIS reporting data files data
• Unlimited CAT/CAIS FINRA CAT Feedback Files data files
• Unlimited CAT/CAIS Source files to validate CAT/CAIS report submission files*

CAT Transactional reporting validation, correction and reconciliation features include:

• CAT Transactional product and event type aggregation tabs
• Named error identification and support
• Automated identification of error events and related audit trail events for research
• Syntax or field level validation
• Bulk repair utilities not offered in the FINRA CAT portal
• Accepted late event identification
• Source file validation
• Built-in validations for error corrections and new event creation

CAIS Module

The Oyster Solutions CAIS Reporting module helps firms achieve compliance with the full FINRA CAIS Reporting Obligation. The CAIS module uses a web-based GUI that provides firms with practical data so users can efficiently identify, monitor, and manage errors which may impact their report.

Unlike many of its competitors, the Oyster Solutions CAIS module allows firms to have all CAT transaction and CAIS reporting data in single application. The CAIS module also provides:

• Efficiency improvements related to centralized data aggregation and enhanced report validation
• The same research capabilities as in the CAT transactional module (see above)
• Account and Customer concentric data views
• Multi-level FDID Reconciliation
• Material inconsistency feedback efficiencies
• CAIS reporting history that allows you to track reporting updates
• LTID and ULTID reporting management

CAT/CAIS Surveillance

Over 100 pre-formatted reports provide graphic and sequential displays of data so you can quickly search, sort and filter.  Customizable data views allowing limitless sorting/filtering of all reporting data elements, as well as a FINRA CAT technical specification view of reporting events, a linkage tree view showing complete intrafirm audit trail and Dynamic reporting event information grids.  

Streamlined Compliance

In addition to these popular features that set Oyster Solutions apart, core features of the platform allow you to tailor entitlements and governance, track open issues, upload documentation, and import and export documentation.  Audit functions allow you to provide surveillance evidence.

Trade Surveillance and Supervision

Oyster Solutions’ Monitor module is specifically designed for the distinct workflows, procedures, and requirements intrinsic to regulatory supervision and surveillance demands. Compliance and Trade Desk teams can leverage Oyster Solutions to compare client activity, profile and investment holdings to employee information, identifying conflicts of interest, compliance parameters and risk tolerance.

Governance and Planning

The Oyster Solutions Governance module helps financial services firms define and quantify risk, matching risks to controls, and monitoring process. Oyster Solutions keeps business and controls balanced while meeting regulatory requirements. Role-based permissions allow for visibility by user responsibility, assigned tasks, and supervision to guarantee efficient compliance program management.

Centralized Documentation

Centralized documentation allows compliance officers to easily find and retrieve documents, audit logs, test results and attestations.

Automated Workflows and Calendar

With the platform’s Planner module, which includes an enhanced, automated calendar, you can schedule compliance workflows, notify users of tasks and guide employees step-by-step through the process. You have visibility into each automated action that will occur, giving you control and peace of mind.

Data Security

Oyster Solutions is committed to the security of our customers and their data. Our customers entrust sensitive data to our care. As a cloud-based company entrusted with some of our customers’ most valuable data, we are focused on keeping you and your data safe.  Keeping customer data safe is our priority.  Oyster Solutions utilizes a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model in which security is a shared responsibility among Amazon Web Services (AWS), Oyster Solutions and our customers. 

Additionally, Oyster Solutions’ role-based access ensures that only authorized users have visibility into sensitive client information. Administrators assign appropriate privileges, safeguarding sensitive person identifying information (PII) while enhancing compliance with regulatory requirements.