Bill 198 | ProcessGene

Solution & Benefits

ProcessGene™ Bill 198 Software – Introduction

The ProcessGene™ GRC software suite provides a complete solution for Bill 198 compliance. The Bill 198 software is implemented within days, immediately creating compliance visibility and centralized control.

The Bill 198 software establishes an automated workflow that reduces the time and cost of compliance enforcement and eliminates manual labor, maintenance of multiple excel spreadsheets, etc. ProcessGene™’s Bill 198 software is designed for multi-subsidiary organizations, based on our Multi-Org technology.

ProcessGene is acknowledged worldwide as a leading provider of Business Process Management (BPM) software solutions (see Gartner’s report on ProcessGene).

Bill 198 Compliance in a Changing Business Environment

In today’s highly regulated environment, enterprises are increasingly strained by regulatory compliance concerns, while at the same time having to promote the ongoing conduct of business. Executive officers are specifically required to demonstrate capabilities for effective regulatory compliance, and to ensure corporate transparency and visibility into the business.

ProcessGene™ GRC software provides a complete solution for Bill 198 compliance. The Bill 198 software is implemented within days, and uses automation to reduce the time and cost of compliance enforcement.

Compliance Challenge

The Sarbanes Oxley Canada regulation (also known as “Bill 198″, “CSOX”, “C-SOX”, “Budget Measures Act”, “Bill C-198″, “Canadian Sarbanes-Oxley”) was introduced 2002 by the the Provincial Government of Ontario, Canada, and has been continually maintained and updated to reflect the dynamic changes in business environment. The Sarbanes Oxley Canada regulation is aimed at covering different aspects of the government’s operations, as well as provisions on taxes, auto insurance and corporate disclosure. Bill 198 comprises similar issues as Sarbanes-Oxley, including auditor independence, audit committee responsibilities, CEO and CFO accountability for financial reporting and internal controls, faster public disclosure, and stiffer penalties for illegal activities. Bill 198 applies to all Canadian companies.

Two instruments have been created to help implement Bill 198, MI-52-109 (“Certification of Disclosure in Issuers’ Annual and Interim Filings”) and MI-52-111 (“Reporting on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting”). For IT and IS areas of the organization, Bill 198 and its instruments require:

The establishment of internal controls for financial reporting and for financial disclosure
A periodical auditing framework for assessing the effectiveness of the internal controls with “trustworthy and reliable evidence” provided in annual reports to securities regulators

Any misrepresentation or falsehood in these documents can result in serious penalties under Canada’s securities laws, including fines up to $5,000,000 Canadian and 5 years in prison.

Ensuring compliance with the Bill 198 regulation is an important organizational task, which requires ongoing management of compliance data. The compliance process is continuous and needs to be repeated periodically and closely monitored. Managing officers are personally responsible to maintain the Bill 198 compliance, and this responsibility requires significant management attention and allocation of time and effort. Beyond self assessments or assessments of compensated third parties (such as accounting auditors or regulation consultants), the organization may also confront other external audits that show little if any tolerance to deficiencies. The ProcessGene credo in this matter is that objective compliance data, maintained by the organization itself, has much higher value than opinions of compensated third parties. We also believe that only an ongoing, continuous process can ensure actual compliance and audit clearance.

Compliance Challenge for Multi-Subsidiary Organizations

Multi-subsidiary organizations are confronting even more complex compliance challenges, due to differences between the business processes and operational characteristics of subsidiaries. Hence, the management and communication of Bill 198 compliance in a multi-subsidiary environment becomes an extremely complex task when managed manually or by tools that are not specifically designed for Multi-Org operations.

Bill 198 Compliance with the ProcessGene™ GRC Software Suite: Solution & Benefits

ProcessGene™ GRC software provides a complete solution for Bill 198 compliance. Our Multi-Org software solution automates the Bill 198 compliance lifecycle and offers the following benefits:

Very fast implementation, the Bill 198 software is up and running within days
The Bill 198 software is based on Multi-Org technology, designed for Bill 198 compliance in multi-subsidiary organizations
The Bill 198 software features full automation of the Bill 198 compliance process using the ProcessGene™ BPM workflow engine, making it the most powerful system in the industry – yet the most intuitive and user friendly
The Bill 198 software features central cockpit with dashboards for data analysis and diagnostics- showing quantitative Bill 198 compliance fulfillment levels
The Bill 198 software features easy and fast access to objective evidence used for external audits
The Bill 198 software features direct connectivity to ERP systems (e.g. SAP / Oracle) and ability to extract and process data in real time, and run automated tests
The Bill 198 software covers not only Bill 198 compliance but also hundreds of other regulations and frameworks – all within the same framework
The most seasoned and comprehensive SaaS (Software as a Service) solution in the GRC domain (see Gartner’s report on ProcessGene)
The Bill 198 software improves the quality of Bill 198 internal audits and self-assessments

ProcessGene™ “Multi-Org” Technology

ProcessGene™ has been a pioneer and global leader in Multi-Org technology. During the past decade we have mastered a unique expertise in providing software solutions to multi-subsidiary organizations worldwide (see Gartner’s report on ProcessGene). Our Bill 198 compliance software has been specifically designed for multi-subsidiary organizations and it features the most comprehensive solution for complex, distributed compliance challenges. Read more about ProcessGene Multi-Org technology.