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In the NewsOur Company “Wolters Kluwer Financial Services of Minneapolis has agreed to buy the assets of a Houston flood-determination business owned by Stewart Information Services Corp. ‘ The combination of Stewart's flood determination business with our own … line of flood determination solutions allows Wolters Kluwer Financial Services to expand and strengthen our presence in this space,’ Brian Longe, the [the company’s] president and chief executive, said …” “In 2006, when it joined Bankers Systems, PCi Corp. and VMP Mortgage Solutions and then Entyre together, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services served notice that it would be a significant force in the mortgage industry, setting out to create ‘the workflow path to offer a one-stop solution’ and a single source for all of the industry’s outsourced regulatory compliance needs. The subsequent acquisition of Desert Document Services and integration with VMP X4 for workflow and collaboration established a mortgage document prep powerhouse.” “Wolters Kluwer Financial Services combines its expertise in meeting the combined requirements of lenders and dealerships for the whole transaction, which takes the ‘friction’ out of the process of matching buyers to the best financing solution,” [said Brian Longe, president and CEO of Wolters Kluwer Financial Services]. “People, of course, are still involved in the automation process. At Wolters Kluwer, the software and training are developed and offered by former regulators, banking executives and other experts with direct experience in the field, said product manager Heather Czermak. ‘These are the people who maintain our professional services division. People who used to do examinations in the field are now helping us automate the tools to help credit unions improve their workflows … ’” “[Lee] Domingue [CEO of AppOne] said that with its size and resources, Wolters Kluwer will enable AppOne to reach a global market. ‘We felt that it was just a perfect fit,’ he said. ‘This could take us from a six-cylinder engine to a V-12.’” “Blending banking and lending expertise with regulatory know-how has helped make a name for PCi [a part of Wolters Kluwer Financial Services] in the compliance filed. HMDA and fair-lending solutions are just par of their menu of solutions.” “Though its name might suggest that the company provides money-management services, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ bread and butter is in helping financial companies comply with their own guidelines and follow the rules created by local, state, and federal government. The company tracks more than 30,000 pieces of legislation as well as news from government agencies to keep on top of the changing rules that affect its client companies. ‘What makes us different from a document-delivery or software company is the level of our expertise,’ says Brian Longe, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ president and CEO.” “‘Our core competency is compliance,’ says Sue Pogatschnik, Wolters Kluwer credit union segment manager. ‘We help credit unions deal with compliance risks.’ The company provides document and workflow solutions that monitor regulatory and legislative issues, reduce compliance errors, and help credit unions develop policies, she says.” “Overburdened compliance officers are increasingly realizing they need to reach out to third-party experts for brawn, brainpower, and guidance.” “We have done some acquisitions in the past two years, and our business is growing organically, too. The reality is that we’re the beneficiary of a highly regulated society… We have the nice problem of serving customers with a wide variety of products,” [said Jay Levine, chief technology officer and vice president of product development]. Our Solutions and Services “Jason Marx, vice president and general manager at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, said the company is getting more deeply involved in the loan modification process because of demand in the marketplace. ‘Clearly, with what is going on in the marketplace today, there is a need for servicers to deal with the capacity issues they have,’ he told National Mortgage News. Wolters Kluwer can help servicers speed up the process by delivering documents immediately, with the capacity for borrowers to use electronic notification and signatures to express consent. And Wolters Kluwer already has deep penetration within the mortgage company. The company's customer base includes 70% of the top mortgage originators and 80% of banks in the U.S. use some Wolters Kluwer product.” “AppOne, Inc., provides risk mitigation between dealers and lenders by laser printing and storing all original paperwork to avoid tampering or inaccuracy.” “One big benefit goes to investors using GainsKeeper: They can import their data directly into CompleteTax.” “Wolters Kluwer Financial Services in Minneapolis launched a new healthcare savings account (HSA) banking platform it will target for banks and credit unions looking to offer high-deductible healthcare accounts-business services for corporate clients and individuals. Wolters Kluwer developed the HSA Director platform in conjunction with healthcare banking tech firm Canopy Financial, which recently raised $15 million in funding and supports HSA servicing technology for major clients like Wachovia, Sovereign Bank, and insurance firm Caremark. ” “AppOne, a division of Wolters Kluwer and a provider of technology and risk mitigation services to independent automobile dealer and lenders, offers a risk-management solution that ensures the security of the document flow between dealers and lenders.” “When looking ahead at the regulatory environment, it really comes down to preparation and protection. Dealers and lenders can benefit greatly from relationships with strong compliance partners who can help them avoid potential legal and regulatory land mines,” [said Lee Domingue, CEO of AppOne]. “Insurers should try to leverage technology, specifically business process management technology solutions that are combined with expert analysis of regulatory content. This powerful combination can improve a compliance professional’s ability to automatically receive and route the content that pertains to their organization much more quickly than most companies are able to do so today. It’s a two-part “win” for an insurer—they gain efficiency by reducing the time needed to analyze the impact on the company, and can expedite the implementation process while simultaneously achieving better overall compliance,” [said Pam Ewing, Senior Manager, Insurance Compliance Solutions.] “But what if you hold securities at different brokers or fund companies? Or you hold very old shares? Or your broker is slow to get with it? That’s why services like GainsKeeper are useful.” “[Dan] Grey adds that while technologies abet the claims process, they by no means obviate the need for human decision-making in the process. ‘It’s both technology and process, but without technology it becomes a very, very challenging process—akin to climbing Mount Everest,’ he says.” “‘One way institutions can prepare for a tougher regulatory environment is to adopt an integrated, automated, real-time fair lending review based on proven statistical methodology and informed by specific underwriting guidelines,’ [said Edward Kramer, EVP of Regulatory Programs, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services].” “‘We ran a hypothetical scenario where Alliance would grow to include 20 client credit unions in the next 3 years and [Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’] Rembrandt [Lending System] won hands down in terms of the flexibility of adding new members and its pricing structure as we expand,’ said [Travis Clem, president, Alliance Institutional Services, LLC]. And from a compliance standpoint, Rembrandt takes the worry away when documenting complex business lending transactions.” “With the increased scrutiny in the market today and the increased number of buybacks, ensuring that closing documents are drawn efficiently is crucial. To this end, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services and Elli Mae have partnered to create a seamless integration between Desert Document Services, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ document preparation solution, and Encompass Closer, Ellie Mae’s closing solution…” “If your deductions are more limited or you’re looking for a quicker solution, GainsKeeper (www.gainskeeper.com) will track and tot capital gains and dividends for prices on your transaction total.” “The partnership will match Ellie Mae's mortgage closing software, Encompass Closer, with Wolters Kluwer's document preparation program, Desert Document Solutions. Lenders who use both programs will be able to limit risks in the secondary market by improving the speed, flexibility, and accuracy of their disclosures and closing documents, the companies said.” “GainsKeeper does computations and applies the tax rules for investment portfolios,” [Stevie Conlon] said. “Where clients can’t remember what they paid for a security, this tool provides market-value measures on the date they bought, and takes into account adjustments like stock splits and reorganizations.” “There has to be an enterprise approach to security,” says Art Tyszka, director of product management, mortgage with information solutions provider Wolters Kluwer (Minneapolis). “It shouldn’t just be the burden of the IT department. You need a holistic approach to security. You want to show customers that you’re investing in ways to keep their money safe. So you’re not just increasing security but the customer experience.” “And in a step toward a complete e-mortgage offering from the vendor community, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services and Adobe Systems are pooling their respective enterprise workflow and process management software strengths into a full-service electronic mortgage offering launching soon with national lenders … Executives say the impetus for the deal came from shared clients who wanted the two firms to put an end-to-end e-mortgage platform in place.” “In the second attempt to find the right software, [Crawford & Co.] compared each system’s capabilities to the company’s workers’ compensation compliance challenges. Their evaluations resulted in the purchase of AuthenticWeb for Claims, a database of claims-specific regulatory information developed by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.” “While a doctor is in a prime position to recognize physical abuse, a front-line teller is in prime position to spot elder financial abuse,” says Sue M. Burt, a senior attorney at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, which offers a training module on helping banks spot [elder financial-abuse] red flags. “Given their position, it is imperative that bank staff is trained on the elder financial-abuse issue.” “I found an interesting tool to avoid the cost-basis wild goose chase. It’s called BasisPro… If you have a lot of cost-basis problems to solve this weekend, this tool may save you money over the preparer’s fees.” “For active traders, GainsKeeper (www.gainskeeper.com) has always been a favorite of ours. It's actually a suite of products—with portfolio-tracking tools that can adjust the cost basis for wash sales and corporate actions, or calculate capital-gains-related transactions. Another site feature offers portfolio strategies to minimize taxes and maximize after-tax returns while counseling you on how to diversify wisely. And GainsKeeper will generate a Schedule D (or export to popular tax-preparation packages) and build gain/loss reports.” “The online BasisPro database is packed with info about every corporate action—think mergers, spinoffs and stock splits—for every stock and mutual fund since 1950, plus all dividends since 1973. Reconstructing those basis-altering events is painful even with great records. This tool takes seconds.” |
Jennifer Marso Director of Corporate Communications for Wolters Kluwer Financial Services 612.852.7912 Email Jennifer Charles Miller Senior Public Relations Specialist Banking, Mortgage and Credit Unions 320.240.5457 Email Charles Angela Peterson Senior Public Relations Specialist Securities, Insurance and Indirect Lending 612.656.7745 Email Angela |
