Abstract:
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores a set of instructions executable by a processor, the set of instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the processor to perform operations including receiving an instruction to complete a regulatory form for a private entity, collecting data relating to the regulatory form from a data source, formatting the data for insertion into the regulatory form, populating a plurality of fields of the regulatory form with the formatted data, and submitting the populated regulatory form to a governmental regulatory entity.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 61/684,469 entitled “System And Method For Completing, Validating And Submitting Regulatory Forms,” filed on Aug. 17, 2012. The entirety of the above-identified application is incorporated by reference into this application. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND INFORMATION 
       [0002]    Many government agencies require the submission of forms by private entities due to statutory enactment. This is especially true in the financial industry. For example, statutes such as Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley require multiple submissions of a substantial quantity of diverse information. These statutes not only require the submission of information, but also impose corporate liability on the entity and personal liability on certain persons within the entity for both the submission of information and the accuracy of the information. Thus, it is extremely important to timely file accurate submissions. 
         [0003]    In one example, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) have proposed the submission of Form PF for private fund advisers. All registered advisers must file Section 1 yearly, while large Private Fund Advisers ($1.5B+) must file quarterly. The Form PF requires performance, strategy, exposures, and more. The advisor itself only retains a portion of that data. As such, the completion of the form will require any advisor to access data from external systems and to calculate answers from the combined pool of data. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    The present invention is directed to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including a set of instructions executable by a processor, the set of instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the processor to perform operations including receiving an instruction to complete a regulatory form for a private entity, collecting data relating to the regulatory form from a data source, formatting the data for insertion into the regulatory form, populating a plurality of fields of the regulatory form with the formatted data, and submitting the populated regulatory form to a governmental regulatory entity. 
         [0005]    The present invention is further directed to a system including a processor, a user interface, a network interface and a memory. The memory stores a set of instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising receiving, via the user interface an instruction to complete a regulatory form for a private entity, collecting data relating to the regulatory form from a data source, formatting the data for insertion into the regulatory form, populating a plurality of fields of the regulatory form with the formatted data, and submitting the populated regulatory form to a governmental regulatory entity via the network interface. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  shows a schematic flow for the submission of a form to a government agency according to an exemplary embodiment. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  shows a schematic diagram of a submission system according to an exemplary embodiment. 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  shows an exemplary method for the submission of a form to a government agency using the exemplary system of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  shows a first exemplary screen shot provided to a user of the exemplary system of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  shows a second exemplary screen shot provided to a user of the exemplary system of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 6  shows a third exemplary screen shot provided to a user of the exemplary system of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 7  shows a fourth exemplary screen shot provided to a user of the exemplary system of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 8  shows a fifth exemplary screen shot provided to a user of the exemplary system of  FIG. 2 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0014]    The exemplary embodiments of the present invention allow for the completion and submission of government forms (e.g., Form PF). The forms may be integrated into the exemplary embodiment; for example, in a software-based exemplary embodiment, the software may be provided to a user with the forms included. Additionally, a software-based exemplary embodiment may be configured to communicate with the relevant government agency to ensure that forms are up-to-date. The exemplary embodiments are operable to extract information from a variety of sources and place this information into the correct format for governmental form submission. 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  shows a schematic flow  100  for the submission of a form to a government agency. In this example, a private entity is required to submit one or more forms to multiple government agencies  180  and  190  (e.g., the SEC and the CFTC). The private entity operates a submission system  140  that submits the required forms to the government agencies  180  and  190 . The private entity also operates a series of separate data systems  110 - 130  that include the information for completion of the form. For example, the data systems  110 - 130  may include a trading system, a risk management system, a CRM system, etc. In one exemplary embodiment, data stored in the data systems  110 - 130  may be stored in a comma-separated value (“CSV”) format. In another exemplary embodiment, data stored in the data systems  110 - 130  may be stored in an Extensible Markup Language (“XML”) format. However, these specific formats are only exemplary, and the submission system may be configured to access information stored in any other appropriate format. 
         [0016]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , one type of the data systems  110 - 130  may comprise manually entered data  130 . Thus, throughout this description it should be understood that any references to the data systems  110 - 130  may include automated systems operated by the private entity or data entered manually by the private entity. Those of skill in the art will understand that, depending on the type of private entity, many different types of systems may be operated by the entity. Each of the data systems  110 - 130  may have information that is needed to complete a portion of the required forms. Those skilled in the art will understand that the data systems  110 - 130 , individually or collectively, may have the information required to complete the form or may have the information used to derive the information that is necessary for the form. For example, one form may require a private entity to quantify the percentage of equity trades that were OTC trades in the last quarter; in an embodiment in which the data system  110  is a trading system that includes records for all the trades in the last quarter including whether the trade was an OTC trade, the percentage of OTC trades could be derived from this stored information. 
         [0017]    Data stored in the data systems  110 - 130  and to be imported by the submission system  140  may include static data (i.e., data that remains constant regardless of the time at which the form is being completed) as well as dynamic data (i.e., data that varies over time and whose specific values vary depending on when the form is being completed). For the exemplary embodiment where the form being filled out is Form PF, static data may include a customer name, an affiliate name, a fund class, a fund relationship, a counterparty master, and a counterparty affiliation. For the same exemplary embodiment, dynamic data may include assumptions, a security master, fund holdings, fund trades, fund GL, financing available, investor master, investor affiliation, investor account, fund performance, risk VAR, other risk metrics, change in market factor, and standard final answers to be used in completing the form. 
         [0018]    The submission system  140  may store one or more form types that can be completed by the submission system. A more detailed description of the various features of the submission system  140  will be provided below. However, in general, the submission system  140  has the ability to request information from each of the data systems  110 - 130  based on the form that is being completed. For example, it can be considered that there is a very simple form that has three (3) sections. The data system  110  may include the information to complete the first section, the data system  120  may include the information to complete the second section, and the data system  130  may include the information to complete the third section. The submission system  140  can retrieve the required information for the first, second and third sections from the data systems  110 ,  120  and  130 , respectively. The submission system  140  may have default settings as to which of the data systems  110 - 130  should be used to retrieve specific information, or the submission system may be configurable by a user, such that each private entity may configure the submission system  140  to retrieve information from the one of the data systems  110 - 130  which the private entity desires. The submission system  140  may then complete the form and submit the completed form to the correct government agency  180  or  190 . The submission system  140  may also be configured to retrieve information from the data system  110 - 130  in a specialized format that allows the submission system  140  to calculate answers and subsequently populate the form with the calculated answers. 
         [0019]    The exemplary submission system  140  may include a database server  141  to interface with the data systems  110 - 130 . The database server  141  may be used to store the information that is retrieved from the data systems  110 - 130 . As described above, this information will be used to complete the required form. The submission system  140  further includes a middle tier server  142  that includes the functionality for completing the form. This functionality may include, for example, retrieving and processing information from the database server  141 , populating this processed information into the correct location and format on the form, interfacing with users  150 - 170  who are individuals at the private entity responsible for completing the form, and communicating with the systems of the government agencies  180 - 190  to submit the form. Additional functionality that is resident in either or both of the database server  141  and middle tier server  142  is further described with reference to the exemplary components of the submission system  140  as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0020]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the users  150 - 170  have access to the forms via interfacing with the middle tier server  142 . The users  150 - 170  may be granted various permissions based on their position or job title with the private entity to view, manipulate and/or approve various information populated in the form. 
         [0021]    The exemplary submission system  140  may also be used without the database or middle tier servers, in which case users  150 - 170  may interface with the submission system  140  directly to populate the form by either importing or manually entering data into the system. 
         [0022]    In the above-described exemplary embodiment, a submission system  140  controlled by a private entity retrieved information from data systems  110 - 130  also controlled by the private entity in order to fill out the form that is to be submitted by the private entity. However, the submission system  140  is not limited to retrieving information from data systems  110 - 130  that are controlled or operated by the private entity. It may be that the information that the private entity needs to complete the form is controlled by another entity. Thus, the submission system  140  may be configured to allow the importation of compatible data from data systems controlled by another entity (e.g., prime broker, fund administrator, custodian, or other service provider). 
         [0023]      FIG. 2  shows a schematic diagram of the submission system  140  including various components and features. Each of these features will be described in more detail below. However, it should be noted that the exemplary submission system  140  is not limited to the described components and features, but may also include additional functionality. 
         [0024]    A first component is a translation component  210  that implements a process by which the submission system  140  translates data from the data systems  110 - 130  into a usable form. As described above, the submission system  140  may retrieve information from any data system (e.g., data system  110 - 130 ). However, neither the type of information nor the manner in which the information is stored is uniform across multiple data systems. Thus, the submission system  140  must translate the information into a usable form so that the information may be properly completed into the form that is being filled out. For example, the translation component  210  may retrieve information from spreadsheets, manually entered answers, database files, storage arrays, etc. and convert that data into a usable XML file. The translation component  210  also allows the automatic linking of data by linking to, for example, Excel spreadsheets. Each input item in the form can be linked to a different cell or cells in one or more Excel spreadsheets such that as a user is filling out a form, the data from a particular spreadsheet cell or series of cells is used for the portion of the form being currently filled out. The translation component  210  also allows for the submission system  140  to answer particular questions on a form by applying translated information imported from data systems  110 - 130  to a customized set of calculations based on the particular form being currently filled out. 
         [0025]    A second component is validation component  220  which implements an error checking process by which the submission system  140  (a) ensures that answers fit the requirements of the form in terms of acceptable responses and (b) checks for internal consistency where dependent values are involved. The validation component  210  may perform one or more of the following checks. For example, the validation component  220  may determine whether values are reasonable, given the data requested; whether required inputs are filled, plus any dependencies; whether values tie across the form; whether totals match detail; whether values are within acceptable tolerance of prior temporal values (e.g., was there a substantial increase or decrease in a value from a past submission); and whether the values will pass the agency validations (e.g., each agency requires the forms to be submitted with a specific format such as number of decimal places, specific date format, etc.). 
         [0026]    A further component is a record component  230  that allows the submission system  140  the ability to create a record trail including, for example, (a) user created notes, (b) attached files, and (c) linking of spreadsheets that allows the submission system to perform a records management function to assist in future audits and to provide internal support for answers. The record component  230  may also, for example, capture in one place various information to support the input that will be filed. In one exemplary embodiment, right-clicking on each form input allows a user to access the backup information. This is a handy detail to support a subsequent SEC exam in which the private entity is required to provide the data and methodology supporting each submitted answer. This includes such information as user activity (e.g., a historic record of each change to the input, the user making the change, and the time of the change), notes (e.g., any notes the user may wish to record), source data or source information (e.g., trades, positions, investor accounts that was used to calculate an answer), calculation methodology (e.g., information about the specific calculation used), and any backup files. 
         [0027]    Another component is an approval component  240  that allows submission system  140  to implement an approval process for each of the forms. In one exemplary embodiment, an approval process requires certain users, or groups of users, to sign off on an answer before it can be submitted and then locks that answer for editing once it is approved. The approval hierarchy is entirely flexible to user structure. For example, an administrative user may define an approval workflow which includes a series of users and or user groups that are required to “approve” an item and all users that must approve, or at least one user must approve an item. The users that are part of the approval workflow may then approve items. The approval component  240  may also implement a reporting feature that shows the items that have already been approved and the items that still need to be approved before filing. This report may be, for example, by user, by form section, etc. The approval component  240  also prevents the form from being filed with the regulator if the form is not fully approved. 
         [0028]    Another component is a multi-form component  250  that allows the submission system  140  to compare forms across multiple filings according to user selected tolerances. The multi-form component  250  allows the submission system to track, visualize, and reconcile similar data across various regulatory filings and other reporting and record information to support the difference in two values that have the same meaning. 
         [0029]    Another component of the submission system  140  is a form help component  260  that provides information for each form that the submission system  140  is configured to complete. The form help component  260  may include instructions for each line item in a form such that the instructions are displayed next to the respective input in the form. The instructions may be based on, for example, the instructions of the governmental agency that requires the form. The form help component  260  may further include links to definitions or other helpful information for filling out the selected form. 
         [0030]    A further component of the submission system  140  is a share/save component  270  that allows the files to be shared with other users of the form or saved for future reference. For example, when creating the next filing (e.g., the next quarter), a user can start with the previous filing to minimize data entry. The share/save component  270  also allows the form to be printed via a hard copy of the form with the entered data or create a PDF of the forms with entered data using several popular programs. The share/save component  270  also allows the saving of defaults for each input item to minimize repetitive input. These defaults can be shared with other users by copying the settings file. 
         [0031]      FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary method  300  by which a form may be completed and submitted through the use of a system such as the submission system  140  of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . In one exemplary embodiment, the method  300  may be initiated by a user of the submission system  140  providing an instruction to complete the form; in another embodiment, the submission system  140  may be configured to perform the method  300  without a user instruction at an appropriate time, such as prior to a deadline for submission of the form. Additionally, the performance of method  300  may be monitored by record component  230  of submission system  140 , in order that records of the submission of the form by the submission system  140  are created in the event that the performance needs to be subsequently reviewed. 
         [0032]    In step  310 , the submission system  140  imports data from the appropriate source or sources (e.g., one or more of data systems  110 - 130 ) for the selected form. This may involve a user of the submission system  140  selecting one or more source data files, or, alternately, the submission system  140  may be configured to select the appropriate source data files. For the exemplary embodiment in which the form is Form PF, the data that is imported may include fund information, financing information, performance information, risk analytics information, position information, exposure information, and investor information. It will be apparent to those of skill the art that the specific data to be imported may vary in an embodiment in which a different form is being completed by submission system  140 . In step  330 , the data imported in step  310  is translated and formatted appropriately for use in the form by translation component  210  of submission system  140  as described above. 
         [0033]    In step  330 , the validation component  220  of submission system  140  performs an error checking process on the data that has been formatted in step  320  to ensure that the final data is appropriate for use in the form. As described above, this may involve determining whether values are reasonable, whether all inputs are filled, whether values are within an acceptable tolerance of prior values, whether the values are formatted properly for the agency that will receive the form, etc. Potential errors may be highlighted for review by a user of the submission system  140 , along with providing an explanation of why the potential error has been highlighted. The error checking process may also be performed by the multi-form component  250 , which may compare forms across multiple filings in the manner described above. 
         [0034]    In step  340 , the submission system  140  receives input from a user to approve or disapprove of the data that has been checked in step  330 . This may be accomplished by means of the approval component  240 , as described above, which may provide the user with a prompt asking the user to sign off on an answer prior to submission and then lock the answer for further editing. Where the user disapproves of the existing answer, the user may edit the answer before approving it. As described above with reference to the approval component  240 , the approval process may include an approval workflow whereby multiple users may be required to approve one or more items, where the approval of various items is subdivided among appropriate users, or in other manners consistent with division of responsibility within the entity that is using the submission system  140 . During this process, the user or users may access form help component  260 , which may provide the user or users with instructions or other helpful information for filling out the form. 
         [0035]    In step  350 , the data that has been approved in step  340  is filled in to the form that is being completed by submission system  140 . Those of skill in the art will understand that this may involve a mapping by which the submission system  140  is preconfigured to place each of a plurality of given imported data values into a corresponding field in the form. After the data has been filled in to the form in step  350 , in step  360  the completed form may be saved using the share/save component  270  of submission system  140 . The storage may occur locally to the submission system or in a remote storage. In another exemplary embodiment, the share/save component  270  may share the finalized form with one or more of the users  150 - 170  or other individuals to whom the form may be relevant. Finally, in step  370 , the completed form may be submitted to the government agencies  180 - 190 . In one exemplary embodiment, this may involve electronic submission via the Internet; in another embodiment, the form may be printed and submitted in a hard copy version. Following step  370 , the method  300  is complete. 
         [0036]      FIG. 4  illustrates a first exemplary screen shot  400  of a computer-implemented exemplary embodiment of the submission system  140 . In the screen shot  400 , a user of the submission system  140  is provided with various options for selecting the form to be completed by the submission system  140 . The user may be prompted with various options including submitting an initial annual or quarterly filing, submitting an annual or quarterly update, amending a previous annual or quarterly filing, submitting a final filing, requesting a hardship extension, or transitioning from quarterly to annual filings. The choice between submitting annual filings and submitting quarterly filings may be made based on the size of the entity for which the user is submitting the filing; for example, a large hedge fund adviser or large liquidity fund adviser may be required to submit quarterly filings, while other entities may be required to submit annual filings. The user may be provided with a set of check boxes corresponding to the above options and may check a box  410  corresponding to the selected filing. 
         [0037]      FIG. 5  illustrates a second exemplary screen shot  500  of a computer-implemented exemplary embodiment of the submission system  140 . In the screen shot  500 , a user of the submission system  140  is provided with various options for source data that may be selected for inclusion into the form to be completed by submission system  140 . The options may be provided in a table format, with a column  510  showing each of the options, a column  520  showing the number of rows of data available for each of the options, a column  530  providing the user with check boxes to select each of the options, a column  540  providing the user with a file name for each of the options, a column  550  allowing the user to preview each of the options, and a column  560  allowing the user to view a template for each of the options. 
         [0038]      FIG. 6  illustrates a third exemplary screen shot  600  of a computer-implemented exemplary embodiment of the submission system  140 . In the screen shot  600 , a user of the submission system  140  is provided with a display showing a portion of the source data loaded by the submission system  140 . The information about the source data may be provided in a table format, with a column  610  showing a data identifier, a column  620  showing a fund identifier, a column  630  showing a second fund identifier, a column  640  showing an as-of date, a column  650  showing a period end date, a column  660  showing the range of a particular set of data such as a net asset value (“NAV”), a column  670  showing an excess margin, a column  680  showing a deployed capital value, and a column  690  showing a regulatory asset value. 
         [0039]      FIG. 7  illustrates a fourth exemplary screen shot  700  of a computer-implemented exemplary embodiment of the submission system  140 . In the screen shot  700 , a user of the submission system  140  is provided with a display that enables error checking by the user. The screen shot  700  may include a textual display  710  indicating errors  720 ,  730  and  740  to the user, so that the user may remedy the errors. 
         [0040]    The exemplary submission system  140  also allows for the creation of unique reports relating to submission status and activity. Submissions may be very complex and can involve dozens of users or require the approval of specific groups based on the internal governance of the entity. Users of the submission system  140  may choose to receive reports detailing the status of all approved/unapproved items and a full audit history detailing the time and nature of each change to a submission and the user responsible. 
         [0041]      FIG. 8  illustrates a fifth exemplary screen shot  800  of a computer-implemented exemplary embodiment of the submission system  140 . In the screen shot  800 , a user of the submission system  140  is provided with a display of a report comparing multiple submissions produced by the submission system  140  over a period of time. The comparison report may alert the user to changes in submission data points that are greater than the report&#39;s established sensitivity criteria. 
         [0042]    The exemplary embodiments have been described with specific reference to a private entity submitting forms related to financial reporting (e.g., Form PF) to a governmental entity such as the SEC or the CFTC. However, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that this is only exemplary, and that the broader principles described by the exemplary embodiments are equally applicable to the creation of any regulatory filing or private report that involves the inputting, calculation, and verification of a variety of data. 
         [0043]    Those skilled in the art will understand that the above-described exemplary embodiments of the submission system may be implemented in any suitable software or hardware configuration or combination thereof. An exemplary hardware platform for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, for example, an Intel x86 based platform with compatible operating system, a Mac platform and MAC OS, etc. The exemplary system may further include a user interface for receiving user input and providing the user with information, and a network interface for retrieving data and submitting completed forms. In a further example, the exemplary embodiments of the submission system  140  may be a program containing lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium that, when compiled, may be executed on a processor.