Regulatory risk intelligence provider Corlytics has acquired ING regulatory technology (regtech) platform SparQ in a deal valued at €5m to create a "unified monitoring policy" platform.
ING's legal and compliance departments began developing SparQ in 2017 as a software solution to identify and implement external regulation more efficiently within financial services organisations.
Dublin-based Corlytics partnered with the bank on SparQ the following year and now supports ING businesses globally with regulatory and risk data to 550 users across the group, including the risk, compliance, finance, regulatory affairs and legal departments.
The addition of SparQ's to Corlytics' technology stack will allow financial services organisations the ability to identify new regulations or threats, construct robust monitoring and oversight controls, and ensure appropriate policies are in place end-to-end.
Corlytics said the acquisition would "enable digitalisation across the regulatory change lifecycle," and that the companies' combined platform would support dynamic risk management, allowing clients to update and enforce internal policies and controls in real time.
In Association with
“This acquisition is important – both for the financial services industry and Corlytics," said John Byrne, CEO of Corlytics.
"SparQ technologies mean that we can close the regulatory compliance and obligations management loop – in a unified platform to automate, deliver and prove compliance.
"This deal sets the runway for further strategic acquisitions and is a clear signal of our ambitious program of managed growth.”
Rein Graat, chief compliance officer at ING, added: "In 2017, recognising the increasingly complex regulatory landscape, ING assembled a team of subject matter experts to develop innovative technology and transform regulatory change and policy management.
"The focus has been on end-to-end process integration, audit trailing, and global standardisation. SparQ has materially contributed to our efforts of demonstrating being in control.
"Corlytics became a key partner in 2018 and it is fitting that, after the global roll-out internally, the next stage of SparQ’s journey will be with the company that can bring its development to the next maturity level of being an industry-wide leading platform.
"We look forward to collaborate more intensively with Corlytics in this ongoing development.”
Accounts show Corlytics Ltd show losses grew from €1.8m to €9.7m in 2021, bringing total losses since foundation in 2013 to €11.8m.
Directors said the company is in a growth phase and generating losses, and that they expect losses to continue while reducing year-on-year until such time that the firm has expanded its customer base internationally, while adding that it had made "significant progress" on that front.
The company signed "significant multi-year licence subscription" contracts, and the directors projected continuing revenue growth and cash generation from operations to cover operating costs to mid-2023.
The deadline for repayment on shareholder loans worth €8.9m was extended from December 2022 to the end of 2024. Investors in the company include the Bank of Ireland Capital Growth Fund, managed by Kernel Capital, and Infinity Capital Ltd.
The company was also awarded funding of €2m by Enterprise Ireland from the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund in 2019. Corlytics employed some 20 people in 2021, and director emoluments for the year totalled €217,000.
Image: John Byrne, CEO of Corlytics.
