Ascent acquires Waymark to transform compliance automation

Ascent Technologies, a leading provider of AI-enabled compliance automation solutions for financial services companies, has revealed that it has completed the strategic acquisition of Waymark.

Ascent Technologies, a leading provider of AI-enabled compliance automation solutions for financial services companies, has revealed that it has completed the strategic acquisition of Waymark.

This acquisition aims to integrate Waymark’s advanced horizon scanning tools with Ascent’s industry-leading obligations management technology.

The integration of Ascent and Waymark creates a comprehensive solution for horizon scanning and obligations management, establishing a new benchmark for managing regulatory risk.

The combined company now offers full regulatory coverage of the US, the EU, and UK. Ascent’s technology quickly and efficiently identifies relevant regulatory obligations, while Waymark’s technology provides insights into future regulatory trends.

Ascent now automates two critical and resource-intensive components of regulatory compliance for financial services firms – horizon scanning and the identification of regulatory obligations tailored to each firm’s business.

Compliance organisations traditionally have reviewed an endless deluge of regulatory documents to identify and analyse applicable rule changes. The Ascent platform replaces these slow, costly, manual processes with patented AI that monitors the financial services regulatory landscape in real time, identifies rule changes and obligations that apply to a company, and notifies stakeholders of applicable rule changes and obligations.

Chris Junker, Ascent CEO, noted, “Ascent’s technology quickly and efficiently identifies relevant regulatory obligations, a critical task for navigating the intricate, ever-changing regulatory landscape. With the addition of Waymark’s technology, particularly its horizon scanning functions, Ascent now serves up insights into where regulations may be headed as well as a precise, timely and actionable picture of current regulatory demands.”

The announcement of this latest move follows Ascent’s recent acquisition by Edgewater Equity Partners.

Jon Leitner, President of Ascent, explained, “Knowing one’s regulatory obligations is foundational for financial services firms striving to adhere to evolving regulations. Once organisations use Ascent to understand current-state regulations, the next step is to anticipate and prepare for upcoming regulatory changes. This is why Waymark horizon scanning fits so well with Ascent.”

Customer Ian Hollowbread, COO – Digital Innovation at ING said that, “Ascent is at the forefront of the AI regulatory revolution. Ascent’s processing intelligence helps firms understand their regulatory obligations with precision. In combination with Waymark’s deep horizon scanning capabilities, we believe that this merger provides the potential to offer both the depth and breadth to meet the market needs for effective, comprehensive risk management.”

Mark Holmes, founder and CEO of Waymark, expressed enthusiasm about the acquisition, stating, “This partnership is a game-changer for the industry. Our combined strengths deliver an advanced compliance automation solution for our customers who now have access to the best US and Canadian regulatory content, while Ascent significantly expands its coverage in the UK and EU.”

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