Bank Of England: Transforming Data Collection – Data Standards Committee Meeting Minutes – July 2021

Minutes

Actions

Members to nominate themselves as committee chair by emailing TDCSecretariat@bankofengland.co.uk with a short statement about why they are suitable by COB Tuesday 3 August 2021.

Introduction

AM and RD introduced themselves and welcomed all to the meeting. AM laid out the history of the work programme and gave a brief overview of the plan.

EM gave an overview of the delivery teams and their roles and responsibilities. SH presented on the work, and workshops, completed since launch.

Purpose of the Data Standards Committee

AS presented the broad structure of the programme, including the Reporting and Data Standards Transformation Board and other relevant initiatives. He went on to explain the role of the governance committees and delivery groups.

AS explained that the role of the Data Standards Committee includes providing guidance on which use cases should be pursued, and reviewing draft standards.

Key Discussion Points/Comments:

• In response to AT’s question on the involvement of other areas of the Bank and FCA, the co-chairs confirmed wide-ranging internal engagement and alignment within both regulators.
• The Terms of Reference were approved by the committee.

Chair Nomination

AS outlined the process for selecting a chair, replacement of members, and expectations for attendance at meetings.

ACT: Members who wish to nominate themselves should send a short statement about why they are suitable by email to TDCSecretariat@bankofengland.co.uk by COB Tuesday 3 August 2021.

Key Discussion Points/Comments:

• Members requested clarification on the criteria for nominating themselves as chair. AM confirmed there are no pre-conditions, but that the chair will be expected to commit time and effort to planning meeting agenda.
• DH1 highlighted the need to communicate the committee’s work externally, particularly with the ISO financial services standards groups in the UK. AM confirmed our intention to be transparent, and regularly share our work during regular events with industry and other stakeholders.

Project Goals

DF outlined the two year project goals, which were collated during various delivery team workshops.

Key Discussion Points/Comments:

• Members generally supported the goals and thought they were achievable.
• Members felt that developing data standards and reusable solutions are important goals. They felt that some existing standards were enablers that would allow for quick wins and reusability down the line.
• Members agreed that it was important to include well-defined metrics to measure success.
• Given that there have been similar initiatives in the past, AD questioned how far the Bank and FCA are willing to stand behind the outputs of this programme. AM and RD confirmed that both the Bank and FCA will aim to influence to promote change, and are prepared to use policy powers where appropriate.

DF presented the 9 month project goals.

Key Discussion Points/Comments:

• AT suggested that these goals should include external communications and links to other networks.
• Members questioned how the programme might involve solution providers. AM confirmed that there is potential to involve solution providers in the programme, but emphasised the need for open, not proprietary, standards.
• Members agreed that the most important goal was to deliver a tangible and implementable solution.

Discovery Overview

SH outlined our roadmap for phase 1 of the work programme, explaining that the discovery for each use case will be staggered to match availability of resource. This will also maximise our ability to learn from, and reuse, work from previous use cases.

Key Discussion Points/Comments:

• Members expressed concern about the first discovery phase running through the August holidays as less resource will be available. SH explained that we have extended the discovery in order to take the reduced capacity into account.
• TS asked if there is a single Product Owner Group (POG) across all of the use cases or if it is split. AM explained that the team is still working out how best to engage the POG across the use cases.

EM gave an overview of the discovery aims and asked for approval.

Key Discussion Points/Comments:

• AT suggested that it would be important for the committee to give further input into measures of success for the programme. He recommended that one such goal should be to seek opportunities for data to be used in other ways (beyond regulatory reporting).
• DH1 agreed that, as firms are unlikely to discard internal data models, it is important to seek ways to align firms’ internal data and external reporting.
• Members approved the aims of the discovery phase.

AOB

NS noted that much will happen before the next committee meeting scheduled in September. AM confirmed that the Secretariat will keep members updated.

Members queried plans for future in-person meetings. AM explained that we are currently trialling hybrid meetings for the delivery teams, with a plan to expand this for committees in the future.

Attendees

Ffion Ackland (FA), Goldman Sachs
Simon Asplen-Taylor (SA), Lloyd’s
Julian Batt (JB), Bank of America
Rebecca Ding (RD), Financial Conduct Authority
Andrew Douglas (AD), Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation;
Rich Evans (RE), FIX Trading;
Dayo Forster (DF), Bank of England
Dawd Haque (DH1), Deutsche Bank
Liz Henderson (LH), National House-Building Council
David Holland (DH2), Coventry Building Society
Sharon Howells (SH), NatWest
Paul Jones (PJ), Nationwide Building Society
Neil Kirkam (NK), London Metal Exchange
Caroline Lewis (CL), Lloyds Banking Group
Elizabeth Maloney (EM), JP Morgan
Angus Moir (AM, Chair), Bank of England
Corrine Powley (CP), Phoenix Group
Aaron Shiret (AS), Bank of England
David Shone (DS), International Securities Lending Association
Ian Sloyan (IS), International Swaps and Derivatives Association
Tammy Solomon (RS), Investec Bank Plc
Nicholas Steel (NS), Barclays Group
Emma Tan (ET), JP Morgan
Andrew Turvey (AT), Belmont Green
Ronik Varma (RV), Financial Conduct Authority
Rebecca Whitwam (RW), Bank of England