Opinion piece by Arnold Spruit, advisor to Governance.com
Leaving drinks with Governance.com: A company which first sparked my attention several years ago in the form of two eager twin brothers, Bert Boerman and Rob
Boerman, passionate and determined to help the industry transform through their
cutting-edge process automation platform.
Nearly ten years on, now a globally active and successful specialist business, why did I
step down as a Board member?
Change and reinvention are critical ingredients for success.
This applies as much to a person, or industry, which needs to embrace technology to
remain agile, modern, and digitally mature, as it does to Governance.com.
It has been nearly ten years since regulatory and compliance pain points led to the
birth of the Governance.com platform to automate related processes.
Both the industry and Governance.com have experienced ups and downs over this
time. I witnessed that the Covid pandemic, in particular, proved a pivotal point for
both, and these offer us examples of successful periods of change and reinvention.
The industry realised that digitalisation does work; that virtual working has its positive
side. The forced lockdown and virtual working served as a catalyst for financial
institutions to digitalise more of their operations. 97% of asset managers now cite
Meanwhile, at Governance.com, we strategically pivoted from focusing on small digital
transformation projects for the broader financial industry to concentrating on the
asset management sector and large-scale enterprise projects.
In 2021, Governance.com signed the highest number of deals in its history and saw
132% growth. Apex Group and TMF Group were the first enterprise groups to roll the
platform out globally. This year the company continued to grow rapidly and scaled up
its team to over 30.
What changes and reinventions are next?
Geopolitics finds itself centre of the world stage in place of the pandemic. We observe
a nod towards a more challenging economic climate.
For the industry, we see a shift from regulatory burden to the client experience as the
driver for digitalisation, with client centricity as the top priority. Those that
successfully turn their compliance process challenges into their competitive edge through
digitalisation will stay ahead. Cost and efficiency savings through digitalisation will
also spur digitalisation in the new economic climate.
And Governance.com?
I am excited that the company can benefit from fresh perspectives and expertise
appropriate for the next stage in its journey.
My stepping down as a Board member has helped make room for this. New Board
members Robert Glaesener and Georges Valsamidis are already helping to lead
the company to new heights strategically.
Governance.com remains as ambitious as ever in its determination to help the asset
management industry to transform. While the company works to continue to grow
globally in its operations in 2023, Luxembourg will always remain a critical hub for this
FinTech’s contribution to digital transformation.
What will the industry be asking for as we move into 2023? To go digital – not just talk
about it, but progress beyond the barriers and become more digitally mature. Both for
the approach to going digital and execution, Governance.com is ready with the
solutions. Governance.com’s recent RegTech100 listing as “one of the world’s most
innovative RegTech companies that every financial institution needs to know about in
2023” is a testament to this. The company has been listed a “RegTech100” for the third
year running and is the only Luxembourg-born FinTech to make it to the 2023 list.
So as a friendly and fond farewell to my Governance.com Board membership, I raise
my glass to an intense yet satisfying several past years for the company and industry
at large. I am happy to stay on board as an advisor and help the company wherever I
can. I look forward to an ever-ambitious new year ahead and further years of growth
and development for the company.