Straight Through Reporting (STR) in action

• Change ambition is growing. Institutions are stepping up their modernization agenda: a majority are investing in data‑quality uplift, and most anticipate a more integrated IT landscape in the near term.
• Regulators are moving faster—reporting must keep pace. Regulatory expectations have shifted from response windows of weeks to days, forcing banks to accelerate straight-through processes and reduce manual reconciliation cycles.
• Granularity is the new baseline. Frameworks such as AnaCredit and upcoming IReF/BIRD demand transparency at scale, requiring architectures that process billions of daily data points and support rapid supervisory checks.

• Cost and complexity are converging. Fragmented, ageing platforms drive run costs “skyrocketing every year”, making legacy system modernization essential to simplifying and harmonizing system estates.
• AI is an enabler, not an autopilot. Advanced automation and AI can close gaps and accelerate modelling, but human validation remains critical for regulatory acceptance and explainability.
• Transformation is both cultural and technical. Success depends on breaking silos between IT and finance, shifting skill profiles from accountants to data scientists, and embedding a transformation mindset across the organization.

"Legacy complexity is the biggest barrier to Straight Through Reporting. Many banks operate dozens of aging systems, some so old that no one fully understands their logic. Every additional system adds handovers, cost, delays, and error risk. The only way to scale is to harmonize data structures and system architecture—moving away from fragmented setups toward integrated platforms that streamline processes and eliminate redundancy."

Mario Becker, IT Project Lead, LBBW

"Regulators are becoming less and less patient about when they expect returns and raise queries. A few years ago, we had weeks to respond; now they expect answers within 48 hours—or even a single day. That means banks must invest in processes and quality to operate at supervisory speed."

Holger May, Partner, BearingPoint