Axiom is launching a new regulatory compliance solution to help top global companies confront the millions of contracts that must be analysed before the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) deadline in May 2018.
Axiom draws on its extensive regulatory and data privacy experience, with 200 subject matter expert lawyers on hand, to support a full GDPR adherence programme. The new GDPR contracts compliance solution uniquely combines deep data privacy expertise with artificial intelligence technology to analyse contracts, and includes an integrated/auditable workflow management system and scalable legal resourcing. A Diamond Member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), Axiom has developed this solution as a comprehensive way for companies to scope and renegotiate their contracts to be GDPR-ready.
“GDPR has significant new and updated requirements of contracts governing the transfer of data; even current contracts with robust data protection language will be rendered non-compliant. The GDPR contracts compliance solution announced today will drive down the cost of finding, understanding and remediating these contracts at scale,” says Mathew Keshav Lewis (pictured), co-head of Axiom’s Global Banking and Regulatory Practice. “Axiom’s solution has been adopted by some of the largest firms in the world to address the impending regulatory deadline.”
As regulatory response experts with considerable experience working with the world’s leading companies on contract remediation, Axiom estimates that global firms still have millions of contracts that need to be identified and remediated by May 2018, at a cost of over GBP800 million (more than USD1.06 billion). In discussions with more than 100 companies from the Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 about GDPR contracts compliance, Axiom found the vast majority had not yet begun to calculate the scope of their potential contract remediation work. Less than 5 per cent knew how many contracts would need to be addressed in order to comply with the regulation, which intends to strengthen and unify data protection for all citizens of the European Union.
“In tackling GDPR, the focus of most companies to date has been on large-scale technology issues and adapting systems to meet the new requirements,” says Lewis. “With just six months until the deadline, clients need to turn their attention to the millions of contracts between controllers and processors – they need to be found, understood and in many cases, renegotiated. There is a material compliance risk and huge fines for companies that don’t meet the deadline. The sheer volume of work means clients need smarter ways to reduce the cost and complexity of compliance.”
The GDPR contracts compliance solution is the latest addition to a growing portfolio of technology-enabled offerings from Axiom, which includes AxiomAI, an artificial intelligence and machine-learning program. “Axiom is leading the charge to bring contract management from the analog to the digital world,” says Chief Technology Officer Doug Hebenthal. “This contract digitisation creates a more streamlined workflow that, combined with our legal expertise, enables Axiom to create world-class solutions for our customers.”
