Avantage Reply partners with Credo to bolster IFRS9 capabilities

Avantage Reply, the management consulting subsidiary of Reply, has agreed a strategic collaboration with Credo, a Belgian firm that provides advisory and software solutions for credit risk. With the joining of forces, the two parties enhance their joint capabilities to help clients with the implementation of an end-to-end approach for IFRS9 phase 2.

Established in 2004, Avantage Reply is a pan-European management consultancy that specialises in the areas of risk, finance, treasury and operations. The consulting firm employs 200 consultants in 12 offices across Europe and the UK. Its parent, publicly-listed Reply, employs over 6,200 business- and technology professionals globally.

One of the Avantage Reply's key areas of expertise is regulatory implementation, which spans all kinds of regulatory changes with a focus on the financial services sector, including the likes of Basel III, Solvency II, EMIR, Dodd-Frank Act and MiFID II. In a bid to bolster its IFRS capabilities, the firm has agreed an alliance with Belgium based Credo, not to be confused with UK-based management consultancy Credo Business Consulting which was acquired by US advisory group Teneo in August this year.

The partnership focuses specifically on IFRS9, the latest instalment of the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). IFRS9 phase 2 will come into effect in 2018, and replaces the earlier IFRS for financial instruments, IAS 39. The main changes phase 2 will introduce are in the area of classification and measurement of financial instruments, impairment of financial assets and hedge accounting.

Founded in 2001, by Stefan Buyst, Credo is a consulting and software firm that provides advisory and solutions for managing credit risk and regulatory compliance. Commenting on the partnership with the Belgian firm, Nicolas Pavlovitch, a Partner at Avantage Reply and a former EY advisor, said: “This partnership will provide our clients with an innovative and compliant solution for IFRS9 phase2 and further reinforces the role of Avantage Reply as a leading risk and regulatory management consultancy.”

Besides leveraging and deploying Credo’s software, Avantage Reply’s consultants will also be involved with further developing the solution to meet the tailored needs of customers. Among the clients Avantage Reply serves are large banks such as ABN Amro, Barclays, Belfius, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and RBS, insurance companies such as Aviva, Axa, HSBC Insurance, ING Insurance, and Liverpool Victoria, as well as other financial services institutions including Alliance Bernstein, APG, BNY Mellon, JP Morgan, PGGM, and Rothschild.

For Credo, the partnership will provide access to a new and large client base, providing the it with the opportunity to achieve “critical mass to market”, said Buyst. “We are excited to have this unique opportunity and consider it an honour to work with Avantage Reply, a widely respected player that shares our hands-on and common sense approach to risk management.”