Financial Services
Technology Governance Built for SEC, FINRA, and State Regulatory Requirements
Financial services firms face the most demanding regulatory technology requirements of any industry. SEC examinations, FINRA inspections, and state-level oversight all require demonstrable governance controls — not documentation that governance is planned. Centience delivers governance programs that are technically enforced across your entire technology environment.
Book Your Financial Services Governance AssessmentThe Regulatory Reality
What Regulators Are Looking For — And Finding
SEC and FINRA examiners have expanded their technology governance scope significantly. Modern examinations look beyond cybersecurity policies to assess actual technical controls: how is data being accessed, how is AI being used, how are communications being archived, and what evidence exists that governance controls are operating.
Most financial services firms are technically compliant on paper but operationally exposed in practice. Policies exist. Enforcement often does not.
Centience closes that gap — by managing the infrastructure where the controls must live.
SEC AI Disclosure and Governance Guidance
The SEC has issued guidance on AI use in investment management and advisory functions. Firms using AI tools — for any purpose — face increasing obligations to disclose, monitor, and govern AI usage. Most firms have not yet inventoried what AI tools are in use across their organization.
FINRA Technology Governance Expectations
FINRA examinations now assess technology governance as a component of supervisory systems. Broker-dealers must demonstrate that technology controls — including cybersecurity, data access, and communication supervision — are technically enforced, not just documented.
Communication Compliance
SEC Rule 17a-4 and FINRA Rule 4511 require firms to archive and supervise electronic communications. The expansion of communication channels — including messaging apps, collaboration tools, and AI-assisted communications — has made compliance significantly more complex.
Technical Capabilities
What Centience Manages Inside Financial Services Firms
Centience operates the full technology stack for financial services clients — which means governance controls are technically enforced, not advisory.
Managed Infrastructure & Endpoints
- Managed workstations, servers, and cloud environments
- Endpoint detection and response with continuous monitoring
- Access controls and privileged account management
- Network segmentation and security monitoring
- Patch management and vulnerability remediation
- Disaster recovery and business continuity governance
Communication Compliance
- Electronic communication archiving for SEC Rule 17a-4 / FINRA Rule 4511
- Supervision workflows for email, messaging, and collaboration tools
- Mobile device communication capture and archiving
- eDiscovery-ready archive management
- Surveillance and lexicon monitoring
- Communication compliance reporting
Cybersecurity Governance
- Security operations and threat monitoring
- Vulnerability management and penetration testing oversight
- Vendor and third-party risk evaluation
- Incident response governance and documentation
- NIST Cybersecurity Framework alignment
- Annual cybersecurity review documentation for regulators
AI Governance for Financial Services
- AI usage discovery — identify every AI tool in use across the firm
- AI governance policy development aligned to SEC guidance
- Vendor AI risk evaluation for third-party AI platforms
- AI monitoring and usage controls
- Documentation of AI governance program for examination
- Ongoing AI regulatory readiness monitoring
Regulatory Compliance Documentation
- Audit-ready evidence packages assembled continuously
- Controls mapping to SEC, FINRA, and state requirements
- Examination support and documentation coordination
- Written Information Security Policy (WISP) development and maintenance
- Annual review documentation and testing evidence
- Board and executive-level governance reporting
GRC Program Management
- Governance, Risk, and Compliance program oversight
- Risk assessment and controls evaluation
- Regulatory change monitoring
- Policy framework development and maintenance
- Compliance calendar management
- Third-party assessment coordination
Financial Services Organizations We Serve
100% Audit Success Rate — Here's Why
Financial services regulators do not give credit for governance that is planned. They assess governance that is operating. The difference between a successful examination and a deficiency finding is almost always evidence — documented, organized, and retrievable.
Centience operates the technology infrastructure inside our clients' organizations. That means we are collecting governance evidence continuously — not preparing it in response to an examination notice.
When a FINRA examination begins or an SEC inquiry arrives, our clients do not scramble. The evidence package is already assembled. Controls are already documented. The technical record is already complete.
That operational posture is why Centience has maintained a 100% audit success rate across all client engagements.
"Regulated firms need governance that is technically enforced — not written in a policy document filed in a drawer. When examiners arrive, the evidence has to already exist."
— Orville Matias, Founder & CEO
FINRA and SEC examiners are expanding their technology governance scope. Is your firm ready?
Our financial services governance assessment identifies gaps across your infrastructure, cybersecurity posture, communication compliance, and AI environment — and delivers a prioritized roadmap before your next examination.