Significant cloud investment in the financial sector

Plesner assisted the Danish financial services group Alm. Brand in connection with the conclusion of an agreement with SalesForce concerning the provision of a cloud-based customer relation management (CRM) system. According to Alm. Brand the investment amounts to DKK 100m - and it is one of the first significant investments in cloud computing in the Danish financial sector.

Plesner assisted Alm. Brand in connection with the conclusion of an agreement with SalesForce on the provision of a cloud-based customer relation management system that compiles all customer data from the various parts of the Alm. Brand group into one cloud solution. According to Alm. Brand this is one of the largest customer-focused IT ventures made by Alm. Brand in recent times.

In spite of SalesForce having other major banks such as Deutsche Bank and Barclays in its client list, the agreement is the first of its kind with a Danish financial undertaking.

Agreements on cloud-based IT solutions in the financial sector pose particular challenges as several sector-specific rules and regulations are to be taken into account.

The Danish Financial Business Act, the Outsourcing Regulation and, for insurance companies, the Solvency II Regulation (EU 2015/35 (Solvency II)) direct the financial undertaking to take into account certain conditions in the agreement and the collaboration with an outsourcing partner.

Requirements laid down under sector-specific legislation can pose challenges, in particular in connection with cloud solutions where the provider often uses several sub-contractors, and can make it necessary to agree on significant modifications to the cloud provider's existing standard agreements.

It is also to be ensured that the processing of customer data complies with both generally applicable personal data legislation and the more stringent requirements under the Danish Financial Business Act.

During the entire process Plesner assisted Alm. Brand with the contract negotiations as well as with ensuring compliance with personal data legislation and relevant sector-specific legislation.

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