Client Protection Assessment Tool – CP SAT
The Client Protection Self-Assessment Tool (CP SAT v3.4.0) is the most recent version of the tool to evaluate your organization’s performance against the Client Protection Standards v3. It is available in 5 languages: English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Russian (you’ll choose your language inside the tool, in the Set-Up tab).
Important: extract the ".zip" file before using the Excel file, otherwise the macros will not work. If needed, you can unblock macros by modifying the properties of the file as follows:
- Open Windows File Explorer and go to the folder where you saved the file.
- Right-click the file and choose Properties from the context menu.
- At the bottom of the General tab, select the Unblock checkbox and select OK.
This version is fully aligned with the ‘CP Full’ tool in SPI Online. In addition, it allows you to see a mapping of the CP Standards with USSEPM indicators, so you can navigate in the SEPM Guide (in our Resource Center) where you’ll find guidance on scoring, information sources to look for and evidence to provide. This Excel tool has all the necessary dashboards as well as a gap analysis to help you build a meaningful action plan and focus on the improvement of your practices.
This tool is also used by the approved Certification Bodies for their CP Certifications. So you can get prepared for Certification by assessing your practices through this tool.
But don’t forget that in the case of a self-assessment, you should be careful to avoid overestimating your scores. (read this very helpful blog post!)
This tool should be used in conjunction with the APR Estimation and Benchmarking tool that you can find on this page. (Please note that the CP4 companion tool is currently incorporated in the CP SAT).
Your assessment options are the following:
- Self-assessment. One or more internal staff will review all the internal FSP documentation, interview all department managers and field staff, and meet with clients, to provide an opinion on where the organisation stands towards compliance with each indicator.
- Accompanied self-assessment. The first time an entity gets an assessment, it is often useful to have a consultant helping them to fill out the tool, understand the rationale of the indicators, and thus have more accurate results. The collaborative aspect of this process helps the institution take ownership of the expected practices and be able to do it entirely on their own in future years.
- External assessment by a qualified expert. In this case, the consultant who conducts the assessment brings an objective and expert opinion on the organisation’s policies and practices. This option is generally useful if the FSP wants to prepare for a certification.
- Certification is an option to be used only by approved Certification Bodies.
The CP assessment tool and process may feel intimidating. But this level of effort is essential for the improvement step, because the indicators and details will tell you exactly what to address in order to improve.
Here are some expectations to have in mind up front when you engage in this step:
- Multiple departments, including Board members, will have to be involved because different people are best informed about certain topics
- Interviewing and/or informally meeting with clients will bring additional insights to the analysis, even if their feedback are not statistically relevant
- Once all the information has been collected and reviewed, it may take up to 3 days to fill out the tool thoughtfully
IMPORTANT! The purpose of this assessment is to help the financial service provider serve its clients better. The results are mainly intended to show where to improve. So, it is important to be self-critical and not over-state results. This is the only way to create a relevant action plan.