About the Customer

A major pension regulatory authority in Nigeria oversees the country's contributory pension scheme, supervising pension fund administrators managing over ₦15 trillion in retirement assets for millions of Nigerian workers. This regulatory body ensures compliance with pension laws, protects contributor interests, and maintains the stability and integrity of the nation's pension system.

Operating sophisticated regulatory technology platforms, the authority conducts real-time monitoring of pension fund activities, performs comprehensive examinations of licensed operators, and maintains extensive databases of contributor information and pension fund performance data. With responsibility for safeguarding the retirement security of Nigeria's workforce, the organization manages some of the most sensitive financial and personal data in the country's financial sector.

Customer Challenge

In early 2025, the pension regulatory authority faced mounting challenges in managing privileged access across their expanding AWS cloud infrastructure. As digital transformation accelerated across the pension industry, the regulator's systems grew increasingly complex, spanning multiple AWS accounts dedicated to different regulatory functions.

The authority operated separate environments for surveillance, examination management, contributor data processing, and regulatory reporting. Each system required different levels of access for various staff members. Manual processes for granting and revoking elevated access became a significant operational bottleneck.

During a comprehensive internal audit in February 2025, the risk team identified critical gaps in privileged access governance. Examination staff often retained elevated access long after completing assignments, creating unnecessary exposure risks. More concerning was the lack of granular audit trails linking regulatory actions to individual staff, potentially compromising the authority’s ability to defend regulatory decisions in legal challenges.

The IT security team struggled with:

• Examination Access Complexity — Manual provisioning delayed critical reviews of sensitive financial data
• Multi-Environment Challenges — Difficulty managing consistent access across multiple systems
• Audit Trail Requirements — Limited visibility into who accessed what data and when
• Emergency Response Delays — Slow access provisioning hindered rapid interventions during crises
• Compliance Risk — Standing privileges raised conflicts of interest and segregation-of-duties concerns

Partner Solution

In April 2025, the pension regulatory authority partnered with Qucoon, an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner, to implement QTEAM (Qucoon’s Temporary Elevated Access Manager) across their AWS infrastructure.

The project began with mapping regulatory workflows and access requirements. QTEAM was deployed to provide centralized, time-bound access management while meeting strict audit and compliance requirements.

Regulatory-Focused QTEAM Implementation

Examination teams could request temporary access to specific data environments, specifying purpose, duration, and permissions. All requests required approval from senior staff, with conflict-of-interest controls preventing self-approval.

Automated Credential Management

QTEAM generated unique, time-bound AWS IAM credentials scoped to case-specific data. Credentials expired automatically at the conclusion of assignments, ensuring strict adherence to least-privilege principles.

Comprehensive Regulatory Audit Integration

Through integration with AWS CloudTrail, QTEAM created immutable audit trails linking every data access to regulatory cases and staff. Logs were stored in DynamoDB with tamper-proof protection, enabling rapid retrieval for legal or compliance reviews.

Real-Time Oversight and Monitoring

Senior officials used a Fargate-hosted dashboard to monitor all data access in real time. Automated notifications via AWS SES kept leadership informed of sensitive activity and potential conflicts.

Emergency Regulatory Response

For crises, QTEAM supported priority access with full audit coverage, ensuring regulatory teams could act quickly without compromising oversight.

The system leveraged AWS Lambda for scalability, DynamoDB for audit data, Fargate for hosting, and KMS for encryption, ensuring a secure and resilient foundation.

Primary AWS Services Used

• AWS Lambda — Serverless execution of workflows
• Amazon DynamoDB — High-performance audit storage
• AWS Fargate — Containerized oversight dashboards
• AWS IAM — Dynamic role creation for temporary access
• AWS EventBridge — Automated credential expiration
• AWS SES — Notifications and approvals
• AWS CloudTrail — Comprehensive logging
• AWS KMS — Data encryption
• Amazon API Gateway — Secure integration
• AWS Secrets Manager — Credential management
• Amazon CloudWatch — Monitoring and alerting

Results and Benefits

The QTEAM implementation, completed in July 2025, transformed the authority’s oversight capabilities.

Regulatory Excellence

• 100% Audit Trail Coverage — Every access linked to cases and personnel
• 60% Faster Examination Deployment — Reduced startup time from days to hours
• Zero Standing Privileges — Eliminated conflicts of interest

Operational Transformation

• 85% Reduction in Access Management Overhead — Automation replaced manual coordination
• Real-Time Compliance Monitoring — Dashboards provided continuous oversight
• Enhanced Case Documentation — Instant retrieval of access histories for legal reviews

Risk Mitigation

• Eliminated Data Exposure Risks — Automatic expiration prevented unnecessary access
• Strengthened Legal Position — Immutable audit trails supported regulatory defense
• Improved Stakeholder Confidence — Enhanced transparency boosted trust in oversight

By August 2025, the authority successfully conducted its most comprehensive examination program, reviewing over 22 pension fund administrators simultaneously while maintaining perfect audit integrity.

About the Partner

Qucoon is an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner with expertise in regulatory technology and compliance solutions. With deep understanding of financial services regulation and data governance, Qucoon helps regulatory bodies implement robust access management while meeting the highest audit and oversight standards.

Through solutions like QTEAM, Qucoon empowers regulators to enhance oversight, strengthen compliance posture, and achieve secure, transparent operations across their AWS environments.