Nasdaq's BWise GRC Platform Selected by grupo Portucel Soporcel to Further Enhance Its Risk Management Processes

SETUBAL, Portugal and NEW YORK, Jan. 30, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nasdaq's BWise (Nasdaq:NDAQ), a global leader in enterprise Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (eGRC), announced today that it has been selected by grupo Portucel Soporcel to support the European leader in uncoated wood-free (UWF) writing and printing paper in improving its risk management standards by implementing an integrated GRC software solution for risk management, internal control and audit.

"BWise advised us to start on a GRC journey by articulating a vision, starting with a tactical approach that helps to quickly gain benefits in optimizing our risk management processes," said Pedro Sousa, Director Internal Audit, grupo Portucel Soporcel. "After delivering our first few successes in our GRC development, we will then further execute on our plan to lower the cost of compliance, while enhancing the overall visibility of opportunities and potential risks that our company faces."

Through its Rapid Deployment Approach (RDS), the BWise® GRC Platform will help grupo Portucel Soporcel streamline its group risk management processes, ranging from: initial risk identification, assessment and evaluation, risk mitigation and monitoring, tracking and managing incidents and providing configurable reporting. The new GRC solution will also allow grupo Portucel Soporcel to seamlessly monitor their key organizational risks at all levels.

"We are excited to welcome grupo Portucel Soporcel as one of our customers in the Portuguese manufacturing industry," said Rob van Straten, Global Head of Sales and Delivery, BWise. "Many large operating manufacturers deploy BWise for their GRC initiatives around the world and this is another achievement that proves the strength of the BWise® Integrated GRC Platform."

BWise is a Nasdaq fully-owned company and positioned by independent analysts such as Forrester, Gartner and Chartis as a leader in enterprise GRC platforms.

About grupo Portucel Soporcel

Grupo Portucel Soporcel is Portugal's second leading exporter, and the exporter generating the highest level of national value added. The Group accounts for approximately 1% of Portugal's GDP, around 3% of the country's total exports of goods, close to 8% of all containerized cargo, and 7% of all containerized and conventional cargo exported through Portuguese ports.

In 2013, grupo Portucel Soporcel achieved new records for paper sales and output, consolidating its position as Europe's leading manufacturer of uncoated woodfree (UWF) printing and writing paper. The Group exported products worth €1 215 million and its turnover rose to € 1 530.6 million. The leading European manufacturer, and the sixth largest in the world, of uncoated woodfree (UWF) printing and writing paper, the Group is also Europe's top producer of BEKP (Bleached Eucalyptus Kraft Pulp), and the fifth largest in the world.

The Group has successfully pursued a strategy of innovation and development of its own brands, which today account for 62% of sales of manufactured products. Special mention should be made of the Navigator brand, the world's best-selling product in the premium office paper segment. The Group's sales are made to 127 countries over five continents, with Europe and the United States as the two main destinations.

As a vertically integrated forestry group with its own forestry research institute, it leads the world in the genetic improvement of the Eucalyptus globulus. It manages vast tracts of forest in Portugal certified under the FSC® and PEFC™ systems (FSC license C010852 and PEFC license 13-23-001), and boasts annual production capacity for 1.6 million tons of paper, 1.4 million tons of pulp (of which 1.1 million is integrated into paper), and power generation of 2.5 TWh, adding up to annual turnover of approximately 1.5 billion euros.

The Group operates one of Europe's largest nurseries for forestry plants, with annual production capacity of approximately 12 million certified plants of various species, destined for use in renewing Portugal's woodlands.

In keeping with its strategy of international expansion, the Group is currently investing in a major vertically integrated forestry project in Mozambique set to culminate in the construction of a cellulose pulp mill, a capital project worth 2.3 billion dollars, as well as a pellets factory in the USA.

To learn more, visit www.portucelsoporcel.com.

About BWise

BWise, a Nasdaq company, is a global leader in Enterprise Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC) software. Based on a strong heritage in business process management, the BWise^® GRC Platform provides companies with highly-rated, proven software solutions for Risk Management, Internal Control, Internal Audit, Compliance and Policy Management, IT GRC and Sustainability Performance Management.

BWise's end-to-end solutions support an organization's ability to understand, track, measure, and manage key organizational risks. BWise helps companies truly be in control by balancing performance with their financial and reputational risks, improving corporate accountability, increasing financial, strategic and operating efficiencies. Using BWise, organizations are able to efficiently comply with anti-corruption regulations like FCPA and the UK Bribery Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, European Corporate Governance Codes, ISAE3402/SAS-70, PCI-DSS, Solvency II, Basel II and III, Dodd-Frank, ISO-standards, and many more.

BWise sales, service and support offices around the globe provide for the GRC needs of hundreds of leading companies worldwide.  For more information, visit www.bwise.com.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq (Nasdaq:NDAQ) is a leading provider of trading, exchange technology, information and public company services across six continents. Through its diverse portfolio of solutions, Nasdaq enables customers to plan, optimize and execute their business vision with confidence, using proven technologies that provide transparency and insight for navigating today's global capital markets.  As the creator of the world's first electronic stock market, its technology powers more than 70 marketplaces in 50 countries, and 1 in 10 of the world's securities transactions. Nasdaq is home to more than 3,500 listed companies with a market value of over $8.8 trillion and more than 10,000 corporate clients.  To learn more, visit www.nasdaq.com/ambition or www.nasdaqomx.com.

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CONTACT: Nasdaq

         Ryan Wells

         Communications Director

         +1.212.231.5541

         Ryan.wells@nasdaq.com

         www.nasdaqomx.com

         www.bwise.com

         grupo Portucel Soporcel

         Rui Pedro Batista

         Chief of Staff to the CEO

         +351.213.184.756 / +351.265.709.090

         Rui.Pedro.Batista@portucelsoporcel.com

         www.portucelsoporcel.com