CounterpartyLink has upgraded its compliance data product to address the requirements of MiFID and the Third EU Money Laundering Directive, both of which come into effect in November this year.
Although each of the new directives has its own specific requirements, there are some common themes around the need to adopt a risk-based approach to client management, together with periodic and event-driven data reviews, the vendor says.
“We have launched this service in response to feedback from existing and new clients looking for support to address both the MiFID Client Categorisation requirements and The Third EU Money Laundering Directive. It’s clear that the new legislation drives up the need for accurate and auditable legal entity data,” says Martin Cole, head of product management for CounterpartyLink.
The new version extends the number of data fields that CounterpartyLink provides for a legal entity from 94 to around 150, and now includes beneficial ownerships of more than 25 per cent, together with details of company directors and officers. For the Client Categorisation tests under MiFID users will also be able to assess a company’s net worth, balance sheet totals and own funds.
CounterpartyLink is collecting the new data from company filings, audited accounts and registration documents, all with an audit trail back to the original sources, it says. On request, this audit information can be made available to customers to aid in compliance with regulatory frameworks and best practices.
Version 1.4 is available as an optional additional service for clients and is delivered as an XML batch feed on a daily or weekly basis according to requirements. “We are currently piloting the service with a number of existing clients and will be adding more sample data sets over the next few weeks, aiming for a complete roll-out around Easter,” adds Cole.
Rival counterparty data specialist Deutsche Boerse owned Avox unveiled an auditable client classification service for MiFID in January 2007 to supplement its existing offering.
Participating financial institutions submit the lists of entities they want to classify to the Avox Community, and Avox validates the client/counterparty records and enriches them with the MiFID data elements required for the classification.
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