Oddo Asset Management has selected CounterpartyLink to supply validated legal entity data and links to pre-Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) that will be used to support regulatory requirements such as Know Your Customer (KYC). The French asset manager has online access to CounterpartyLink’s central entity database, which includes content defined by and used by clients.
Tanguy Gossein, Oddo Asset Management’s compliance director and money laundering reporting officer, says: “We chose CounterpartyLink not only because it has demonstrated that its data is accurate, comprehensive and validated, and that it has the coverage we need, but also because of its flexibility and willingness to work with us to satisfy our requirements.”
Oddo Asset Management is one of over 70 clients working with CounterpartyLink’s entity data and more are in the pipeline. James Redfern, managing director, says: “The key to our offer is that we always research entity data from primary sources. This fulfils the requirements of KYC and other regulations.”
As well as using CounterpartyLink’s entity data for KYC, clients will use it to comply with regulations such as the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act – or Fatca – and European Market Infrastrucutre Regulation as they come onstream. The company is also accommodating pre-LEIs as they are issued by pre-Local Operating Units (LOUs) in the global LEI system.
Redfern explains: “We have carried pre-LEIs since they have been available from pre-LOUs including the CICI Utility, WM Datenservice and the London Stock Exchange. We add the identifiers to entities in our database and, independently of data received from pre-LOUs, we research primary sources and validate pre-LEI data.”
CounterpartyLink finds most data issued with pre-LEI codes to be accurate, but says its premise is to continue to maintain the data after the event. Pre-LOUs must maintain pre-LEI data, but they have different maintenance cycles, often annual cycles that CounterpartyLink improves on with more near-term and ongoing maintenance.
The company is also in a position to meet the hierarchical data requirements that are expected to pertain to the LEI. Redfern says: “We have more than 100 data fields for every entity, way beyond what pre-LOUs have. We have intermediary parent and ultimate beneficial ownership entity data and are providing this to tier one banks. In many regulations, the crux is KYC data, essentially who ultimately controls an entity and its activity.”
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