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New demands on financial service providers |
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The negative experiences of numerous private investors over the past few years have led to a significant
increase in the requirements that client advisory services have to fulfill. As a result, a variety of initiatives
have been launched at a European level to help protect private clients from bad investments. The
implementation of regulatory guidelines poses new challenges for central distribution areas in financial
institutions that are not just administrative but also impact support, advisory services, sales and new client
acquisition. Technical and organisational adjustments as well as investments in employee training can
represent a considerable cost factor. |
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Since July 2011, German banks and other issuers of financial products have needed to comply with two
statutory provisions in the area of investment advisory services.
The EU guideline UCITS IV (Undertaking for
Collective Investments in Transferable Securities) on the continued harmonisation of investment funds that
was established in 2009 is currently being implemented across Europe. An important component of this
guideline is the Key Investor Information
Document (KIID), which contains
standardised product information designed
to help investors make a better
comparison of funds than previously
possible using the existing brochures.
In addition to this European initiative, the German Investor |
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Protection Improvement
Act (AnSVG) also came into force in
Germany. This act has made Product
Information Sheets (PIBs) for financial
instruments – that had been voluntarily
introduced by some institutions – binding
in active sales. Just like the KIID, the PIB
is designed to provide comprehensive
information that accurately portrays the
risks of various investment products.
Customisable solution package
Interactive Data aims to support clients with a customisable
solution package designed to provide product information to help
such clients conform to the existing guidelines. The offering
includes a wide range of modular services which include
customer-specific design of the product information, generation and
provision as well as the complete handling of document management.
The technological basis of the PIB/KIID solutions is Interactive Data’s flexible market data platform. It offers
direct access to a broad range of financial market data and has been designed to ensure a seamless
integration of product information into the customers’ own systems. Up-to-date PDFs to be used in client
advisory sessions can be generated with just a few clicks. KIIDs supplied by investment companies are
integrated in parallel and processed in the same manner.
The documentation of the advisory process is also subject to increased regulation. To help banks and
financial institutes comply with these requirements, Interactive Data is archiving retrieved documents over
the required timeframe of 10 years in a secure environment. The client can directly access the archive to
help meet the compliance rules of CESR, EU and the German government.
“Intelligent outsourcing can help customers comply with regulatory standards in a cost-efficient way“, says
Carsten Dirks, Global Managing Director, Wealth Management Products. „With our customised solution
packages we can support them in streamlining their workflows where they need it. Due to their modular
structure, our services can also be expanded and adjusted to changing requirements, so banks are well
positioned for upcoming regulation requirements.“
Interactive Data supports
Commerzbank in providing PIBs and KIIDs
"Interactive Data significantly supports us in providing the PIBs and KIIDs in both our intranet and the
internet," says Christian Machts, Head of Product Management Securities at Commerzbank. "We can
provide our clients with the necessary product information while meeting the increasing regulatory
requirements that are placed on advisory documentation."
Companies can use the new regulatory requirements to carry out overdue changes to their internal system
architectures. Interactive Data supports clients in optimising their front and back office processes and
tailoring these to the growing regulatory framework in the area of IT security and auditing. The
implementation of well-crafted solutions for current and upcoming regulatory issues allows security
guidelines that assist clients in meeting their corporate and industry standards to be established.
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