The platform developed by SIX, in close consultation with the industry, enables the electronic and efficient exchange of regulatory data and documentation between wealth managers, assets managers, banks and other market participants.
From 3 January 2018, financial institutions located anywhere in the world selling retail investment products to investors domiciled in the European Union must comply with multiple investor protection regulations, including PRIIPs, MiFID II and UCITS. Firms will have a new duty to exchange data and information about the content and sales of retail investment products, as well as create and issue regulatory documents such as PRIIPs-KIDs.
The new platform underpins SIX’s existing MiFID II data offering and PRIIP document generation and distribution services, making them easier to consume. Relationship managers will, for example, benefit by being able to use the interface to interact with the product issuers whose products they sell and make sure they offer products that match their client’s profile and then report back on who they sold to. This platform makes it easier for banks to automate their internal processes, enables two-way connections and feedback loops between the buy-side and sell-side and helps ensure that retail investors enjoy access to a diverse global investment portfolio and transparent costs.
Since the same data points are often required in different levels of granularity for different regulations, the platform also acts as a central source for investor protection data. Product data, information and documents can be structured and exchanged in real-time in a standardised way, and in the right format for each regulation. The platform also allows information and documents to be requested on-demand at the point of sale, rather than potentially multiple times each day for thousands of products, reducing costly unnecessary processes.
Philip Lynch, Head of Markets, Products & Strategy SIX Financial Information commented: “With 87 years of experience in financial information services, we specialise in helping firms understand and manage data for regulations. We have taken that experience and collaborated with the industry to develop this mutualised response to the huge challenge that firms will face in managing and exchanging regulatory data and documentation.
“This platform, with its ‘ready-to-consume’ data, will help banks automate and scale their operations, reducing costs and increasing the speed of compliance,” Lynch continued. “Instead of focusing on each regulation individually, clients can depend on SIX to support regulatory compliance for current and future regulations in tandem. Retail investors will benefit from a robust industry platform that helps make the investment market more secure and efficient, and allows access a diverse global investment portfolio with maximum transparency.”
About SIX Financial Information
SIX Financial Information is a leading global provider of data and value-added services for the wealth and asset management industry. Aggregated directly and in real-time from 1500 worldwide sources – covering all the major trading venues – SIX’s database includes reference and market data, corporate actions, regulatory data and pricing information for over 23 million instruments. With offices in 23 countries, SIX combines the advantages of local expertise with global reach to offer financial specialists comprehensive data services for Asset Servicing and Administration, Middle Office, Investment Advisory, Portfolio and Fund Management.
www.six-financial-information.com
SIX operates the infrastructure underpinning the Swiss financial sector and offers a comprehensive range of services around the world in the fields of securities trading and settlement, financial information and payment transactions. The company is owned by its users (approximately 130 banks of various orientation and size). Its workforce of over 4,000 employees and presence in 25 countries throughout the world generated operating income of CHF 1.8 billion and a Group net profit of CHF 221.1 million in 2016.
