The demands on financial services providers in relation to client identification are becoming increasingly complex. In some cases, there are even concurrent international and local rules and regulations to observe. Responding accurately to all the regulatory requirements in conventional and new, digital account opening and management processes presents financial services providers worldwide with some major challenges.

A quite considerable number of regulations on client identification and anti money laundering have to be considered when opening an account, but they also apply for the duration of service provision. They include, for instance, obtaining client master data, identifying the beneficial owners, and more recently also tax-related questions that have been introduced in connection with FATCA and the new rules on tax transparency.

Without technical support, it is virtually impossible for customer advisors to obtain and check the accuracy and completeness of all the necessary information before the documents enter the formality control process. Financial services providers must therefore constantly revise their account opening and management procedures to avoid making multiple requests for information from clients while still ensuring that the data they obtain is consistent.

Particularly challenging aspects of developing new, digitalized account opening and account management procedures are logic and completeness, since there is no customer advisor on hand to explain details and context and guide the client, if need be indirectly, to the desired outcome.

The new requirements on establishing tax residency in connection with the automatic exchange of information (AEI) have added a new degree of complexity. In the past, most processes were able to focus on the client or the contractual partners; now, however, additional information must be obtained, and if necessary officially reported, on the beneficial owners and the so-called «control persons». This extension of the group of individuals creates some major challenges for many financial services providers.

Many regulatory change projects have a direct effect on the principles and processes in connection with client identification (Client ID, KYC), anti money laundering (AML), and determining tax residency. Synpulse assists its clients with broad interdisciplinary knowledge and extensive front-to-back experience in projects of this nature.