Knowing Who You're Doing Business with

FST talks with Mark Parsells, Chairman & CEO Regulatory DataCorp (RDC), about the important regulatory requirements affecting the financial services space.

FST. A requirement of the US Patriot Act is that financial institutions know a great deal about the people they’re dealing with. Complying with Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements can be challenging. How are Financial Institutions (FI) and others responding to this challenge?
MP. First, it is correct to say it’s challenging. Even though most FIs are dealing with thousands of individuals and groups, the volume of data involved in researching just one person can be overwhelming. The FI must verify the identity of customers, consult lists of known or suspected terrorists and maintain certain identification records. At the same time, the FI must use a risk-based approach in its compliance protocol and there must be confident that the information is relevant, accurate and fresh.

RDC’s 6,600 users are a testament to our leading industry position in sorting through and making usable sense of this data. At a time when few vendors have more than a half million records, comprised largely of aggregated watch lists, RDC has more than five million risk-relevant records. It’s the largest risk-relevant database in the world. And we’re adding more than 4,000 records every 24 hours. But scale alone is not the most compelling factor. RDC clients can choose from 42 automated risk code filters to access the most relevant data. And we can deliver this data in bulk or in slices. It’s this combination of scale and the ability to sort the data in the most relevant ways that makes RDC the world leader supplying risk-relevant information.

FST. With so much data to sift and analyze, and so much criteria to consider, is it really possible to help clients build tools specific to their needs?
MP. Absolutely. In this business, one size never fits all. Based on their unique risk assessments, many groups want or need more comprehensive data sets. Our experience is that these groups are likely to become clients. In fact, in many ways our client base is self-selective. These organizations understand that RDC delivers data in ways that are convenient and useful for them.

FST. When it comes to providing comprehensive compliance data, what are some of the other ways RDC stands out?
MP. Well, there’s the human factor. Data for data’s sake is rather useless. RDC people use a range of decision logic tools to continually analyze this information. The goal is the closest possible match between all criteria. This adds real value for the client. And because the world is anything but static, RDC scours the widest variety of risk relevant data sources on an ongoing basis, ensuring that clients learn about new developments on a real-time basis.

FST. What can we expect from RDC in the future?
MP. An ongoing focus on ensuring the integrity and expansion of our data set, the development of new data sets for a growing number of clients and the launch of innovative delivery tools that anticipate the evolving nature of the regulatory and compliance sector.

Mark Parsells became Chairman & CEO of Regulatory DataCorp (RDC) in 2007. RDC was founded by 20 of the world’s leading financial institutions to develop what is today the most effective enhanced due diligence and monitoring service to comply with Patriot Act and Anti-Money Laundering laws.  Prior to joining RDC, Parsells was Chairman, President & CEO of an AIG backed insurance company. He was also President & COO of Citibank Online where he led the turnaround of the bank’s online business and ran global online banking technology.

To learn more please go to www.rdc.com , or e-mail solutions@rdc.com