Know Your Customer (KYC) and client onboarding programmes are well established in the banking sector, driven by regulatory requirements and beginning to deliver tangible benefits – but there is still much to be done to achieve best practice for optimal performance. The data management challenges presented by KYC and onboarding, as well as the opportunities of optimal performance, will be discussed by an expert panel at next week’s A-Team Group Data Management Summit in London.

Ahead of the event, we talked to some of the panel members to find out their views on the state of play in KYC and onboarding, and how best practice is developing. Philippa White, account director at Bureau van Dijk, says the initial cycle of identifying a good blend of data sources and technology solutions to support KYC and onboarding processes has slowed and that banks are now focusing on master data management and the use of beneficial ownership data to get a good understanding of the ownership of counterparties.

These activities will certainly improve KYC and client onboarding, but the big picture continues to be compromised at some banks that are still running separate line of business systems. White says: “Some banks have phenomenal system set ups and are winning client commitment as onboarding is quick and slick, but some have legacy databases and systems that don’t reach everyone. The need is to make onboarding reports easily accessible and visible to everyone, and to ensure everyone understands them.”

Alan Samuels, vice president, reference data solutions at Alacra, agrees that many banks have pockets of good practice and suggests the next wave of best practice will optimise KYC and onboarding across organisations. With more entity data available than ever before, he says banks are challenged by the need to connect more data to each entity in an intelligent way and process and maintain the data. Looking at next steps for KYC and onboarding, he adds: “Improving operational efficiency is imperative as banks try to transcend regulation and improve the customer experience.”

Ben Ray, European head of sales, client data solutions at Bloomberg, adds: “KYC solutions are primarily designed with the sell-side’s needs in mind. Going forward, especially given the regulatory climate, KYC solutions must evolve to address the buy-side’s desire for more control over the management and distribution of its information. At the same time, the buy-side wants more automation and operational efficiency, and information security is of prime importance.”

To find out more about:

• Best practice for KYC and client onboarding
• Outstanding data management issues
• Entity and beneficial ownership data
• Emerging technology solutions
• Tangible benefits of best practice

Register to attend A-Team Group’s London Data Management Summit.