Nikko Securities America (Nikko America) is planning to implement Fenergo’s client lifecycle management software across a number of its trading desks. The implementation is focused on helping the company achieve compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Know your Customer (KYC) and Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) regulation and will use the out-of-the-box version of Fenergo’s software.

Nikko America considered a number of client onboarding and lifecycle management solutions before selecting Fenergo on the basis of its solution and consortium based approach to regulation, which brings together Fenergo users on a regular basis to analyse regulations and discuss how best the company’s rules engine should work to collect and manage data for compliance.

The Fenergo software will replace in-house tools built for specific processes with a more holistic client lifecycle management system that can support business growth driven by fast and efficient client onboarding. It will also be used to remediate old data. The implementation plan covers trading desks including securities broker-dealer, capital markets, asset securitisation and fixed income. A first six month phase will focus on AML and KYC compliance, with a second phase covering FATCA compliance and further automation and integration.

Liam Cuddy, vice president of sales for Fenergo Americas, explains: “Nikko America will become part of an active client community that works hand-in-hand with our product and regulatory experts to design, develop and deliver software solutions that ensure regulatory compliance, operational efficiencies and improved time to revenue through faster, compliant onboarding.”

While Nikko America is implementing Fenergo’s software at its New York headquarters, Fenergo suggests a successful implementation with a short timeline could influence decisions on client onboarding at other companies within the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group of which Nikko America is a member.

For Fenergo, Nikko America is its first Japanese and first pure broker dealer customer. It is also of a size suited to Fenergo’s out-of-the-box solution, which is relatively easy to implement, configure and support, and is not designed for the kind of development and customisation required by large banks using the company’s software. To date, Fenergo has contracts with two Tier 2 global banks in the US and a number of smaller players. Cuddy expects to add another two to four large banks to this customer base over the next two years, along with about 15 smaller companies of a similar size to Nikko America.