For several years Alacra has been playing in both the reference data arena with our Concordance services and in the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) / anti-money laundering (AML) arena with Alacra Compliance.  We’ve been talking to customers about how these two worlds were going to converge, especially in light of the regulatory and industry push to establish a global Legal Entity Identifier.  Today, with the formal release of the Alacra Authority File, we’re providing the first real cost-effective bridge between these two worlds.

The Alacra Authority file contains enriched and enhanced reference data on over 180,000 global entities.  Criteria for admission, if you will, is if an entity has a listed security, is rated by one of over 30 different bank regulators around the world, or is rated by either Moody’s, S&P, Fitch or AM Best.  So the Authority File contains a large common set of most financial institutions customers and counterparties.  It also contains any entity that has a certified CFTC Interim Compliant Identifier (CICI) and will eventually contain any entity that has a certified LEI.

CiaThe use cases cross between reference data and compliance.  For the reference data area we help populate a reference data repository, eliminate/reduce multiple reference data silos, or improve the overall quality of a reference data warehouse.  We also expand the number of data attributes for CICI entities and can help prepare an organization for LEI integration.

Cia2In compliance, the Authority File can be used to check regulatory, listing and rating status, which at many financial institutions help determine whether or not an entity is low-risk.  This is important in new client onboarding as well as periodic refresh.  Several clients already have a check of the Alacra Authority File built into their Alacra Compliance deployment.

The most valuable component of the Authority File is that we’re updating the database with new events – every change to the database – every day.  So reference data and important compliance/risk data is always current and accurate.  This includes name and address changes; new ultimate parents (through M&A transactions); bankruptcies; and listing, ratings and regulatory status changes.

Cia3

Finally, for all these entities, we have our full entity identifier map available.  Issuer IDs, DUNs, Markit Red, FSA FRN, Swift BIC and dozens more.  For Alacra, this is an incredible product release that has been about a year in the making.  Great team effort in-house, and we had lots of advice and assistance from several key financial institution customers.  Ping me if you want to know more.