Avox-GoldenSource Alliance
February 11, 2008
Avox, a counterparty data management specialist, and GoldenSource Corp., a New York-based provider of enterprisewide data management (EDM) solutions, said that mutual clients will be able to integrate Avox's business entity data into the GoldenSource EDM platform.
"Avox's global network of contributing clients in conjunction with our first-class research team, authoritative sources and global news-feed partners generate the most complete and timely business entity data possible," said Ken Price, CEO of Wrexham, U.K.-based Avox, in a statement. He added that mutual customers "will benefit enormously from access to this validated and stress-tested data. They will then be able to freely distribute this data across multiple source systems, business units and geographical locations within their enterprise."
Counterparty data generally refers to the entities with which a firm does business--such as trading partners and clients. The biggest challenge in collecting clean data is understanding the often complex registration and regulatory structures that exist in the multiple jurisdictions that financial institutions service.
While companies such as CounterpartyLink, Credit Dimensions and Dun & Bradstreet provide clients with a "golden copy" of counterparty data, Avox operates on an outsourced utility model. Its customers--including Citigroup, Barclays Capital, Standard Bank of South Africa and Allianz--compare data and reconcile discrepancies with other sources based on contributors' data and original sources such as online documentation, business registries, regulatory Web sites and company sites. Launched in 2003, Avox is 51 percent owned by the Deutsche Borse, with its founders holding the remainder.
"Business entity data has long been an underserved area without authoritative sources or generally accepted global standards," said Gert Raeves, VP of business solutions at GoldenSource. "Avox offers a compelling proposition to the market by leveraging timely business entity data from an international collaboration of some of the largest and most respected financial institutions in the world."
One of the drivers of the growing interest in ensuring accurate counterparty data is a wave of new regulations that place emphasis on know-your-customer policies. The USA Patriot Act, for example, requires firms to track client information across asset classes, geography and legal entities. In the U.K., anti-money-laundering regulations have equivalent provisions. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Basel II capital accords also carry substantial data management burdens, although Basel II more directly affects counterparty data. One of its core requirements is that financial firms set aside sufficient regulatory capital to account for credit risk.
