GRACE Integrated Compliance and Client Management

To Comprehensively address Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI)

Call Us for a Demo

for Broker-Dealers, Investment Advisors and

and Mifid II for Asset Managers
Web Based / Tablet Enabled

Mobile GRACE for you and your clients

Helps you meet your Disclosure Obligations
and Client Facing Staff to manage clients

From Where Ever they are

Own Portal for Advisors, Registered Reps,
Conduct Customer Relationship

Management Activities
Manage Client Communication

With Call Calendars
Record Call Notes

And Follow Up Activities
Gather information on Client

Household Information
Gather information on

Assets,Liabilities,

Client's Financials

Investment Objectives,

Experience in investing
Keep Track of

Client's Risk Tolerance

and Risk Profile
Find Suitable Products

and verify against

Comparable Products

for the Clients Risk Profile

in the Market
Choose Suitable Products

to the Client

that can be Offered
Build the Planned

Model Portfolio

for the Client
the Fee Structure

for the Client

Define and record
Send to Compliance

for Suitability Review

and get Status updates

On line
Compliance Can Conduct

Suitability Review

from Same Source

Of Data
Account Opening

Requests and Workflows

can be Efficiently

Managed
Client Due Diligence

document gathering

and verifications

can be recorded online
Suitability Review

By Compliance

From the same

Single Source of data
Automated Client AML

can be conducted for immediate client

verification and ongoing AML monitoring
Periodic Monitoring of Client Portfolio

To Ensure Matches it Client Risk Profile

And is in Best Interest

Can be Easily Conducted
Monitor Client Trades

Are as per Client

Guidelines
Ensure Portfolio

Are as per Client

Concentrations

Definitions
Offer Clients Information

Accessible Anytime

On their Portal

Anywhere
Offer Clients Efficiency,

Call Us for a Demo

Transparency and Assurance

With Integrated GRACE

In the Best Interest of Clients

Wealth Advisory Institutions are mandated by regulations like Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) , MiFID II and others to act in the “In the Best Interest of the Client “ . An integrated approach to data management of client information, client communications, risk profiles, client objectives, preferences and interests for investments is needed to create a portfolio that is in their best interest.

Reg BI mandates four Compliance Obligations

Disclosure Obligation – before and at the time of recommendation acceptance and if there are any changes in conditions due to new conflicts or changes

Duty of Care Obligation – exercising reasonable due diligence, care and skill in making recommendations

Conflict of Interest Obligation – Establishing policies and procedures to identify and address conflict of interest

Compliance Obligation – Establishing policies and procedure to monitor compliance with Reg BI

Regulations want to ensure that the products that are being sold by financial institutions are Suitable for the risk profile of the clients and that the conflict of interest in sales practices of organizations do not lead to high risk products that can generate better fees for the organization being sold to clients without their understanding the risks involved in such investments.

In the mobile world, transparency and real time information has become an absolute expectation from clients. Regulations like MiFID II and Reg BI mandate the need for Wealth Management industry to be transparent about best execution, fees being charged, and that transactions are being done as defined by the clients.

Only straight through integrated systems can deliver on this transparency expectations

How Can Your Organization Offer and Prove Best Interest

Wealth Management organizations need to have a single integrated system that can handle the end-to-end life client cycle management process to establish the processes expected by Reg BI and MifiD II for clients. Books and records are needed at all stages to prove compliance to regulators.

Client Life cycle management involves many processes starting from prospecting, converting the client, working with their objectives, collecting risk profile information, their current financial status and expected cashflows, assets and liabilities for financial planning and other details, create a model portfolio and have compliance verify the suitability. Once the client comes on board, the verification of source of funds and other client due diligences, AML and ensuring all the documentation is received and sent to the client become important. Once trading on behalf of the client is undertaken, trade monitoring, fees and billing, best execution, client allocation, portfolio trends all become important to monitor. Giving clients their reports through portal and close to real time makes a big difference in client service

Organizations have many spot solutions which they use. Integration of data across these solutions is a big challenge. Streamlined end-to-end system single system is the only way to bring efficiency to the client management process.

In this highly competitive world, retaining and growing clients depends on providing efficient services with seamless, excellent customer service and transparency. Digitization, Implementing End-to-end technology and empowering your staff with information at systems that automatically make them compliant is the right way to go. The regulations are leading in that direction and even though it looks like a burden, it could also be your competitive advantage

Having a 360 view information on each client is useful for many reasons and having information in multiple systems can become the Achilles heal of the organization in its ability to service the customer at fast pace as well as have clean and correct information that the organization and the client can trust.

How GRACE Empowers Your Organization

La Meer Inc. offers GRACE Client Management, a web based tablet enabled end-to-end integrated, state of the art tool, that connects the client, the client management teams and the compliance back office to offer transparency, operational efficiency, regulatory compliance and superior customer service.

GRACE’s Client Management portal provides access to everything needed by the Client Management group with respect to a client – manage client profile, do contact management (CRM) and secure communication, record risk profiles, portfolio objectives, funding requirements, investment experiences, cash flow requirements and other details. The model portfolios and products should be in “In the Best Interests” of the client and should be provable to regulators. A click of a button can help them queue their requests to compliance.

The Compliance Portal enables recording and monitoring conflicts of interest, generate the disclosures to clients as expected by Reg BI, the Form CRS, set up product suitability structure , conduct suitability review, verify the portfolio for products, manage Client Due Diligence, KYC requirements, Anti-money Laundering verification and do secure document sharing. Product guidelines, Latest legally reviewed Marketing Collateral, Trade monitoring ,Best execution, monitoring fees and billing and client portfolio done using the web based portal.

The Client Portal offers Clients secure electronic disclosures, transparency to their information on portfolio, holdings, trades, fees and billing, analytics and research as well as interact with the organization from where ever they are for trade instructions, complaints or other requests

Contact us

Write to us for our GRACE Product Demo or
to get our Product Brochure

06Sep 19

La Meer offers GRACE SMCR for Senior Management & Certification Regime

Reg BI Disclosure Obligation and Management

Regulation Best Interest Reg BI mandates :

Broker-dealers are required to provide Form CRS, which is in a question and answer format, to clients.

Disclosures must contain

Summary of Fees,Costs ,Conflicts,Standards of conduct
Link to SEC’s Investor.gov Site
Should distribute these to clients before a recommendation of an account type, a securities transaction, or an investment strategy involving securities or placing an order for the retail investor.
Should also go out prior to the opening of a brokerage account for the retail investor.

Investment advisers

Disclosures should be distributed prior to or at the time of entering into the advisory contract.

Dual registrants

Should use the earliest of the deadlines imposed under requirements for Broker-dealers and Registered Investment Advisors.

Firms must provide additional disclosures when they:

Open a new account that is different from the retail investor’s existing account(s);
Recommend that the retail investor roll over assets from a retirement account into a new or existing account or investment; or recommend or provide a new brokerage or investment advisory service
or investment that does not necessarily involve the opening of a new account and would not be held in an existing account (e.g., securities sold through a “check and application” process).

How GRACE Helps

GRACE allows you to manage disclosures, including Form CRS on the system and allows their distribution to clients electronically thru secure online portals.

Reg BI - Duty of Care Obligation

Duty of Care and Loyalty Obligation for Reg BI mandates firms to do

Reasonable “diligence, care, and skill” to satisfy three obligations: reasonable-basis, customer-specific and quantitative.
Additionally, firms must evaluate reasonably available alternatives, however broker-dealers will not have to evidence review of all alternatives.
Care obligation covers recommendations concerning rollovers and account choice (e.g., brokerage or advisory), as well as those to take a retirement plan distribution for purposes of opening a securities trading account.
Provide Advice in the Best Interest of Client
Seek best execution
Provide advice and monitoring that the obligations are continuously met

Full and Fair Disclosure – Sufficiently specific information so Client is able to understand and make informed decisions, related to the choice of products chosen for the Client,Fees ,Risks and Conflicts of interest

It is inadequate to

Disclose to clients without describing how the advisor is managing the conflicts of interest
Saying conflicts without providing detailed description

How GRACE Helps

By keeping track of the risk profile of the client, client objectives, and funding needs it allows the organization to build portfolio that is suitable and in the client’s Best Interest
Choosing products that clearly prove that product returns, fees, expenses are right for client as well as compare it against other possible products and explain how the defined portfolio is in the best interest
Disclosing material facts and conflicts of interest in the choices made
Generating the Form CRS and send it to the client with the specifics of the client’s portfolio
Explain the choices made to client and get their consent
Conduct Trade Monitoring to understand the trades being done on behalf of the clients match synch with the client’s objectives
Portfolio is reviewed periodically to ensure the current portfolio still is within the client’s defined objectives and is still performing per the expectations
That best execution is monitored for prices and conflicts

Reg BI - Conflict Management Obligation

Reg BI Conflicts of Interest monitoring

Reg BI allows firms to sell proprietary products, including initial public offerings, and continue to receive payments from third parties for shelf space – as long as they disclose conflicts of interest.
For example, in instances where a registered representative holds a limited license (e.g., only to sell mutual funds), but the firm offers a full suite of products, the representative may need to disclose this to their customers

How GRACE Helps

All fees received for third party activities are documented and understood
Provides Online reporting of all Outside activities of the Registered Reps and Advisors to ensure none of these are creating conflicts in the products and services being offered to the client
Providing Online reporting of U4 and U5 by Registered Representatives
Conducting Background verification of Reps / Advisors to ensure no criminal violations, debts / liens, adverse media, court cases exist in their backgrounds

Reg BI Compliance Obligation

The compliance obligation requires firms to maintain policies and procedures to ensure compliance with Reg BI. It is important to note, this obligation provides an opportunity for the SEC and FINRA to bring enforcement actions for compliance failures without the existence of underlying violations of Reg BI. Therefore, firms should carefully develop Reg BI policies and procedures with a view towards how they will demonstrate that they have met the best interest standard
Have books and records that prove and document all written and oral disclosures to clients.
Train their staff to work in the Best Interest of the Client
Ensure that all client facing staff read and attest that they will work in the Best Interest of the Client

How GRACE Helps

GRACE helps manage the Policies and Procedures of the organization, their review and release management, ensures online attestation by all members of the staff and registered reps, offers online training as well as provides books and records of all compliance monitoring activities

Client Management Portal

GRACE Client Management Portal helps you gather client information , Financial Info, Jurisdictions, Risk Profile, Investment Objectives, Cash flow expectations, Constraints and Limits clients would like to place on the portfolio. It helps you manage contact management, communication calendars, call notes, followup items, sharing documents, alerts and red flags.

It helps you define the model portfolio based on the requirements of the client based on the products that are available for the offer. You can send request for Suitability review to Compliance group and work with Compliance and the Client to get the process of KYC, AML and other due diligences and see the status of these activities.You can also see the latest client portfolio, life events and other challenges faced by the customer ,monitor new requirements and redo the portfolio periodically.

You can share marketing disclosures with clients, request and manage annual portfolio reviews and ensure client questions about the portfolio are answered and recorded for future understanding of decisions made. You can manage client complaints and use your Own dashboard for your clients

Compliance Obligation including Suitability Review

GRACE allows the Compliance group

Look at all the market offerings and alternatives along with their risk characteristics, fees etc, to understand and ensure suitability of choices for clients.
Define product restrictions that define what can and cannot be sold to particular customer type and enable this data to be shared across the organization to prevent violations
Identify and record Conflicts of Interest in all relationships with brokers, registered reps and others and ensure these conflicts reflect in the various disclosures to clients
Help monitor conflicts through its various functions from staff reporting, broker contracts and and branch,rep examination to identify conflicts of interest and keep track of their inclusion into client reports for full disclosure
Manage Disclosures and Form CRS to include all the relevant information and have it reviewed and released and provide them during the account opening, new product inclusion and other life stages
Conduct Suitability reviews, account opening, disclosures review, client due diligence, transactional monitoring, trade monitoring patterns, funds transfers, AML, online portfolio review, best execution, fees and billing and ensure that the portfolio continues to be in the best interest of the client at all times

Client Due Diligence

Compliance can set up different criteria for client due diligence for different types of clients along with different documentation requirements

Clients can be assigned to specific person for follow up processing and ensuring all the client due diligence requirements are met.

Verification and Supporting Documents can be requested from the clients using secure communication from Compliance that can be received by the client on the Client portal. An email alert to the client will also be sent to ask them to send information through the Client Portal. Clients can fill up the information requested and provide the supporting documents on the their Client Portal and revert to Compliance team online.Client management and compliance team will get email notified as soon as the client has finished filling in the information requested.

Based on the information received and gathered, each client can be classified for risk levels and further action can be taken in terms of account opening or rejection or keeping the client on hold.

Automated AML monitoring is also part of the Client due diligence.

Automated AML verification

Compliance officers can click for automated AML verification against any client. GRACE will connecting against industry standard database like Dow Jones or Thomsen Reuters using APIs .

The verification process will include each member of the family against worldwide sanctions list and PEP lists, companies and sanctioned entities where any of the members may have Beneficiary Ownership information as well as Adverse Media Information on any of them. This information is brought back into the system with red-flag markings on records that show issues to bring it to the attention of the compliance officer. The system also has provision to allow the compliance officer to mark records as false positives.

Once the compliance officer has gone thru the AML information,clients can be risk rated to highlight the risk and bring them up on the dashboard

Any new information found about any of the clients in sanctions list beneficiary ownership or adverse media would be brought back to the GRACE system and brought to the attention of compliance officers

Funds Transfer and transactional monitoring can be done by loading up information into GRACE for clients to see patterns of suspicious transactions. SAR information can be generated to allow easy filing to FINCEN and other regulatory databases.

Automated Trade Monitoring for feeds from Custodians / Clearing entities

Trade monitoring , Best Execution and Fair allocation to client portfolios are an integral part of Client Compliance Management

Aggregation and Automation of feeds on trades, positions and allocations to be brought into GRACE from source systems on an end of day basis.

Pre-trade approval requests can also be sent to compliance officers to as well as automated approval and rejection can be done by GRACE based on the restriction information set up.

Trade restriction and limit information can be shared between the trading system and GRACE. They can be either set up on GRACE and shared with the trading system or can be set in the trading system and set up in GRACE

Automated verification against restriction lists that to red-flagging of records during loading can help the compliance team to quickly zero in on violations

Oversight of trading trends, Concentrations Monitoring,Best Execution, Fair allocation can be done on GRACE to identify issues, red flagging them and managing issues to closure

Integrated Issue Management

GRACE Helps create a common repository of issues, be they Client due diligence, trade monitoring, portfolio review or other items

Standardized process for Issue assignment and follow up to closure and the workflows , email alerts , Notes management and Supporting information management allows for continuous monitoring and closure of issues.

Issue Dashboard help identify trends in issues and improving the process

Client Portal

Clients can have their own mobile/tablet enabled / web based portal for them to have access to their latest information that includes their latest Portfolio, Holding Summary, Trade Reports ,Fees and Billing

Clients can use the Client portal to interact with the organization, receive requests and send secure documents requested of them. Clients can also use functions related to financial planning and change of objectives or expectations and can communicate with the client management staff.

Clients can record complaints and see the status of resolution, see trend analysis of their portfolios and drill down into details, and mark up any transactions and fees and billing that are seen as issues.

Portfolio Review and Monitoring by Compliance

Client Portfolios can be reviewed anytime by compliance to ensure that the suitability of products that are being used by the organization for that client still holds

Portfolio can also be reviewed to ensure that there are no drifts away from the objectives of the clients

Fees and Billing charged for transactions can also be verified to make sure that unfair fees are not being charged to the client by interfacing with the accounting and billing systems.

Client Management Dashboard

Client Management group can have all information on each of their clients at any time and can find it useful to work with clients whether they are in their presence or providing support by have access to all the information through the Dashboard

They can have a complete profile on each client and drill down into portfolios, trades, client risk profile, objectives, complaints, previous call notes, compliance notes and see trends and progress

They can followup based on the status of items to ensure loops are closed both with the client and compliance.

They can also understand product usage and other characteristics across clients and provide advice and suggestions using the dashboard features

Client Compliance Dashboard

The Compliance department will be able to use the dashboard effectively to monitor various aspects of a client and also risk rate clients from an organizational perspective

They can drill down into client characteristics, suitability, portfolio, trades, fees and billing all for all the clients

They can also understand product suitability, client portfolio growth, transaction growth and other trends

They can monitor AML and other suspicious behavior, Client due diligence verification and status of these activities to ensure good client service levels

They can monitor customer complaints and issues that show a trend of high risk and ensure those processes and people are monitored closely

User Management

The Compliance department will be able to use the dashboard effectively to monitor various aspects of a client and also risk rate clients from an organizational perspective

They can drill down into client characteristics, suitability, portfolio, trades, fees and billing all for all the clients

They can also understand product suitability, client portfolio growth, transaction growth and other trends

They can monitor AML and other suspicious behavior, Client due diligence verification and status of these activities to ensure good client service levels

They can monitor customer complaints and issues that show a trend of high risk and ensure those processes and people are monitored closely

Administration

The Compliance department will be able to use the dashboard effectively to monitor various aspects of a client and also risk rate clients from an organizational perspective

They can drill down into client characteristics, suitability, portfolio, trades, fees and billing all for all the clients

They can also understand product suitability, client portfolio growth, transaction growth and other trends

They can monitor AML and other suspicious behavior, Client due diligence verification and status of these activities to ensure good client service levels

They can monitor customer complaints and issues that show a trend of high risk and ensure those processes and people are monitored closely

Helps you Grow your Client Base

Web based / Mobile / Tablet enabled system can help you grow your clients and provide them the transparency and instant access through Client Portal and help your staff use information to stay connected with clients anytime, anywhere

Integrated End-to-End Solution creates great efficiency

An integrated streamlined approach to client management connecting front office, back office and clients in a single system helps you manage your clients efficiently

Powerful CRM integrated to the system

Powerful integrated CRM to capture information as you interact with clients can be used for reference at any time to get a complete picture of client requirements

Client made Happy through Transparency

Client Portal gives latest updates of holdings, portfolio, transactions, fees and billing and financial plan to clients on their mobile / tablet / web where ever they are for complete transparency and allows them to interact with organization’s staff at all times for great customer service.

Efficiency in Financial Planning

Online way to do financial planning, sharing with your clients, getting their approval, creating portfolio based on their requirements helps create transparent behavior between clients and the organization with records of expectations clearly defined and in the records

Anytime Monitoring of Client Portfolio

Anytime and ongoing monitoring of portfolio can ensure it remains true to clients’ needs

Client AML and Transaction Monitoring part of the process

Ensuring transaction monitoring through automated data gathering and automatic red flagging of trades based on restrictions and watchlists

Integrated Trade Monitoring

Aggregated and automated trade monitoring from multiple custodian feeds and graphical trend analysis to help monitor best execution, fair client allocation, and identify front running patterns

Easy Workflows for Internal Approvals

Online Forms for reporting and Approval Workflows for staff ensures compliance services them quickly and improves processing efficiency

Market Disclosures streamlined from a single source

Market Disclosures review and release and sharing of market disclosure with clients online

Client Portfolio Drift can be easily identified

Client Portfolio drift monitoring can be done anytime to ensure that organization follows clients requirements

Fees and Billing violations can be avoided

Fees and Billing of clients can be monitored against defined client contracts to avoid violations

Online Dashboards of Actionable Items

Everyone can have a dashboard of their own action items, alerts, followup status and other actionable items at all times with easy drill down to details whether it be the client management staff or compliance staff or clients themselves

Regulatory examinations can be handled with confidence

Examinations for MiFID II or Fiduciary or Suitability rules can be faced with confidence. Cost of Information gathering and report creation for regulatory audits is drastically reduced since all information already on GRACE can be shown to regulators as proof of compliance.

Organization Ownership of Data

Organizations suffer when key risk and compliance staff leaves. The information is scattered if maintained solely by individuals and are lying on disks in various forms. GRACE becomes the single central repository of documents, data and processes enabling continuity even when key people leave the organization

Single Source of Truth for the Organization

By integrating the front middle and back, the clients, client management group and clients all are having a single source of truth for the information

Easy to Integrate and Customize

GRACE offers easy integration with organizational source systems to enhance the functionality and extend it at low costs. This is a great benefit for back office compliance team, who can bring in all the relevant data into a single system through automated process allowing them to focus on compliance instead of data gathering

No spend on Integration of Spot Solutions

Organizations buy spot solutions and face tough challenges to integrate them to create a common information base. Integration proves to be costly operation because of multiple technologies, time, effort spent and resources needed. Sometimes after all the money is spent it, still does not still meet the user needs. GRACE, by being already integrated reduces the unwanted spend, at the same time providing the information users need.

Enormous Cost Savings

Enormous costs savings in unwanted labor for audits and examinations, avoid regulatory fines, legal costs, reputation risks and empowers the organization in managing risks.

Easy to use Automated Workflows for Efficiency

Useful workflows, alerts and dashboard red marks to ensure activities are undertaken on time.

Client Complaints can be managed

Client complaints can be received online to ensure that action can be taken early.Managing customers and reducing complaints quickly can result in client happiness and more business

In the Best Interest of Clients

How Can Your Organization Offer and Prove Best Interest

How GRACE Empowers Your Organization

Contact us

Reg BI Disclosure Obligation and Management

Reg BI - Duty of Care Obligation

Reg BI - Conflict Management Obligation

Client Management Portal

Compliance Obligation including Suitability Review

Client Due Diligence

Automated AML verification

Automated Trade Monitoring for feeds from Custodians / Clearing entities

Integrated Issue Management

Client Portal

Portfolio Review and Monitoring by Compliance

Client Management Dashboard

Client Compliance Dashboard

User Management

Administration

Helps you Grow your Client Base

Integrated End-to-End Solution creates great efficiency

Powerful CRM integrated to the system

Client made Happy through Transparency

Efficiency in Financial Planning

Anytime Monitoring of Client Portfolio

Client AML and Transaction Monitoring part of the process

Integrated Trade Monitoring

Easy Workflows for Internal Approvals

Market Disclosures streamlined from a single source

Client Portfolio Drift can be easily identified

Fees and Billing violations can be avoided

Online Dashboards of Actionable Items

Regulatory examinations can be handled with confidence

Organization Ownership of Data

Single Source of Truth for the Organization

Easy to Integrate and Customize

No spend on Integration of Spot Solutions

Enormous Cost Savings

Easy to use Automated Workflows for Efficiency

Client Complaints can be managed

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