Fidelity Introduces Risk, Compliance Hub

As advisors grow more concerned about time management and their ability to conduct business within an ever-changing regulatory and compliance-focused environment, new technological tools have arisen to help meet the challenge. 

Fidelity Investments introduced Tuesday a Risk and Compliance Hub that will be integrated into their Streetscape workstation platform.

The enhancement will combine Streetscape’s proprietary pre-trade modules with post-trade surveillance tools offered by SunGard, the largest privately held software and services company. The new platform is available for an additional fee, which will be determined based on the user's relationship with Fidelity a spokesman said.

The Risk & Compliance Hub will cater to broker-dealers of Fidelity’s correspondent clearing business, National Financial, allowing advisors to spend less time managing regulatory and compliance issues, and more time growing their businesses.

“Regulatory and compliance issues are a burden to advisors, and becoming a distraction to running their businesses,” said Rich Hart, head of platform technology for National Financial. “The new Risk and Compliance Hub may allow broker-dealers to more confidently operate in today’s risk and compliance environment while also taking advantage of new marketing channels.”

In addition to pre-trade and post-trade compliance analysis, the hub also features social media surveillance that can helpenable firms to monitor and archive activity and content posted to social networking websites.

The hub was designed in response to a large numbers of advisors who are drifting towards adoption of social media, because of its growing importance. An estimated five million high-net-worth investors are currently tapping into social media for financial planning and investment research activities, according to a May survey conducted by Cogent Research, a market research firm.

“A lot of advisors are reluctant to adopt social media because of worries over compliance,” Hart said. “With this new enhancement, advisors can be more confident in embracing this new form of communication.”

Other features of the enhanced software include security and fraud protection, anti-money laundering, and monitoring of employee trading.

“The breadth and flexibility of our web-based solution can help reduce the burden on compliance staff for the manual, day-to-day management of technology and data,” Hart said. “This not only improves the advisor and compliance experience, it also helps chief information officers and chief compliance officers enhance operational efficiency by streamlining costs and resource planning.”

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