Private Banking and Wealth Management firms have evolved significantly over the past decades, from when most customer interactions would happen in-branch and face-to-face with advisors. Banking services and customers have become more sophisticated and the globally connected world of today has led to customers now expecting the convenience of being able to transact anywhere, anytime. ‘Money and business know no bounds,’ but servicing these clients becomes increasingly complex as tax and regulatory requirements differ country by country, and any financing which crosses national borders will be subject to cross-border rules and regulations.
Banks are only able to operate in the jurisdiction in which they are based. This therefore causes problems when their clients are operating from a different country as keeping up with the ever-changing regulations and the need for transparency is challenging and time consuming. Clients also generally like to be served by the same trusted advisor wherever they may be.
Private Banks and Wealth Management firms intending to serve their clients cross-border therefore have two options. Either, they can set up a branch in their client’s country of residence. This is obviously costly and not scalable.
Or they can service their clients remotely by traveling to meet their clients where they are located. In Europe, wealth managers benefit from free provision of services within the 28 member states. Wealth managers in APAC do not have this luxury and must therefore be conscious to ensure that the means with which they originate the business relationship or transaction complies with the local laws.
When customer relationship managers (CRMs) travel to meet clients, in certain countries, they must ensure that they do not take any client-related material with them or else it may be deemed that they are actively pursuing a business relationship or transaction rather than passively serving their customer, which could create compliance and tax complications and land the CRM in serious trouble.
Could technology help to minimise the risk of non-compliance when servicing clients cross-border? One security feature which could assist is geo-fencing. Geo-fencing defines a virtual boundary around a real-world geographical area. It gives the ability to block access to certain information in certain countries, preventing any sensitive digital material from being opened in specific restricted jurisdictions.
By adopting such technology, geo-fencing provides Private Banks and Wealth Managers with enforceability on access to sensitive information preventing potential disclosure, non-compliance or even data loss. In the example previously described with geo-fencing technology, a Private Bank can let CRMs confidently travel to meet clients in different countries as any sensitive information such as product marketing won’t open if accessed from a restricted country.
APrivacy has developed a data-centric approach where the security is embedded within the information itself. In addition, policies such as geo-fencing can be added therefore enabling financial institutions to meet compliance requirements and ensure information does not get disclosed in the wrong jurisdictions. If you would like to learn more about our solutions, please contact us.
Digital Security Perfected – APrivacy Ltd. is an award-winning company which combines military-grade data security with a seamless user experience on any platform, any device, anywhere. APrivacy Ltd.’s enabling technology now allows the financial services industry to confidently communicate with clients using their favourite channels leading to increased revenues and reduced costs while meeting the strictest regulatory requirements.
