UBS Hong Kong Relies on ACTICO Rules to Secure Investment Suitability.

heart of the investment process

Suitability Means More Investor Protection

A few years back, the interest rates were under pressure. As a result, investors and brokers were more likely to look for alternate investment products bearing higher risk. The authorities sprung into action and introduced several regulatory guidelines to protect consumers. A key requirement was for financial institutions to exercise caution in marketing and selling of investment products.

Challenge

Tight Timeline for the Implementation

The financial institutions were only given a short time period to implement controls and procedures. Thus, UBS Hong Kong was looking for a reliable technology partner, who could help them become compliant within an extremely tight timeline.

Objectives

• Compliance with regulatory and institution-specific requirements
• Seamless integration with the existing infrastructure
• Ease adaptability of underlying logic by business users

Solution

Ensure Suitability With ACTICO Rules

UBS Hong Kong decided to use ACTICO Rules for this initiative. Primary reason for choosing this software was its capability to support agile and flexible development, as demanded by business functions. With close collaboration between UBS and ACTICO, an integrated transaction control check methodology was implemented for existing order management systems within a mere six months. The solution runs several checks before a transaction is executed, including whether:

• the client is duly informed during the investment process,
• the client has the required knowledge and experience,
• the investment products are aligned with the client’s risk preferences and
• the client is vulnerable (determined by age).

IMPACT

Compliant With Regulatory and Institution-Specific Investor Protection Requirements

After the ACTICO team handed over the solution, the UBS team has been successful in taking over the rule models and adding more checks on their own. The solution has been performing consistently for seven years and has been delivering expected results.