In what could be a NZ-first, the investment platform offered by the Hastings-headquartered Boutique Advisers Alliance (BAA) has bolted-on an automated identity check process.
Officially launched late last year, the BAA custodial platform – a bespoke FNZ-backed system – last week added the auto-ID feature to smooth the anti-money laundering (AML) compliance process for its member advisers.
Tim Rowe, BAA platform manager, said the new system allows advisers to verify identity of their clients – including those who are trustees or company directors – for AML purposes with no paperwork involved.
In a statement, Rowe said the online ID-check will ease the proof-of-identity bottleneck that often delays the AML process.
“The service, within the platform, means you don’t need to collect physical documents. You simply fill in the details and it will be verified online,” he said.
Using the new BAA system, integrated for the first time on an FNZ platform, advisers supply client passport and drivers licence numbers that the underlying technology, managed by a third-party supplier, verifies online.
BAA hired former Compac head of global ICT, Rowe, last year to manage the new platform, which had about $375 million lined up to transition at launch.
He said funds under administration “could easily double” with a number of other client transfers in the pipeline.
The BAA, formed by the Hastings-based Stewart Group in 2015 to provide aggregated services to independent advisory firms, currently boasts six member firms.