Thomson Reuters makes two deals in a hot identity space

Thomson Reuters has agreed to acquire two technology companies that specialize in know-your-customer and reference data, as part of an ongoing strategy to expand its data services for financial institutions.

The news and information company will acquire Clarient, a global KYC and client reference data platform, and Avox, a supplier of legal entity data on financial entities globally, both from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. These businesses will be integrated into Thomson Reuters' portfolio of risk management, compliance and reference data offerings.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deals come as international regulators' increasing demands for transparency in financial transactions have spurred the creation in recent years of industry KYC registries, designed to reduce compliance costs for banks and duplicative paperwork for clients.

The acquisitions will bring “significant continued commitment of a wide range of customers including the founder banks of Clarient,” Steve Pulley, managing director of risk managed services at Thomson Reuters, said in a press release.

That his company was picked to take over these businesses “reflects the progress we have made in our legal entity and KYC managed service franchise over the past three years including the successful launch of the industry-first regional KYC service last year in Africa," Pulley said.

Clarient was founded by the DTCC with the participation of Barclays, Bank of New York Mellon, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and State Street. Its Clarient Entity Hub service allows investment managers, hedge funds and corporations to upload, securely store, maintain and permission use of legal entity level information, documentation and ownership information. Avox matches, enriches and maintains legal entity reference data for its clients.

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Bank technology KYC Compliance AML Risk management Identity verification
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