Technology is no longer simply a support to business, but is a critical part of the enterprise strategy to develop a competitive advantage.
To demonstrate this, let’s compare the same situation handled in two ways. The scenario is a Corporate Service Provider (CSP) in Malta handling the incorporation of a company for Brad, an entrepreneur based in the USA.
Wasting time and money
Monica, the Corporate Administrator in Malta, runs Brad’s passport details through screening in a stand-alone system and saves these results in pdf to an internal folder. Since there were no red flags, Monica sends Brad an email listing all the documents required to carry out due diligence. Brad starts to compile these and sets an appointment with his lawyer to certify a copy of his passport. Luckily his lawyer is available quite soon and he manages to obtain this within a week - at a cost of course. Ten days from Monica’s first email, Brad scans everything and sends the pack to Monica in Malta by email.
Monica now starts her onboarding review, typing all the information that Brad provided into their KYC system, or into a client risk assessment (CRA) on a spreadsheet. During her review, Monica realises that Brad’s holding company has another shareholder, David. Brad confirms that David is his brother and Monica explains that she will need the same due diligence information on David. Brad is understandably upset as this will take David at least another week to organise.
Some days later, having finally received David’s information, Monica is ready to send the file to her MLRO to complete client acceptance. This file consists of the questionnaires Brad and David completed in pdf, screening results, the CRA excel sheet and her own comments.
The next day, with a provisional go ahead subject to receiving the originals, Monica drafts the document pack needed for incorporation and sends it by email to her client in America. Brad prints them off, signs them in wet ink and scans them.
Brad sends the scanned pack to Monica in Malta by email to ensure they are correctly executed. With Monica’s go-ahead, Brad sends all the documents by international courier (costing €100) and starts calling his prospective clients, excited to see his new European venture about to take off at long last.
Four days later, after repeatedly checking the online courier tracking, Monica has the originals in hand, and passes the file to her MLRO for final sign off, then she hunts down two directors for their seal of approval. The next day, she sends the incorporation pack to the Malta Business Registry (MBR) by local messenger. The following day, the MBR desk officer starts to process the incorporation.
The time from start to MBR review is around a calendar month, and that assumes all goes well with no additional delays, such as time taken to obtain certification, or courier lags. Let’s hope that no errors are spotted or modifications required that mean Brad needs to sign originals again and send another courier.
The CSP’s directors look at Monica’s timesheets and shake their heads in dismay at the time spent, including almost daily emails or calls with Brad to assure him that things were progressing as fast as they could.
Efficient onboarding
In a more enlightened parallel dimension, Monica creates Brad’s profile in Binderr in less than a minute, and directly from the system sends him a link to verify his identity online, instantly and free. With no red flags, Monica sends another link with a questionnaire to complete. Brad fills in the information, verifies his address online and submits these, all within Binderr.
The next day, Monica starts her onboarding review. Within Binderr she carries out screening, and builds up the corporate structure of his holding company, with Binderr fetching data directly from over 500 corporate registries in 140 countries. It’s immediately clear that there is another shareholder, David, on whom she needs to carry out due diligence. Brad gives her David’s email and David also receives a link to complete an online form.
Later that day, David’s identity and address are verified, his screening is complete. All the information collected has populated a client risk assessment in Binderr with any high risk elements highlighted. Monica completes her review, adding any comments necessary. The MLRO reviews this, adds her comments, then signs off the risk review within Binderr. The directors are notified to sign off their approval via resolution, meeting a regulatory obligation that the MFSA recently noted is often overlooked by CSPs.
Still within Binderr, Monica generates the document pack needed for incorporation and sends a link to Brad, who may sign everything by Qualified Electronic Signature. As soon as he does so, Monica may submit the incorporation pack to the Malta Business Registry (MBR) where the desk officer starts to process the incorporation.
Using Binderr, the time from start of onboarding to MBR review may be less than a week. If any amendments are required, these can be done, signed and re-submitted online within minutes.
The CSP’s directors rub their hands in glee as they see how easily clients are onboarded now.
Using Binderr, the time from start of onboarding to MBR review may be less than a week. If any amendments are required, these can be done, signed and re-submitted online within minutes.- Steve Muscat Azzopardi
Tech for corporate administration
Binderr does not stop there. Built on user-friendly document management, all the actions a company does with the MBR may be effected directly through Binderr, from templates that pull information from the system, digital signing and submission to MBR, to automatic update of Registers in the Company Secretarial file.
The only question is…
As we start 2025, why on earth are you running a CSP with outdated or fragmented technology?
About Binderr:
At Binderr we are on a mission to make the onboarding and compliance process easier and more efficient for subject persons. Binderr supports any business subject to AML/CFT obligations, in industries spanning Notaries, Legal and Tax advisory, Trust & Corporate Service Providers, Fiduciaries, Banks & Financial Institutions, Fintechs, Asset Management and Real Estate operators.
About the author:
Steve Muscat Azzopardi’s career spans over twenty years with international Financial Services and Trust/Corporate Services including as Compliance Officer, and Executive Director. At Binderr, Steve draws on his experience to guide regulated entities on their journey to digital transformation, using innovative technology to scale and grow.