A new client screening Authorised Database for Financial Markets (ADFM) has been launched by Complinet in association with the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). ADFM is a web based service, which provides a consolidated view, initially of authorised firms within the banking, securities and insurance industry, but subsequently, where available, of individuals. The standardised database is easily accessible from anywhere in the world.

Complinet is amongst the leading publishers of regulatory information, providing compliance software and services, including software development, compliance information publishing and training.

From its beginnings as a regulator of over-the-counter debt and equities markets in the USA, the NASD has become a leading private sector provider of financial regulatory services, seeking to bring integrity and provide investor protection to investors. Internationally, NASD not only participates in International Securities Associations but also provides advice, training and technology products and services to securities regulators, exchanges and other market participant's worldwide.

ADFM is a subscription-based service (£1,000 per year for a single user) focussed on market professionals. It is being introduced over a 12-18 month period in four phases:

• The first phase provides information on financial services companies conducting business under authorisation from one or more of the 64 financial services regulators in the European Union's 25 member states.

• The second phase will add data from the NASD-regulated firms in the USA.

• The third phase will deliver data on individuals doing business in the financial services industry in Europe and the USA-those who have received authorisation from the relevant financial services regulator.

• The final phase will take the service to the Asia region.

ADFM will enable viewing of specific company information such as:

• Whether an enterprise is authorised to perform regulated business
• What type of financial services business an enterprise is authorised to perform

• The financial sectors in which the enterprise is entitled to operate

• The enterprise's official business address

• The enterprise's legal status in any financial services jurisdiction and by whom they are regulated

ADFM has a Client Screening Team, which continually monitors official regulator web-sites and related feeds that list authorised companies and individuals. Amendments and new entries are immediately validated and entered into the ADFM database

Conceptually, ADFM is a very simple and very obvious development but one that has been overlooked by those at the coalface of financial regulation. It is a particular necessity for institutions conducting financial services business across a number of financial regulatory regimes. ADFM is a low-cost service bringing efficiency to those who have to conduct checks on prospective counter-parties and business, eliminating the multiple checks on individual regulators' sites and databases. This is an illustration of first mover advantage. As long as the ADFM service is delivered efficiently and cost-effectively, it is unlikely that others will be inclined to enter this space.

One of the amusing ironies is that it has taken organisations from outside the EU to provide the services for the EU Financial Services Industry. One wonders whether the European Union Financial Services Regulators would have been able to engage co-operatively to deliver such a simply conceived service?