FATCA and beyond: latest Linedata Mshare version addresses both regulation and growth
PARIS, LONDON, BOSTON, HONG KONG, June 16, 2014 – Linedata (NYSE Euronext: LIN), the global solutions provider dedicated to the investment management and credit industries, today announced the latest version of transfer agency software Linedata Mshare, engineered to enable clients to address the overriding concerns of investment managers and fund distributors today: compliance with regulations and how to attract new business. This release includes FATCA withholding tax capabilities, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) updates and enhanced private equity functionality.
The new release of Linedata Mshare ensures that its clients are regulation-ready with its automated FATCAwithholding tax capabilities and AML updates, two areas of regulation that impact significantly on transfer agents, fund administrators and the investment market as a whole. It also enables Linedata’s clients to expand their own client base beyond the investment management core to include those who also manage private equity funds, a move in line with the expansion of private equity funds within investment managers and of the private equity market in general.
In terms of regulation, the latest of the FATCA additions to Linedata Mshare ensure that withholding tax processing is fully automated. This refers to the first tranche of FATCA regulation which comes into play in July 2014, for dividends on US-sourced income. Linedata Mshare has further FATCA updates planned as legislation becomes more defined, including finalizing FATCA reporting requirements. Similarly, on AML, there are legislative updates in various jurisdictions, including a requirement to record and track expiry dates on documentation. This latest version of Linedata Mshare automates this and other burdensome administrative tasks.
Linedata Mshare already includes extensive private equity functionality. This has now been expanded to include rebalancing and equalization functionality for private equity funds to allow new investors to partake in a fund’s existing capital calls whilst ensuring that existing investors are compensated.
“Keeping ahead of regulation is a key part of Linedata’s product planning,” explains Thierry Soret, Head of Back Office Asset Management at Linedata. “In this instance, it’s FATCA withholding tax, but we are always in dialoguewith regulatory and industry bodies as well as with our clients using the advanced transfer agency and investor reporting functionality of Linedata Mshare to ensure that all regulatory requirements are covered in advance.” He continues, “We are seeing the rise of the multi-purpose transfer agency function, where a single supplier is servicing traditional asset managers, hedge funds and private equity firms and needs the simplicity of a single system which can address the complexities of many markets. Linedata Mshare’s enhanced private equity functionality meets this demand, and we anticipate a strong take up from third party administrators.”