Advisory

With increasing complexity of the regulations that we advise on, it becomes more challenging for our clients to keep track of everything. To assist in this regard, we provide friendly reminders through direct communication or our informative newsletter whenever action is required.

PQS's advisory team may work on a case-by-case basis, on a project basis, if bigger projects are demanded, or by combining its services with services from the compliance, assurance or reporting departments. Using a healthy mix of our legal, technical, banking and auditing know-how enables us to consider different perspectives when developing solutions. Also, we like to combine our experiences with a lot of passion for innovation, which leads us to continuously explore new methods and approaches.

Regulatory and Technical Advice

We provide advice on a wide variety of regulatory topics. Usually, this type of advice is either provided to our clients on an ad-hoc basis or we provide it as part of one of our compliance services. The list below is only a small sample of all that we provide.

• Formal Reviews and Plausibility Checks of Account Holder Documentation obtained as part of the client onboarding process. This includes reviews for KYC/AML and QI, FATCA and CRS purposes. Sometimes, clients send us or describe to us the documentation received from their counterparties for us to assess its correctness.

• Classification of Entities for QI, FATCA and CRS purposes. It is not always obvious what status to select on a Form W-8BEN-E or W-8IMY. To provide clarity, we write tax assessments to determine the status of an entity.

• Periodic Reminder, Monitoring Services and Periodic Briefings regarding Regulatory Requirements: We inform our clients both via our free newsletter and by proactively initiating contact, if there is ever need to act because the regulations have changed. If requested, we then compare the changes in the regulation with the client's compliance with them.

• Support with Communication, especially towards competent authorities. We support our clients with drafting documentation and correspondence needed to handle requests made from the authorities (IRS, FINMA, SFTA etc.).

• Performing One-Time and Periodic Controls, where we provide ad-hoc support to financial institutions when they need to perform a specific control. For example, we may support an FFI that has a shortage of personnel to perform a relationship manager inquiry as required by the FATCA due diligence requirements. If the controls are to be performed by us on a more periodic basis, it may be more beneficial if we take over with a compliance solution.

Compliance Program Development

The QI and FATCA regulations define a compliance program to consist of policies, procedures, controls, monitoring, training, systems, the review of these elements and their certification. Not only do we support with the implementation and maintenance of these elements for these two regulations, but have extended the concept to many other regulations such as the AML, CRS and investor protection regulations.

• Setting up or Performing a Gap Analysis of the Compliance Program which involves the general review of the entire compliance and control framework, as well a detailed review of policies, procedures, forms, directives and other documentation.

• Drafting and Improving Written Policies, Procedures, Directives and Manuals to cover the entire value chain of financial service providers.

• Writing and Implementing a Control Framework, which is suitable, pragmatic and not overbearing.

• Periodic Review of Written Policies, Procedures and Directives which includes impact assessment of the changes in applicable regulations to the respective documentation.

• Systems and Tools Support: The implementation of new regulations on existing systems and tools is often challenging and requires both regulatory as well as systems know-how. We support our clients with parametrization and customizing of their systems to ensure that they are set up according to the regulations.

• Performing Regulatory Trainings for any topic that we cover and for any audience. For example, we provide customized trainings for newly assigned QI/FATCA Responsible Officers, for internal project teams implementing the new regulatory requirements, for auditors or for front employees to address day-to-day practical challenges.

Lifecycle Projects

Under Lifecycle Projects we understand events, where business changes require a regulatory impact analysis and need for action. Such changes can encompass a spectrum of scenarios, including the establishment of the company, mergers, acquisitions, the discontinuation of the business, or shifts in strategic direction.

• FI/FFI/QI/WP/WT/RIA Registration: We support financial service providers when there is a need to register with a competent authority.

• Project Implementation of New Regulations in the Entire Value Chain of Financial Service Providers: This involves, for example, providing support to the QI and FATCA Responsible Officer (or the CRS-responsible function) as well as the internal project teams during the project planning and decision-making process. This includes guiding them through the various stages of the project and carrying out project-related tasks, ranging from coordinative to operative, such as drafting new internal documentation (policies, directives, processes, and forms), assisting with the implementation of systems ("system mapping"), establishing new controls, and ensuring the timely and accurate reporting to the tax authorities.

• Support with QI, FATCA, and CRS-related matters in the event of mergers, acquisitions, structural changes and changes in business model: We provide support with QI, FATCA, and CRS-related matters in the event of mergers, acquisitions, structural changes, and changes in the business model. For financial service providers undergoing mergers, acquisitions, other structural changes, and changes in the business model, we offer various kinds of assistance. This includes reassessment of the QI, FATCA, and CRS status of all group entities, assessment of the impact on the QI, FATCA, and CRS compliance program, as well as the implementation of any additional requirements that may arise as a result of the changes. As for other lifecycle projects, our engagement can range from supporting the internal project implementation teams to carrying out a wide array of project tasks.

• Support with QI, FATCA and CRS-related Wind-Down Procedures: For financial service providers in liquidation, we provide support with the QI, FATCA and CRS-related wind-down procedures, deregistration with the competent authorities, fulfilling remaining formal and reporting obligations. As for the implementation projects, we may be involved in different capacities, which can extend from performing diverse project tasks.