Markit has agreed to acquire Compliance Technologies International (CTI) in order to make use of its tax compliance and reporting services.
Software from CTI automates the certification of tax domicile, validation of withholding tax status and calculation of withholding tax to help firms streamline compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulation.
The Dodd-Frank reforms, European Market Infrastructure Regulation, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, among other regulations, create stringent requirements in the financial services industry for the collection and management of customer data.
CTI’s expertise in tax due diligence, withholding and reporting complements the customer identity management and regulatory reporting services offered by Markit through its counterparty manager platform and the recently launched Markit ? Genpact KYC Services solution.
Michele Trogni, managing director and global head of managed services at Markit, said: “There is growing harmonisation among tax regimes worldwide which creates exciting opportunities for service providers to standardise and digitise tax processes.”
“CTI’s unique technology and tax expertise will enhance Markit’s KYC offerings and further enable us to help our customers adapt to changing regulation.”
Cyrus Daftary, cofounder and CEO of CTI, said: “Markit's global reach will be invaluable as we grow the CTI business and expand our product platform. We will continue to offer our customers best-in-class tax compliance tools and will continue to innovate to address evolving regulatory requirements.”
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in July.
