Zurich Signs on to Industry-Wide DDO Solution

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Technology company Iress has announced that Zurich Financial Services Australia has signed onto its blockchain-based industry solution for managing the Design and Distribution Obligations (DDO) legislation, which came into effect from 5 October, 2021.

A statement from the technology company says that through its industry-wide DDO solution, Zurich can publish Target Market Determinations (TMDs) to the blockchain for product distributors to access.

It says the solution also enables Zurich to manage its DDO obligations around reporting, complaints and significant dealings.

Andrew Walsh.

Zurich will also use Iress’ DDO messaging service, which connects product issuers with an extensive network of distributors.

Iress CEO, Andrew Walsh, says they are pleased to support Zurich with its solution for DDO leveraging the blockchain.

“Compliance can be a major burden for the financial services industry and we’re committed to reducing the complexity and cost for issuers and distributors in managing their obligations.”

Reducing Friction Across the Industry

He added that through this, they are “… reducing friction across the industry by enabling Zurich to connect with advisers, licensees and platforms.”

Zurich Life & Investments’ head of customer and digital, Jacqui Lennon, said that Zurich is committed to standardising processes wherever possible.

“We consulted with a range of industry stakeholders for our DDO obligations and we’re delighted that Iress can support us with a secure and streamlined solution for our requirements.”

She added that Iress’ DDO messaging service includes a chatbot that can save time and lower the company’s risk.

“It also provides us with an aggregate view of all significant dealings and complaints so we can visualise patterns in complaints data for each of Zurich’s products and report these in real-time so we can meet our obligations without delays.”