Equiniti India, the global extension of financial services leader Equiniti (EQ), plays a pivotal role in managing complex financial transactions and shareholder management processes. As an integral part of Equiniti’s global operations, Equiniti India focuses on delivering scalable and secure financial technology services. With cloud computing, regulatory compliance, and AI-driven innovations at the forefront, the company stays ahead in an ever-evolving fintech landscape.
In an exclusive interview with SmartStateIndia, MS Ramanujam, IT Director of Equiniti India, shares insights into how Equiniti leverages cloud computing for scalability, ensures robust network security, and embraces emerging technologies like AI/ML and RegTech to revolutionize financial services. He also discusses the importance of global collaboration, regulatory compliance, and the company’s future technological focus areas.
How has Equiniti India leveraged cloud computing to enhance scalability and efficiency in handling complex financial transactions?
EQ uses the auto-scaling capabilities of cloud to scale out capacity during peak demand and this elasticity ensures the resources paid for are used efficiently, i.e. without any idle/unused capacity. Using modern architectures like Microservices enables scale our processes in & out efficiently based on demand.
Given the sensitive nature of financial data that Equiniti manages, what are the key strategies implemented to ensure robust network security and data protection?
Equiniti uses a Defence-in-Depth approach which uses multiple security measures at various levels. On the network front, we deploy multiple controls ranging from firewalls to network segmentation to IDS/IPS systems.
The fintech space is rapidly evolving. What disruptive technologies do you see having the most significant impact on the financial services industry in the coming years? And, how is Equiniti positioning itself to adapt and capitalize on these technological advancements?
I think AI/ML would transform the way BFSI industry services its customers. The websites would become lot more intelligent and aware of the customer’s preferences, chatbots could make interactions with the bank more user-friendly and already algos are used heavily in trading and they could possibly be optimized even more.
Regulatory Technology is another evolving field and have seen processes like KYC, AML, assessing credit risks, etc. happening far more efficiently. This is likely to get more better and regulators will be able to monitor the transactions in real-time and respond to suspicious activities.
At Equiniti, we keep an eye on the emerging trends in some of the above technologies and try to adopt them to make our products and services better. For e.g. we have improved our KYC process using some recent technological advancements.
Equiniti India operates seamlessly with EQ entities in the UK, US and other geographies. How do you ensure that IT strategies and systems remain aligned globally while addressing the unique challenges of each region?
Equiniti India works very closely with teams in other geographies and in fact, it’s one virtual team physically located in different locations. The IT strategy is designed at a global level and it percolates down to every region and the teams are fully aligned to it. Of course, there are regional requirements to be addressed particularly around regulations and our implementations will take these into consideration. For e.g. Data residency will be key criteria in Cloud hosting decisions (e.g. GDPR) Similar is the case with security standards and telecom regulations (e.g. DoT rules in India).
From your perspective, what role does technology play in fostering collaboration and communication across global teams, especially in light of the recent shifts towards remote working?
There are a plethora of tools available to facilitate communication and collaboration amongst geographically distributed teams and remote workers. Platforms like Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Zoom, etc. offer videoconferencing on practically any device making face-to-face meetings possible, albeit virtually.
Tasks like jointly working on a document whilst in office is achieved through platforms like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, etc. These tools enable shared workspaces that allow permitted users to connect and work on document concurrently. These tools will even let a user know which change was made by whom and the changes show-up in real-time.
There are some enabling technologies like VPN supported by stronger authentication mechanisms like MFA that allow remote workers to connect to the corporate environment securely.
With Equiniti’s services deeply intertwined with regulatory requirements, how does your team ensure that IT systems remain compliant while maintaining flexibility for future updates?
Fundamentally, a strong audit process coupled with Risk Management practices will help IT systems remain compliant. The risk-based approach will allow to assess audit observations and act on them based on the organization’s risk appetite. Having said this, regulators constantly look for ways to improve governance and oversight, particularly in sectors like Financial services, therefore, IT systems will have to be agile enough to respond to these changes quickly. In order to provide this agility, we adopt agile methodologies like DevOps which ensures faster turnaround time for changes, thereby keeping the IT systems compliant. We also use GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliance) tools to centrally manage regulatory changes and track our level of compliance.
What are your key focus areas for Equiniti India’s IT Division over the next few years? And, how do you foresee emerging technologies reshaping Equiniti India’s approach to financial services and shareholder management?
Primarily, Equiniti India is focussing on strengthening its capability based on Group’s strategy which includes increased cloud adoption, harnessing AI to improve user experience and security. Obviously, as a group, we will be monitoring the developments in the above areas and some of the emerging trends mentioned above and Equiniti India will be contributing significantly towards these efforts.