IMD & IRD Awards 2022: Best reference data initiative—Bureau van Dijk, a Moody’s Analytics Company

OVERVIEW

Bureau van Dijk’s Orbis solution provides information on over 425 million listed and private companies across the globe. The database is used by clients to assist with a variety of use-cases from client onboarding and screening of sanctioned entities to compliance with EU regulations such as anti-money laundering (AML) directives, Mifid II and the Customer Due Diligence (CDD) Rule.  

THE SOLUTION

Drawing on data from hundreds of sources, backed by quality checks and processes, Orbis provides standardized information on financials, ratios and other data, so that clients can search for and compare companies globally. It incorporates key reference data such as identifiers, entity names, and addresses, as well as legal form and status, industry classifications, and Fatca classifications. It also allows for screening of risk, including ESG risk, with companies and individuals screened against ESG risk, sanctions, politically exposed persons (PEPs) and watch lists. 

Orbis’ data coverage is continually expanding. Over the last four years, its entity coverage has grown by 44%, with the entity universe comprising banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions, marine vessels and sole proprietorships. It also covers an increasing number of funds, as well as providing data on people connected to entities, such as directors, managers, shareholders and beneficial owners. It currently has information on 363 million people in 827 million roles, such as directors, managers, shareholders, beneficial owners, as well data on 1.6 billion business links.

One of the most important initiatives over the last year has been the development of Moody’s Analytics’ DataHub, which allows clients to explore Moody’s Analytics data in a cloud-based platform and analyze it using industry-standard tools. It combines Orbis reference data with datasets from across the whole Moody’s organization, with customers able to blend datasets instantly to address their particular needs. Since its introduction to the market, Bureau van Dijk has gained more than 60 users across 10 unique organizations that are consuming Orbis data via the DataHub.

WHAT’S TO COME

Bureau van Dijk will look to further expand Orbis’ fund coverage. It already has content and coverage for more than 120,000 public funds, while fund-specific content, such as fund and share-class level fields and corporate entity roles have been added. In the next 12 months, it will focus increasingly on private funds, including private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, pension funds and institutional funds.

There are also ongoing improvements to Moody’s DataHub, including work to the master file and linking external and Moody’s Analytics’ proprietary identifiers in order to streamline integration across different data assets.

WHY THEY WON

Bureau van Dijk, a wholly owned subsidiary of Moody’s Analytics, wins this category thanks to its two-pronged reference data strategy comprising Orbis, the firm’s private company information database; and DataHub, Moody’s Analytics’ cloud-based data platform, designed to allow users to explore, analyze and consume high-quality data when and how they want. Add to that the astonishing growth of Orbis’ entity coverage over the last four years, which now includes more than 120,000 public funds, and you quickly realize it’s a winner in the reference data industry.