Executive Vice President of Special Projects, Somnigroup
Search every verified Thomas Murray interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In September 2022, Thomas Murray, Executive Vice President of Special Projects at Somnigroup, participated in the launch of Thomas Murray Fund Solutions, a joint venture with mebs. During a webinar, Murray described the venture as combining Thomas Murray's technology platform SupplierSelect with mebs' compliance expertise to address due diligence challenges in the financial services industry. He stated that the platform leverages over 20 years of data and questionnaires covering entities such as global custodians, CCPs, and transfer agents, and that it aims to help firms meet regulatory requirements, citing CSSF Circular 18/698 as an example of prescriptive oversight. Murray noted that the due diligence process often faces difficulties such as opaque responses from counterparties and claimed that the technology allows users to import previous responses to detect changes and adjust scores. He said the service costs between five and six thousand euros per service provider and that the initial focus is on Luxembourg, with inquiries from other jurisdictions including Ireland, Guernsey, and Switzerland. Murray also remarked that regulatory interest in due diligence is at an all-time high and that non-compliance could result in administrative fines or public naming by regulators.
“We saw some time back an opportunity to leverage the technology that we'd built within Thomas Murray over the last 20 years of gathering data, issuing questionnaires to global custodians, regional custodians, sub-custodians, CCPs, CSDs, prime brokers, transfer agents. We built up a massive amount of experience and libr...”
“Regulatory interest in due diligence and monitoring I think is at an all-time high. We've seen, for example, CSSF Circular 18/698 with very prescriptive terms and conditions. Many groups actually need the support of groups like Thomas Murray Fund Solutions to meet these requirements.”
“The difficulty of getting comparative data from counterparties is often very difficult. People will answer questions in ways that are very opaque or withhold information claiming confidentiality, which most times is not justified.”
“The technology we have allows people to import previous responses so if a transfer agent responded in 2021, they can import that response in subsequent years. The system detects changes and adjusts scores accordingly, creating real efficiency for users.”
“If we are not performing any due diligence, it is a regulatory requirement to perform initial and periodic due diligence, and they must be documented and safely kept. If not, the CSSF may impose an administrative fine, and companies have been publicly named and shamed for non-compliance.”
“We had a situation where a big-name service provider claimed to have invested significantly in their business, but on-site due diligence revealed outdated technology like old CRT screens and disaster recovery sites located in the same building, which contradicted their claims.”
“The due diligence process typically involves leaving the questionnaire in the market for about four weeks, with managed service people following up to ensure responses are completed. After responses come in, they are scored and validated, and reports are produced within about a week.”
“We have developed Thomas Murray Fund Solutions, which capitalizes on Thomas Murray's renowned technology platform SupplierSelect for financial services, combined with Any Business Solutions' compliance expertise and local knowledge, creating an extraordinary opportunity to resolve industry problems.”
“The cost of the full end-to-end due diligence service is aimed to be between five and six thousand euros per service provider, with costs potentially lower or higher depending on complexity. The more service providers worked with, the less the initial discovery phase costs, making it cost-effective.”
“Currently, the due diligence questionnaires and reports are all in English, but there is potential to address other languages in the future if demand arises. The initial focus is on the Luxembourg regulatory environment, but inquiries from other jurisdictions like Ireland, Guernsey, and Switzerland are coming in.”
Thomas Murray and mebs have recently joined forces to create Thomas Murray Fund Solutions, an alliance whose primary ...
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