Equity Trustees chooses Zeidler Group’s TMD Generator solution for Design and Distribution (DDO) obligations

4 October 2021, Australia’s leading trustee company, Equity Trustees has selected Zeidler Group’s new tech tool TMD Generator solution to comply with the new Design and Distribution (DDO) obligations.

Australia’s leading trustee company, Equity Trustees, appointed Zeidler Group as its Target Market Definition (TMD) provider to support it as it worked through hundreds of TMDs which had to be completed as part of a new regulatory requirement.

Under the Design and Distribution Obligations (DDO) Regime in Australia, effective from 5 October 2021, issuers were required to produce a Target Market Determination Document (TMD) to ensure compliance with the DDO regime. Equity Trustees used Zeidler’s digital solution to generate and manage their TMD documents for a true end-to-end automated and streamlined service.

Commenting on the partnership, Russell Beasley, Executive General Manager, Corporate Trustee Services, Equity Trustees said: “Equity Trustees is delighted to work with Zeidler Group, who supported us as we worked through the new regime with our clients. Zeidler’s existing experience in KIID production in Europe, their continuous use of digital innovation and user-friendly dashboard were significant advantages as we tried to be as efficient as possible in meeting those new regulatory requirements.”

Jasminka Makovec, Senior Associate at Zeidler Group said: “As a technology-driven law firm, we work as a multi-disciplined team of lawyers, product owners and software engineers, and work together with our clients to ensure our solutions are as streamlined as possible. The TMD Generator adds another exciting product line to Zeidler’s existing digital solutions to help our clients meet their legal and regulatory compliance challenges.”

Speaking of the project, Clarissa Druett, Product Owner at Zeidler Group, added: “As an official license holder of the Australian Financial Services Council (FSC) template, the TMD Generator is a true end-to-end solution that combines our innovative interface with legal tech experience. Our team leveraged our existing experience in generating the respective European UCITS Key Investor Information Documents (KIID) and PRIIPs Key Information Documents (KID) to help us streamline and expedite the TMD process and create efficiencies for our clients.”

As a technology-driven law firm, covering over 50+ jurisdictions, Zeidler Group is expanding its global services and solutions.

Arne Zeidler, CEO and Founder stated: “As our first Australian specific Legal Tech tool, our TMD Generator module facilitates an exciting opportunity for us to provide ongoing support to our existing and prospective clients in Australia. We are proud to add another addition to our digital platform that is transforming how asset managers can cope with their legal and regulatory compliance requirements.”

For more information on Equity Trustees’ forefront position in the industry-wide push to meet the DDO deadline, please visit https://www.eqt.com.au/about-us/media-centre/news-items/press-releases/2021/equity-trustees-leads-on-ddo-deadline