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June 2, 2020

From Vigilant to illumis: Carrying Transparency Forward

We started Vigilant with a clear problem in mind: government records are far too difficult to access. This impedes transparency, and makes it harder for people who need access to this information to do their jobs. Over the last four years—whether it’s wrangling antiquated databases, messy archived documents, or records scattered between hundreds of balkanized datasets—we’ve worked to enhance transparency and make it easier to access public data.

We’ve done that by building the leading compliance and research solutions to help enhance transparency and reduce risk. Our customers use our tools for transparency to solve a wide range of problems – from avoiding conflicts of interest and ensuring compliance with pay-to-play regulations, to deep-dive investigations into firms, and vetting for potential reputational risks.

I’m excited to share that today we’ll continue to carry that mission forward – with a new look, a new website, and a new name.

Today, Vigilant will become illumis. Our team’s mission to improve access to public data to enhance transparency and reduce risk won’t change. Neither will our commitment to innovation, to quality and most importantly, to the success of our customers and our partners.

Our new name, website and brand reflect the broader tools for transparency we offer, and the future of what we are building – going beyond monitoring, with entire workflows to help not only find the information you need, but to put it in context and make use of it. We aim to shine a light, and help you chart a course.

Why are we changing our name, four years in? During this time, we’ve primarily been building solutions that helped our customers find and monitor for new public records, and the name Vigilant suited the work well. But as we’ve grown (rapidly!), monitoring has become one part of what we do, among broader solutions that help our customers manage their entire workflows. And it was time for us to develop a unique name and brand that would reflect the way our customers use our product to shed light. We found that in illumis.

While we are several chapters into the story already, we’re excited about what’s to come. If you’re interested in the work we’re doing, please reach out - we’d love to share more.

We look forward to working with you on it, and to lighting the way ahead.

Forward,

Mike
ComplySci and illumis: Two regulatory compliance solutions joining together to benefit clients’ regulatory needs

In November of 2021, ComplySci announced the acquisition of illumis, a premier data aggregator and technology provider whose solutions are used by financial services firms to identify and mitigate risk from employee political contributions. While the initial acquisition saw the firms operating as two independent organizations, we are thrilled to announce the merging of the illumis and ComplySci brands. With this initiative, we aim to arm our clients with a more comprehensive solution to mitigating compliance risk, which includes the increased risk associated with employee political contributions.

Why real-time data is essential to helping your investment firm avoid violating pay-to-play regulations, SEC rule 206(4)-5

Political contributions made by firm employees pose a significant threat to investment advisory firms. And even firms with the best compliance teams can be at risk of violating pay-to-play regulations, like the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) rule 206(4)-5, given the complexity of the rules and the myriad of regulations to which firms must comply.

Because of this, investment firms must arm themselves with the access to and support of real-time data, which can help identify potential violations and anomalies in the political donation process.

By leveraging real-time data, investment firms can quickly detect suspicious or unauthorized activities and take prompt action to prevent pay-to-play violations.

Beyond SEC Rule 206(4)-5: A look at state and local political contributions compliance regulations

SEC Rule 206(4)-5 is arguably the most well known regulation regarding political contributions compliance or pay-to-play compliance. However, it certainly isn’t the only regulation to which firms must comply.

In fact, beyond federal regulations, firms which take part in government contracted work must contend with numerous and varied state and local regulations as well. Such regulations present unique challenges because of the various requirements within each, which should they be neglected, can cause significant financial and reputational damage.