Digging into Digital Data and Company Information Providers
Jinfo Blog

By Andrew Lucas

Abstract

Andrew Lucas reviews FreePint coverage over the last few months and looks at some of the Subscription Articles and product reviews which are of interest to information managers in the banking and financial services sector, in particular recent developments and reviews in the company information field.

Item

For information professionals in the financial services sector there has been much of interest in FreePint's coverage over the last few months. FreePint has looked at developments in the information sector, examined topics and reviewed products which are relevant to both the financial services sector as well as the wider information community.

Robin Neidorf's two-part examination of the "Sell Side of News - Today's Competitive Landscape" (Part 1 and Part 2) was of interest to many information managers as Robin looked at what companies want from their news providers in the context of the changing landscape of news needs and suppliers. But as she observed, "Changes in the supply and consumption of news are often a precursor of changes we'll start to see in other parts of the information world: what happens this year in news is likely to start to affect areas like company information, financial information and executive information in the coming years".

One such change, that will be implemented in the second quarter of 2015, is that all UK digital data from the national corporate registration agency, Companies House, will be made available to customers free of charge. Chris Porter looked at the implications for end-users and vendors of UK company information in Major Changes Coming for Access to UK Company Information.

Catherine Pask provided a very useful overview of company information providers and advice on how to select the most appropriate vendor in Company Information - Finding the Right Package for Your Specific Needs.

Continuing with the theme of company information, there were also a number of product reviews which looked at vendors of company data, including:

• Mergent Online - a database of highly structured company, executive and related information

• Factiva Companies & Executives - a service designed for researchers and analysts in information-intensive organisations as well as sales and business development

• LexisNexis Company Dossier - a research database providing information about companies, executives and industries.

Another area which is of continuing importance to both financial and non-financial sectors alike is Know Your Customer. The FreePint Topic Series "What You Need to Know Your Customer (KYC)", which ran from July-September 2014, provided an update on recent responses by key vendors to changing legal requirements; information on trends in departmental budgets and resources; and guidance to support your workflow and decision-making.

« Blog