About

Butterfield Trust is a globally recognised provider of fiduciary and wealth management services with operations across multiple jurisdictions. The organisation manages a complex web of signatory lists and customer due diligence (CDD) records for its diverse international client base.

The problem

Managing signatory lists and CDD documentation across multiple jurisdictions had become a growing operational and governance risk for Butterfield Trust. Manual processes slowed teams down, while at the executive level, limited access controls and a lack of a central governance framework made it hard to enforce standards, ensure oversight, and reduce risk across the business.

Key operational challenges included:

• Paper-based workflows that were time-consuming and difficult to track

• Manual CDD renewals and proof-of-address checks, which were often missed or delayed

• Fragmented processes across jurisdictions

• Difficulty updating multiple signature lists and managing version control

• Painful data collection from multiple signatories across global locations

The solution

Butterfield Trust implemented Cygnetise to digitise and streamline their signatory management and CDD workflows. The application was easy to implement and operationalise across the different teams within the company.

Butterfield Trust now uses Cygnetise daily, updating CDD, refreshing expired documents, and ensuring compliance with minimal manual intervention. Some of the key benefits of Cygnetise, as highlighted by the operations team, include:

• Setting up automated reminders for CDD expirations and proof-of-address updates

• Centrally managing signatory lists with simple onboarding and editing tools

• Gaining real-time visibility across jurisdictions, improving governance

• Eliminating the need for spreadsheet-based tracking and email chains

• Reducing operational pressure on relationship managers and compliance teams

The outcome

Since using Cygnetise, Butterfield Trust has reported:

• Significant time savings on signatory list updates and CDD administration: What used to take days to complete now takes no more than 15 minutes daily.

• Reduction in manual errors or missing document alerts: No need to chase CDD updates every 3 months. Reminders come in weeks before updates are needed so timely CDD documentation can be obtained. Eliminating this as a manual task saves hours of time weekly.

• Major improvement in regulatory audit readiness and transparency: A central source of truth and secure audit trail ensure consistent compliance and regulatory preparedness.