A configurable, whitelabeled client onboarding platform for broker-dealers and RIAs.
One application replaces the patchwork of PDF forms, DocuSign envelopes, KYC vendor portals, and email approval threads that most firms still use. Compliance configures the flow per client type. Clients move through a guided wizard. Reviewers approve or reject from a single workbench. Every step is recorded as immutable audit evidence.
Invite → Wizard → KYC → eSign → Compliance Review → Activation
Each stop produces its own audit row. The application's full history is a deterministic sequence of those rows, joined by application_id.
The client receives a one-time invite link tied to a specific client type.
Compliance dispatches the invite from the Admin Console. The link encodes the client type, the published configuration version, and a single-use token. Opening the link creates an applicant record and starts the session.
Nine steps for institutional clients; dynamic sequence for retail.
- Select Account Type
- Personal Information (AI-prefill)
- Employment & Financial Profile
- Trading Experience (options, margin)
- Identity Verification (Hyperverge KYC)
- Tax Certification (W-9 inline, W-8 routed)
- Regulatory Disclosures (Reg BI)
- eSign Documents (CleverAlpha eSign engine)
- Confirmation
Retail accounts use a separate wizard with dynamic step sequence based on account type: individual, joint (5 variants), UGMA, IRA. Joint accounts append a co-applicant flow; community-property joints append spousal consent; UGMA appends minor info.
In-browser identity verification via Hyperverge.
Document capture → face match selfie → liveness check. Result returns synchronously. OFAC, PEP, and adverse-media screening run server-side. Hits route to enhanced due diligence in the Compliance Dashboard.
CleverAlpha's own eSign engine — not DocuSign.
Documents bound to each client type are signed in a single envelope. The signature pad captures stroke timing, IP, and user-agent. The completed envelope is sealed with a SHA-256 hash and written to immutable storage. Architectural choice: own the audit envelope, control the signature ceremony, avoid per-envelope vendor fees.
One workbench, one decision per row.
The Compliance Dashboard is the principal's surface. Live counts of queue depth, filterable table, slide-out drawer for full applicant detail. Three terminal actions: Approve · Request Info · Reject. The Ops View is the same surface with decision controls removed — for SLA monitoring without approval authority.
Approval fires a chain of one-shot events.
- Account creation in the firm's clearing system
- Welcome email — account number, login, funding wire details
- Document packet delivered to compliance and back office
- System handoff — application archived, applicant becomes customer
Every step ties to a documented rule.
| Pipeline stop | Rule | What it requires | How we satisfy it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invite / Wizard | FINRA 4512 | Customer account information at opening | Steps 2–4 collect & persist |
| Wizard | FINRA 2090 | Know Your Customer | Step 2 identity, step 3 financial profile |
| Wizard | FINRA 2111 | Suitability | Step 3 + step 4 drive suitability profile |
| KYC | PATRIOT Act § 326 | Customer Identification Program | Step 5 Hyperverge in-browser verification |
| KYC | BSA / OFAC | Sanctions screening | OFAC, PEP, adverse-media screening on Step 5 |
| Tax | IRS § 1441 / FATCA | Tax certification | Step 6 W-9 inline / W-8 routed |
| Disclosures | Reg BI | Disclosure Obligation | Step 7 per-disclosure acknowledgment |
| eSign | ESIGN Act / UETA | Electronic-signature equivalence | Step 8 signature ceremony + envelope hash |
| Review | FINRA 4512(c) | Principal approval | Compliance Dashboard approve action |
| All | SEC 17a-3 / 17a-4(f) | Books and records, WORM | Hash-chained audit trail, 6-year retention |
Six tables, joined by application_id, retained 6 years.
onboarding_configs— versioned configurationsapplicants— one row per clientonboarding_drafts— per-step persisted answerskyc_results— Hyperverge results + sanctions screeningesign_envelopes— sealed envelopes, WORM storagecompliance_actions— reviewer decisions, hash-chained