Service: Regulatory Compliance Engine
The Regulatory Compliance Engine serves as the full-stack, regulated infrastructure layer for the RWA platform, turning the complexity of financial compliance into a seamless, automated, and invisible process. It addresses the fundamental challenges of tokenizing securities—licensing hurdles, stringent investor verification, fragmented data, asset-level legal wrappers, and enforcing on-chain rules—by providing end-to-end "Compliance-as-a-Service." It ensures that every asset and investor interaction adheres to relevant securities laws (SEC, FINRA, MICA, etc.), mitigating risk and building institutional-grade trust.
This engine delivers value through key pillars:
Automated Verification: Streamlines and automates KYC/AML, Accreditation (including rigorous 506c checks), and suitability assessments, creating reusable "compliance passports" for investors.
Embedded Rule Enforcement: Translates complex regulations (investment limits, transfer restrictions, lock-ups, geographic constraints) into actionable rules applied consistently at onboarding, pre-investment, and pre-transfer stages.
On-Chain Compliance Enablement: Manages the off-chain data (like allow-lists) necessary for permissioned tokens (e.g., EIP-3643) to enforce rules directly on the blockchain.
Auditability & Reporting: Creates immutable, verifiable records of all compliance actions, statuses, and attestations, ready for regulatory scrutiny.
Adaptability: Designed to accommodate evolving regulations across different jurisdictions.
Core Technical Components & APIs
This engine integrates deeply across the platform to enforce rules at critical points.
Primary Models:
Profile Model: The central record where compliance statuses (KYC, Accreditation, MiFID II category, Sophistication) are stored and managed by this engine.
Offer Model: The source of truth for the
regulation_typeand specific compliance requirements of an offering.Investment Model: The engine acts as a gatekeeper before an
Investmentcan be created or legally confirmed.EVM Contract Model: Used to manage the allow-list of verified evm-wallets for permissioned tokens.
Governing Logic:
KYC Status Lifecycle & Accreditation Status Lifecycle: These state machines are orchestrated by this engine.
Global Business Rules: Many cross-cutting compliance rules are implemented here.
Primary APIs:
profile-api: Exposed by this engine to allow other services (like Investment Process Management) to request eligibility checks or trigger verification workflows for the profile.
offer-api: Called by the engine to retrieve the specific compliance requirements (like
regulation_typeor required accreditation level) defined for a particular Offer.evm-api: Called by the engine to add or remove investor evm-wallet addresses from the on-chain allow-list managed by the relevant EVM Contract.
Consumed APIs: KYC Provider API (Plaid), Accreditation Provider API (North Capital)
The Process Lifecycle & Key Capabilities
The engine enforces compliance throughout the user and asset journey.
Phase 1: Comprehensive Investor Onboarding & Verification
Establishes and maintains the compliance status of each investor Profile.
Automated KYC/AML Workflow: Orchestrates instant identity verification using integrated providers, including document checks, liveness detection, and AML/sanctions screening. Manages status updates, retries, and document requests.
Multi-Method Accreditation Verification:
Manages rigorous verification for Reg D 506(c), including secure document collection (tax returns, CPA letters) and integration with verification providers.
Facilitates self-certification via questionnaires for Reg D 506(b) accredited investors.
Handles status expirations and triggers renewal workflows.
Suitability & Sophistication Assessment: Presents and processes questionnaires to:
Determine MiFID II categorization (Retail/Professional) for EU investors.
Assess sophistication for non-accredited investors accessing certain offerings (e.g., Reg D 506b).
Collect necessary data for Reg CF/A+ investment limit calculations (income, net worth).
Investment Limit Calculation & Tracking: Automatically calculates and stores applicable investment limits (e.g., per-offering for Reg A T2, rolling 12-month for Reg CF) on the Profile.
"Compliance Passport" Management: Stores verified statuses to enable seamless investment in future offerings without redundant checks (where regulations permit).
Consent Management: Manages and logs investor consent for data processing (e.g., GDPR) and risk acknowledgments.
Phase 2: Offering Compliance Configuration & Issuer Checks
Ensures the offering itself is set up compliantly.
Rule Association: Allows administrators (via the Issuer Portal) to associate specific compliance requirements (regulation type, accreditation needs, geographic restrictions) with each Offer.
Issuer "Bad Actor" Checks: Integrates checks (potentially manual or via API) to ensure issuers and their principals are not disqualified under securities regulations before an Offer can be published.
Phase 3: Pre-Investment Eligibility Checks
This phase occurs every time an investor attempts to view or invest in a specific offer.
Offer Access Control: Checks if the investor's status permits viewing the specific Offer (e.g., restricting Reg D 506b visibility).
Investment Limit Enforcement: Blocks Investment creation if the amount exceeds the investor's calculated limit for Reg A T2 or Reg CF.
Investment Eligibility Validation: Before an Investment record is created, it performs real-time checks:
Confirms kyc_status is
approved.Confirms accreditation_status meets the Offer's requirement (Verified, Self-Certified, or not required).
Confirms the proposed investment amount is within calculated limits (for Reg A T2, Reg CF).
Confirms MiFID II appropriateness checks/warnings are completed if required.
Result: Provides a clear "Go / No-Go" decision to the Investment Process Management engine.
Phase 4: On-Chain Compliance Support
While the smart contract enforces on-chain rules, this engine manages the off-chain data that enables it.
Allow-List Management: Maintains the registry of verified EVM wallet addresses that are permitted to hold specific permissioned tokens (like EIP-3643). Updates are pushed via the evm-api.
Transfer Restriction Enforcement (Off-Chain Check): Before initiating an on-chain transfer (via the evm-api), verifies:
The token is outside its mandatory lock-up period. (The smart contract reads or enforces this).
Both sender and receiver EVM Wallets are allow-listed for the specific EVM Contract.
Phase 5: On-Chain Compliance Enablement
Manages the off-chain data that allows smart contracts to enforce rules.
- Allow-List Synchronization: Securely calls the evm-api to add verified EVM wallet addresses to the appropriate on-chain allow-lists maintained by permissioned token contracts (e.g., EIP-3643). Manages removal if compliance status changes.
Phase 6: Audit & Reporting Support
Maintains records for regulatory purposes.
Immutable Logging: Ensures all verification attempts, status changes, attestations, limit calculations, and enforcement decisions are logged securely and immutably.
Data Provision for Reporting: Provides access to compliance data needed for generating regulatory filings (e.g., Form C/D reports, investor lists).
Advanced Scenarios & Platform Resilience
Status Expiration Handling: The engine includes logic to automatically transition Accreditation Status to
EXPIREDand trigger notifications for renewal.Webhook Processing & Error Handling: Reliably processes asynchronous updates from third-party verification providers, with mechanisms to handle failures or delays.
Manual Overrides & Auditing: Provides secure mechanisms (likely via the Issuer Portal) for authorized personnel to review and potentially override compliance statuses, with all such actions meticulously logged.
Handling Evolving Regulations: The rules engine is designed modularly to allow for updates and additions as securities laws change across jurisdictions.
Cross-Border Complexity: Includes logic to apply the correct set of compliance checks based on investor residency and offering jurisdiction.
Provider Integration Robustness: Manages API interactions with multiple third-party verification providers, including handling errors, retries, and asynchronous webhook responses.
Associated End-to-End Workflows
Workflow: Submitting a New Investment (Performs eligibility checks)
Workflow: Closing a Successful Offer (Performs final batch compliance check)