Regulatory Data Corp. International (RDC) and Alacra Inc. have formed a partnership that will enable compliance professionals at financial institutions and other organizations access more than five million risk-relevant records that ensure compliance with Know Your Customer laws.

Existing Alacra Compliance customers will be able to access RDC's Global Regulatory Information Database (GRID), which contains risk-relevant records that are aggregated from more than 15,000 public sources. GRID is also searchable by specific customizable risk codes.

Alacra customers can access the GRID database through Alacra Compliance, which is a workflow-based application that provides a single access point to search across multiple databases. RDC customers have had access to the GRID database since RDC was founded in 2002.

This alliance is a smart move by both companies. As compliance continues to be an important issue in the business world, professionals will increasingly rely on related solutions. By working together, RDC and Alacra are well positioned to serve such an active customer base.

Both companies should be able to attract new customers as a result as well as maintain their current customers with their ability to provide access to such an abundant number of records. In the news release announcing the partnership, RDC notes that the company will likely form other alliances in the coming years. Such a strategy will only help RDC compete in the marketplace, especially if the demand for compliance products remains as steady as it is today.