APIR now back on track

New codes which identify parties to electronic commerce transactions are being developed for financial planners.

New codes which identify parties to electronic commerce transactions are being developed for financial planners.

The Principal and Representative Identifier (PRI) codes are being de-vised by APIR Systems which expects to formally launch them at the time of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) conference in Novem-ber.

APIR Systems managing director Andrew Hutchings says working together with the Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA), his company has already signed up 120 fund managers as paid up users of its codes.

These codes have become almost universally accepted as the industry standard for identifying unlisted collective investments and cover 4,500 active products and 3,500 terminated products.

All research houses and the majority of software suppliers also use the codes.

Hutchings says the next step is to issue codes to financial planners.

"We will shortly be going out to all major dealer groups and CFPs," he says.

At present, financial planners use different codes to identify them-selves to each fund manager and, according to Hutchings, each can deal with 40-50 managers. The new system will allow each to use just one code no matter who they are talking to.

Formerly called Australian Pacific Investment Register (APIR), APIR Systems was placed into receivership in late 1997 when two companies run by Canberra businessman Max Vardanega went into liquidation with more than $2.4 million in debts.

It was bought last year by a Canberra-based syndicate, headed by Hutchings, a former consultant to the company.