Institutional users will not wait through vague onboarding flows. A VATP stack has to make connectivity, verification, and production cutover predictable while satisfying regulators. That requires an architecture that treats compliance controls as code and observability as a first class product feature.
Core architecture
Start with clear separation between layers:
- Public experience for discovery and disclosures.
- Secure onboarding plane with KYC, AML, and travel rule integrations.
- Trading and settlement plane with strict change control and monitoring.
- Data plane for market data, surveillance events, and audit trails.
Each layer should have explicit SLOs and rollback paths. Change windows, approvals, and testing environments need documentation that regulators and partners can review.
Connectivity and gateways
Institutional clients expect:
- FIX gateways with deterministic throughput and replay support.
- REST and WebSocket APIs with versioning, rate limits, and sandbox endpoints.
- Clear IP allowlists, authentication methods, and credential rotation policies.
Publish technical guides that pair with compliance checklists so engineering and compliance teams can move in lockstep during onboarding.
Identity, KYC, and suitability
The onboarding plane should orchestrate identity verification, beneficial ownership checks, and risk scoring. Practical steps include:
- Structured questionnaires tied to specific product access levels.
- Automated screening against sanctions, politically exposed persons, and adverse media.
- Suitability rules for higher risk products with evidence stored for audits.
All approvals should generate an auditable record showing who reviewed the file, what data was used, and when expiration or refresh dates apply.
Observability and incident response
Observability is part of licensing. Capture metrics and logs across custody, matching, API access, and funds flows. Define thresholds that trigger alerts, along with documented runbooks that route incidents to the right teams. For every incident, preserve evidence for postmortems and regulatory reporting.
Testing and change control
Institutional onboarding often stalls when environments are unstable. Keep sandboxes current, publish release calendars, and provide simulated market data for client testing. All production changes should have approvals, rollback steps, and validation criteria recorded in a system of record.
Evidence packages
Banks and regulators both expect evidence. Prepare data rooms that include:
- SOC reports or security assessments.
- Key management procedures and wallet designs.
- Surveillance rules, alert tuning rationale, and investigation logs.
- Incident response exercises with outcomes and remediation.
Sharing this evidence early accelerates onboarding and builds trust before the first trade flows through the VATP.