Compliance
Compliance isn't a checkbox.
It's the foundation.
Expert networks live or die on trust. Our compliance framework governs every engagement — how experts are screened, how conflicts are checked, how confidentiality is protected, and how records are kept. Documented, consistent, and applied without exception.
One compliance failure can compromise a deal, a fund, or a client relationship. That is why our framework is applied to every engagement — without exception, whether it's a single call or a fifty-expert programme.
100%
Engagements documented
Process You Can Audit
Trust is built one documented step at a time.
Every consultation runs through the same recorded sequence — screening, conflict checks, terms, topic boundaries — so when your compliance team asks how it works, the answer is a paper trail, not a promise.
- Per-engagement screening and conflict checks
- Engagement terms agreed before any call
- Records retained and available for review
The Framework
Five pillars, applied to every engagement
Per-engagement expert screening
Every expert is screened for every engagement — not once at network onboarding. Screening covers professional background verification, depth and recency of relevant experience, current employment status, and any restrictions that would limit what they can discuss.
Conflict-of-interest checks
Before any profile reaches you, we check for conflicts between the expert's current and recent affiliations and the subject of your research — including competitive conflicts, advisory relationships, and confidentiality obligations to third parties. Conflicted experts are excluded, full stop.
Material non-public information (MNPI) protections
Experts are briefed on — and acknowledge — clear rules before every consultation: no material non-public information, no confidential business information from current or former employers, and no breach of any confidentiality obligation. Consultations that approach these lines are stopped.
Confidentiality and NDA protocols
Confidentiality runs in both directions. Your identity, your research focus, and your project details are never disclosed to experts or third parties without your authorisation. NDA and engagement terms are established before every consultation.
Documented engagement records
Every engagement is documented — profiles presented, screenings completed, clearances issued, terms acknowledged, and deliverables produced. If your compliance team needs to review how an engagement was run, the record exists.
For Compliance Teams
Built to satisfy your internal review
If your firm has its own compliance requirements for expert network usage, we work within them — not around them.
Compliance review call
We're happy to walk your compliance or legal team through our framework before your first engagement.
Arrange a review calli
Client-specific compliance rules
Restricted lists, sector exclusions, seniority requirements, cooling-off periods for former employees — your firm's rules are applied to our screening on every engagement you run with us.
ii
Chaperoned and recorded calls
Where your policies require it, calls can be moderated, recorded, or attended by a compliance observer — arranged as part of the engagement scope.
iii
Audit support
Engagement records — screenings, clearances, terms, deliverables — are retained and available to your compliance function on request.
iv
Escalation without friction
Any compliance question — before, during, or after an engagement — goes directly to your project lead and is treated as priority. No ticket queues, no runaround.
Information security and data handling
Project briefs, deliverables, and engagement records are handled under strict access controls — available only to the team working on your engagement. Deliverables are produced exclusively for the commissioning client and never reused, resold, or shared across clients. Data retention follows the terms agreed in your engagement.
Protection works for experts too
Compliance that protects clients also protects the experts they speak with. Experts participate in a personal capacity, are never asked to breach employment obligations, receive engagement terms before every consultation, and can decline any topic or invitation. A network experts trust is a network that delivers better conversations.
FAQ
Compliance — common questions
Your compliance team has more questions? Write to sales@astuteconnect.com — we'll arrange a direct conversation.
Through layered controls: pre-engagement screening for restrictions, explicit MNPI and confidentiality briefings acknowledged before every call, topic boundaries set in the engagement terms, and clear rules that consultations approaching those boundaries are stopped.
Not unless you choose to disclose it. By default, experts know only the client type (e.g., an investment fund, a consulting firm) and the consultation topic. Your firm's identity and research focus stay confidential.
Yes. Restricted lists, sector exclusions, cooling-off periods, chaperoned calls, recording requirements — share your policy and we apply it to every engagement you run with us.
The engagement with that expert is paused immediately, you are informed, and we source a replacement at no additional cost. The event is documented in the engagement record.
Yes — and we encourage it. We'll walk your compliance or legal team through the framework, answer questions, and document any firm-specific requirements before your first engagement.
Every engagement generates a documented record: profiles presented, screenings and clearances completed, terms acknowledged, and deliverables produced. Records are retained under access controls and made available to your compliance function on request.
Run your next engagement on a framework you can defend.
Submit a project — or put our framework in front of your compliance team first. Both work for us.