Client Verification Policy

We build AI agents and software, often for clients in finance and trading, and often with access to systems and data that matter. Before we take on that kind of work we make sure we know who is on the other side of the contract. This is a proportionate check, not the machinery of a regulated institution. It exists so we can work with confidence, and so our clients can too.

• We verify every client before we sign a statement of work or begin paid work. There are no exceptions for this baseline step.
• We look more closely where the work involves finance or trading systems, access to your infrastructure on-prem, or the handling of sensitive or regulated data.
• We also look more closely where a payment arrangement is unusual, for example a payment routed through a party that is not the client.
• Preliminary conversations, scoping calls and quotes do not require verification; it applies before we commit to an engagement.

• Legal entity details: the registered name, address and registration number of the company we are contracting with.
• A recent registry extract or equivalent proof that the entity exists and is who it says it is.
• For anything beyond a simple, clearly owned company, who the beneficial owners are, meaning the real people who ultimately own or control it.
• A working corporate email address on the company's own domain, not a free personal inbox, for the contracting contact.
• A real human on a call. We want to speak with the people we will be working with, not only exchange documents.

EU sanctions law applies to everyone operating in the EU, whatever their size. We check clients and, where relevant, the people behind them against the applicable EU sanctions regimes before we start, and we will not provide services to a sanctioned person, entity or jurisdiction. This is not negotiable and it is not something we can waive. If a check raises a possible match, we pause everything until it is resolved.

Most engagements are straightforward. A small number of signals lead us to slow down or decline:

• Refusal or reluctance to identify the entity we would be contracting with, or documents that do not add up.
• Payment offered from a third party with no clear connection to the client or the work.
• Requests to obscure who the work is really for, or to route it through structures that seem designed to hide control.
• Payment in cash, or in forms and patterns that do not fit ordinary business.

None of these is an accusation. They are simply points where we ask more questions before going further, and where we will walk away if the answers do not come.

The information you give us for verification is handled under our Privacy Policy. We collect only what we need to confirm who you are, we keep it confidential, we restrict who can see it, and we do not use it for anything other than deciding whether and how to work with you. We keep it only as long as we need it for that purpose and for any period the law requires, then remove it.

Verification protects everyone. It protects you, because you know the people building software that touches your systems are accountable and above board. It protects us, because we do not want our work used for anything we would not stand behind. In our experience serious clients never object: procurement teams expect exactly this, and legitimate businesses are glad to be asked. For a normal engagement it takes about ten minutes and a short call, and then we get on with the work.

• We ask you to give us accurate and current information, and to let us know if it changes while we are working together.
• If we cannot complete verification, or if something raises a concern we cannot resolve, we may decline or pause an engagement.
• Where a legal requirement such as sanctions compliance is involved, that decision is not one we are free to set aside.

We keep a basic record of the verification we carried out, including the documents we relied on and the decision we reached, for as long as the engagement lasts and for a reasonable period afterwards. Some records are kept longer where EU law or the law of the EU member state where the Company is established requires it. We hold them securely and in line with our Privacy Policy, and we do not keep more than we need.

We may update this policy as our work, the law or good practice changes. The version published here is the current one, and the date above shows when it last changed. If we make a material change we will reflect it here.