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Compliance policy

 

In the world of knowledge sharing, ensuring that both our customers and experts are protected is key. Transparency is one of our core guiding principles here at Techspert, and as our AI-driven solution to knowledge exchange has a truly global reach we strive to instil confidence in our conduct across all our processes, products and services.

Our robust compliance framework has been developed by our dedicated compliance team, in conjunction with legal professionals, to ensure that both customers and experts are safeguarded and fully aware of their responsibilities.

For any questions, or to learn more about our compliance policies, please get in touch at compliance@techspert.com.

 

Expert compliance

All our experts are selected and screened for their precise relevance to our customer needs by our systems for each consulting opportunity. The screening and qualification process includes:

  • Verification: Experts’ identities and suitability are validated based on public sources and public information.
  • Expert Guidelines: We provide our experts with a set of guidelines to ensure that they are aware of their legal obligations and adhere to our high service standards.
  • Terms and Conditions: Experts are also required to agree to our robust terms and conditions before they connect with our customers.

 

This means all our experts are contractually obliged to comply with a number of conservative guidelines that govern each consultation, as per the Compliance Policy for Experts. By proceeding with a consultation, they agree that they:

  • Will not disclose any information a customer has shared with them (unless they are obliged by law to do so). This means they are not allowed to disclose:
    • any details about the purpose of the call,
    • the fact that they connected with you or the existence of the call,
    • the content of any discussions which you have with them,
    • any documentation or other background information which you share with them.
  • Confirm that they have all necessary licenses, consents and insurances required to provide the services the customer has requested.
    • In providing the services, they will not be in breach of any third-party agreements (for example, they will not breach any agreement with their current or previous employer).
  • Agree to refuse any connection where there is a conflict of interest. If a conflict of interest develops in the course of providing the services, they agree to immediately cease providing the services.
  • Will not work on any project which impacts upon or concerns their current employer, nor will they consult for direct competitors of their current employer.
  • Will terminate a consultation immediately once made aware of a professional conflict, or the subject matter concerns confidential information they cannot discuss. Techspert will provide full compensation for the time spent on the consultation, plus an additional 15 minutes.
  • Confidential information means all material, non-public, business related information that is disclosed or made available to the expert, which should not be used or disclosed without permission. Material non-public information can also be referred to as “inside information” and covers information that is not generally available to the public, and there is a significant likelihood that a reasonable investor would deem this important in investment decision-making. In addition, this also covers any information that the experts have a personal duty to keep confidential, and to not use for any other unauthorised purpose.

 

Customer compliance

We truly value our experts and the insights they provide during consultations, so it is paramount that our customers understand and respect their confidentiality, as well as their limitations. All customers are bound by the Techspert terms and conditions and the following compliance guidelines, and they are:

  • Prohibited from soliciting material non-public or confidential information with regards to a current or previous employer. The term material non-public information pertains to any information that can result in insider trading liability.
  • Encouraged to customise and apply additional compliance protocols, on a project-by-project basis.
  • Obliged to notify Techspert if there is a high likelihood of a conflict of interest arising for any reason, and the experts in question will not be permitted to participate, or the consultation will be terminated if this is already in progress.
  • Aware that if a professional or regulatory conflict is identified at any point during a consultation, the expert has the right to terminate the consultation.

 
As standard, we retain comprehensive records of all consultations and customers are welcomed to track their consultation history across all projects.

We also aim to provide a bespoke service to customers in order to address any specific compliance and risk management needs. In the past, we have provided the following additional services to customers:

  • Integrating conflict of interest lists or do-not-contact lists into our algorithm to ensure that we do not contact experts where you have identified an issue.
  • Integration of maximum honorarium requirements, so that you can remain within any limits on honoraria that may be set by regulators in your field (subject to Techspert approval).
  • Confidential and secure recordings of phone calls between customers and experts, for your records and future reference.
  • Pre-defined screening questions or confirmations from experts prior to connections.
  • Requiring experts to sign non-disclosure agreements on the customers standard terms.

 

Techspert Employer Preference Registry

We appreciate that compliance issues may affect employers, as well as the experts and customers.
To prevent conflicts of interest arising, we created the Techspert Employer Preference Registry, which enables organisations to register any guidelines or restrictions on consulting activity by their employees.

This registry list is programmed into our software to ensure that we are acting in accordance with all employer preferences and can implement the necessary actions, such as the restriction of contact to prohibited domains.

Techspert is committed to stringently enforcing all listed restrictions, and if you are an employer wishing to inform us of any policies you have regarding external consulting by employees, please email us at compliance@techspert.com and we would be happy to help.