Your Compliance Obligations
What we ask of you, why we ask it, and what protects you.
What You Declare
You complete a declaration for each engagement, not once at registration. It takes a few minutes and it is the reason a client can accept the consultation without a separate approval process of their own.
Conflicts
Any commercial, financial or personal relationship with the organisations named in the brief, and any position that would place you on both sides of the question.
Employer restrictions
Whether your employment arrangements permit consulting, and any conditions attached — excluded topics, excluded counterparties or an internal notification requirement.
Public-company exposure
Shareholdings, options and board positions in listed companies connected to the brief, so we can exclude topics where your holding creates a risk for you.
Government roles
Current or recent government, regulatory, central bank or state-owned enterprise positions, including advisory appointments, and any post-employment restriction you are subject to.
A declaration that rules you out of one brief does not affect your standing in the network. Declaring an issue is the correct outcome; discovering it afterwards is the failure we are designed to prevent.
Employer Consent — How It Works
If you are employed, we confirm that consulting is permitted before you are put forward to a client. You tell us the position under your own arrangements: whether consulting is permitted outright, permitted subject to internal approval, or not permitted.
Where your employer requires written approval, we ask you to obtain it and to provide it before the consultation is scheduled. Where your employer permits consulting subject to conditions, we record those conditions and enforce them as boundaries on the call — the moderator holds them, so you do not have to police the conversation alone.
If your employment changes, tell us. Consent is re-confirmed against your new position before your next engagement.
Topics You Must Decline
This list exists to protect you. Clients engage you for your judgement about how a market works, not for information you are not free to give.
- Unpublished financial results, forecasts or performance data of any organisation.
- The terms, pricing or status of a live transaction you are involved in.
- Confidential board, investment committee or regulatory deliberations.
- Specific decisions of your current employer that have not been made public.
- Anything a confidentiality undertaking you have given would cover.
If a question moves towards any of these, say so and stop. You will not be penalised, the moderator will step in, and the consultation continues on the parts you can answer.
How a Call Is Moderated
A research associate attends every consultation. They introduce the scope, keep the discussion inside it, and restate a question that drifts towards material you should not provide. If restating does not resolve it, they end the call.
You may also end a consultation yourself at any point, for any reason, without giving an explanation. You are paid for the time completed.
Recording and Transcripts — Your Rights
Consultations are recorded and transcribed only where you have consented in advance. You may withhold consent and still take the consultation, and you may withdraw consent before the call begins.
Where a consultation is recorded, you receive the transcript. It is released to the engaging client and to you, and to nobody else. Your identity is disclosed only to the client who engaged you — we do not publish expert names, profiles or photographs, and we do not disclose that you are a member of the network.
You may ask us to correct a transcription error, and you may ask that a specific consultation record be restricted.
If You Are Unsure
Raise it with us before you accept, not after. Declining an engagement costs nothing; accepting one you should not have taken can cost a great deal. Our compliance team will talk through the position with you and, where appropriate, reshape the brief so you can contribute to the parts that are clear.
Expert compliance contact:
This page describes Afrisapients’s operating requirements. It is not legal advice. If your employment agreement or professional obligations are unclear, seek independent advice before accepting a consultation.
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