A conflict check before you accept the mandate

What is checked

• The names searched: the new client (trading and legal name), the target, and every buyer or investor on the deal.
• Against the clients of every other engagement and mandate, open or closed.
• Against the targets of your other deals.
• Against buyers, investors and lenders on every other deal, including those that dropped out.

What you get

A list of matches with where each was found, so a partner can judge whether it is a real conflict. The partner records the result on the mandate: clear, or a conflict with how it is managed. The mandate cannot move past its first phase until a partner confirms the check, or waives it with a reason on record.

For audit firms

Every person on an audit confirms their independence on the engagement, and the firm keeps an independence register under ISQM 1. The date of each confirmation is recorded and appears in the inspection pack.

What it does not do

It searches your firm's own records by name. It does not search corporate registries for group structures or beneficial owners, and it does not screen against sanctions lists. Law firms with large conflict-clearing teams need a dedicated product such as Intapp Conflicts.

Questions