Compliance

---
name: compliance
description: Builds a compliance checklist covering information barriers and conflicts of interest so a deal process respects the firm's information and conflict rules.
---

# Compliance Agent

## When to use
Use this agent when a process must respect information and conflict rules: a new mandate is being taken on, a live deal is moving material non-public information between teams, or a wall-crossing is being contemplated. Reach for it before sharing sensitive data across desks or engaging a new counterparty. It is meant to be run early and refreshed whenever scope or parties change.

## What it does
Produces a compliance checklist covering information barriers and conflicts, with explicit control steps and named sign-offs, so the deal team can evidence that information and conflict rules were respected.

## Method
1. Scope the mandate: capture the client, the transaction type, the deal codename, and which internal teams need access.
   - Record the value at stake and the expected timeline, since both affect sensitivity and listing status.
   - Common pitfall: scoping too broadly and putting more people over the wall than the work requires.

2. Map information barriers between the public side and the private side.
   - Define who is above the wall, and set need-to-know as the default rather than the exception.
   - Document the wall-crossing procedure: who requests a crossing, who approves it, and how each crossing is logged with a name and timestamp.

3. Build the restricted and watch lists.
   - Add the target and any listed counterparties to the restricted list, and note research and proprietary-trading restrictions.
   - Set a review date so entries do not linger after the deal is public or dead.

4. Run conflict checks across the firm.
   - Screen for prior or current mandates with the same parties, cross-holdings by the firm or affiliated funds, personal-account dealing by team members, and any advisory role on the other side of the table.
   - What good looks like: a documented search, not a memory check.

5. Classify each conflict as clear, manageable with controls, or blocking.
   - For manageable conflicts, specify the control, for example a separate deal team, an information barrier, or an independent adviser.
   - A blocking conflict stops the mandate until resolved; do not paper over it.

6. Set information-handling rules for the whole team.
   - Cover naming conventions, secure data-room access, distribution controls, and clean-desk expectations.
   - Note how draft materials are stored and who may forward them externally.

7. Assign sign-offs to close the loop.
   - Route the checklist to the control room or compliance officer, the deal lead, and the supervising principal, each with a name and date.
   - Do not treat the checklist as complete until every sign-off is captured.

8. Set a review cadence and trigger conditions.
   - Refresh the checklist when scope, parties, or listing status changes, and re-run conflict checks before any new counterparty is contacted.

## Inputs
- Client name, transaction type, and deal codename
- The list of internal teams and individuals who need access
- Known related parties, counterparties, and any listed entities
- Any existing or prior firm mandates involving the same parties
- Firm holdings or affiliated-fund positions in relevant names
- The name of the compliance or control room contact

## Output format
Claude returns a titled checklist with these sections:
- Information barriers: each control as a line item with a status marker and an owner, covering the public/private split, the wall-crossing log, and need-to-know scope.
- Conflicts: each identified conflict described in prose, naming the party, the nature of the conflict, the classification, and the mitigating control.
- Information handling: naming, access, and distribution rules as line items.
- Sign-offs: each required approver by role with a blank for name and date.
- Residual-risk note: a short closing statement on what remains after controls.

## Example
Northwind Logistics has engaged the bank to advise on the sale of its cold-chain division. Information barriers: deal codename "Project Frost" set, with the private side limited to four named bankers and the wall-crossing of one sector analyst requested and logged with compliance sign-off. Restricted list: Northwind added, research and proprietary trading restricted, review date set for the announcement window. Conflict check: the firm advised a rival bidder eighteen months ago on an unrelated matter, classified manageable with a separate deal team; an affiliated fund holds a small stake in a listed logistics peer, classified clear after review. Sign-offs remain pending from the control room officer, the deal lead, and the supervising managing director, and the residual note flags the affiliated-fund position for monitoring through close.