Recheck that the subject’s name, the ID number and due date are correct.  

Remove comments and highlights added by the analyst/QA/LQA. This is a general rule for everyone at every stage; if a query has been resolved, please remove the comment/highlight.

Unless unavoidable, do not have sentences that go on for 3, 4 or 4+ lines. Break it down into smaller, concise sentences. 

When writing about a document that the subject, company or related company was mentioned in, specify what kind of document it is instead of saying something like ‘mentioned in a company document’. E.g., If we know the subject is mentioned in a financial report, specify the report name and year and any other details given there. 

‘Synonym’ is a word, morpheme or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme or phrase in a given language. Hence, while the words might be similar, they aren’t always interchangeable. E.g., While writing about reviews on a website, a report had the word ‘authors’ to describe the people who had left reviews. In this case, the correct word would be either ‘users’ or ‘reviewers’; not ‘authors.’ 

Be mindful about the usage of ‘a few vs few’ ‘between vs in between’ and ‘however vs further vs additionally vs moreover’. When choosing between ‘a few’ and ‘few,’ remember that ‘a few’ implies a small but adequate quantity (e.g., a few options are available), while ‘few’ suggests scarcity (e.g., few participants showed up). Use ‘between’ for direct relationships (e.g., between 2 and 3 p.m.) and ‘in between’ indicates a middle position (e.g., the park is in between the buildings). The word ‘however’ introduces contrast, ‘further’ adds to the previous point (related/connected to the previous sentence), ‘moreover’ emphasizes additional supporting information (additional info here could be unrelated to the previous sentence), and ‘additionally’ offers extra, often less critical, information. These distinctions ensure clarity in writing.

Using the words ‘accused’ and ‘alleged’: Allegation vs accusation | Allegation meaning | Grammarist 

Wherever there is a drop down option, select the correct option and check for extra space and period after selecting those. Don’t skip selecting the options – don’t leave it blank. 

While adding pictures, please don’t add old pictures or incorrect photos when we clearly have a lot of recent and clear pictures of the subject. Additionally, be mindful about adding a picture that shows the subject’s facial profile clearly and not side profiles (only acceptable when we couldn’t find anything else at all). Understand the nature and purpose of the report; a clear picture that shows the person’s facial features well and is recent is desirable. 

For social media and domain screenshots, recheck if the screenshot matches what the profile looks like on the day you have picked up the report. It can happen that the subject’s account was inactive for a while (when the analyst is working on it) and by the time the QA or FQA picks up the report, there is some new activity or post on the profile. Always check the screenshot and the last activity info. 

Note: Please recheck the formatting rules for pictures and size and alignment of the text and tables. Images should always have a shadow. 

Local language names:

Please be mindful of the name order in Arabic or non-English names while pasting the name into your report. Use multiple translation sites such as DeepL and Google Translate to verify info instead of using a single platform. Also, do ensure that for CBI cases the local script name in your report matches that provided in the subject’s form exactly. If you find that the name in the form is incorrect/is another name altogether/is one of the SI’s name/etc., add a note. Feel free to ask for assistance in relation to this. 

Other things to keep in mind while writing names:

If we have written ‘the subject’ or ‘name’ or established the name of any individual in the summary/court record/etc. e.g. accused Oscar Pistorius (‘Pistorius’), do not repeatedly use the full name in the report unless there are 2 or more individuals with the same name being referenced in the same report. 

Please ensure that the order of the risks raised and their headings are the same in the Risk Executive Summary and the main body. Ensure that your summary and the heading is short and factually correct. Check the hyperlinks before uploading the file. 

While listing the subject’s employment, focus on the sector and industry. In CBI reports, you can also check employment-nature of business section in some forms. 

Q. Should court cases related to Dissolution of Marriage (divorce) be raised as a regulatory risk? (When this has been disclosed by the client in the form.) 

Ans. Divorces should be written up in the court section but not flagged. The only reason we would flag it is if there was adverse media about the case or if there was something negative mentioned in the case details (e.g., abuse, criminal acts, etc.) Therefore, for such cases unless there is info about anything adverse (violence, stalking, etc.) connected to the separation, please add it as a note instead of in the court records section.  If the information about a divorce/former spouse was undisclosed, please flag it.

Please refer to the revised KB article for the same: L1+ Individual Risks - Court Records and Regulatory Risks (neotas.com)

12. Summarising info: Read through every section carefully and add proper context and info. E.g. instead of writing podcast, specify if the person was a guest or host. 

13. Single digits to be written with a zero in front – E.g., 07, not 7.

14. Update the fields after you finish working on the report and before you upload it.

15. Double quote marks only to be used when adding a quote or comment shared in an article, review, etc. For everything else, single quote marks.  

16. Add a period before the hyperlinks in sentences and for hyperlinks added in paragraphs with multiple things, add them before the comma. Add spaces between the hyperlinks ‘^ ^ ^’ and not ‘^^^’. Delete the underline.

17. Currency signs – use them, but be specific for dollars use USD/AUD etc.

18. Always hyphenate ‘client-provided’.

19. Use En dashes, not Hyphens for dates.

20. UK English, not US English and no oxford commas.

21. Add comma before ‘respectively’ and ‘among others’ wherever you are using them.

22. While writing about the source of the info, (Esp. under employment), be specific. E.g., client-provided CV, the subject’s LinkedIn, the company’s professional profile, etc. Not provided info or just LinkedIn. Who shared it needs to be explicitly stated.

23. Please ensure the hyperlink above the social media/domain screenshots are in BOLD. Recheck if the hyperlinks are correct; especially when there are multiple accounts on the same platform, check if the hyperlinks match the correct profile. 

24. Tables: Please re-size the cell if a punctuation doesn’t fit and align the text.