DC-Services UK Service Standards

Verify by requesting a retrieval log on a sealed release

A counterparty can request a retrieval log for any sealed release on their matter: who accessed the sealed file, when and against which logged request. The log demonstrates that the controlled-access archive is in operation rather than asserted. The internal description of the archive itself and its retention policy is owned by the archive sealing page.

• ›Written intake brief signed by the client
• ›Conflicts screen and independence check
• ›Defined deliverable list and retention envelope

Verify by comparing reissues to prior versions

A counterparty can place a reissue alongside the prior release and confirm that the prior release has not been overwritten — both versions are numbered, both carry their own signatures and both remain readable. The internal version-control rules sit on the retention management page; the verification step is the side-by-side comparison the counterparty can run from their own files.

• ›Source hashing at intake
• ›Role-based, time-bound access
• ›Two-stage review before release

Verify by checking a refusal against the published exclusions

If the firm has declined a part of a request, a counterparty can match the recorded decline reason against the published list of activities the firm does not perform. A decline that quotes the published list is consistent with the firm's mandate; a decline outside the list should be queried with the secretariat. The published list is owned by the clarity check page.

Verify by asking for a supervisory QA report extract

At the firmwide level, supervisory QA is reported into the board on a standing cadence. A counterparty may request the public part of that report — refusal totals, methodology amendments made in the period, reason-code trends — to read alongside the matter-scoped extracts above. The firmwide reporting cycle is owned by the method quality-assurance page.