Walkthrough: checking the other party before you negotiate

The other party

Who is on the other side?

The requester gives a name, and Colibit works out what it needs from it: the company’s legal name, its legal form (S.A.S., S.A., Ltda. and their equivalents in other countries) and its tax ID. The tax ID is tested against its own check digit, so a mistyped number is caught at once.

Where a company registry is connected for that country, Colibit looks the company up and stores what the registry answered, including its legal representative. Where no registry is connected, it says so, and the request goes on the requester’s word instead of pretending to have verified it.

The house

Have we seen this before?

Colibit searches the company’s own requests before starting new work. It looks for the same file, for a document that is almost identical to one already reviewed, and for an open request with the same other party.

When it finds one, a person decides what the new request is: a new contract, an addendum, a renewal, or something not to process. A request can also be recorded as the continuation of another, which is how Colibit treats a party that insists on its own paper after a first attempt.

The lists

Restricted countries and sanctions

Every company has places where it does not do business. In Colibit that list is part of the company’s own rules, and the checks look at the other party’s country and at the addresses in the document.

The other party’s name, and the names of its signers, are screened against official sanctions lists. Names are compared with a tolerance for spelling, so a small difference does not hide a match. Colibit never decides a possible match on its own: it goes to a lawyer, who records either that it was a false alarm, with the reason, or that it was confirmed.

If no list is loaded, or a check cannot run, nothing passes. The request waits for a lawyer and says why.

The signer

Does the person signing have the power to?

One more check comes later, just before signature. Colibit identifies who will sign for the other party, from the agreed documents or, failing that, from the registry or the requester. It then reads the documents that show their powers, such as a certificate or a power of attorney.

The AI reads the documents; fixed rules decide. They check that the powers have not expired, that the required checks were met and that nothing is doubtful. If any of that fails, the request goes to a lawyer before anything is sent for signature. On the company’s side, the people who may sign for each of its legal entities come from the company’s own rules.

The four checks that run before negotiation starts:

• The other party. Name, legal form and tax ID, and the registry where one is connected.

• Duplicates. The same file, a near copy, or an open request with the same party.

• Restricted countries. The company’s own list.

• Sanctions. Official lists, with a lawyer for every possible match.