Editorial Standards

Taft publishes two kinds of writing: articles, which explain a regulatory development and what it means for a firm, and guides, which answer a question a client asks us often. Both are produced with software assistance under the rules below. A named practitioner approves every piece before it appears, and nothing is published automatically.

Sources

• We work from primary sources: regulators, central banks, legislatures and international standard-setters, in their own words. We do not write from news coverage or from other commentary.
• When a source is an announcement of a rule, order or law, we read the document it announces and cite that document for what it contains.
• A piece is not written from a single press release.

Facts

• Every sentence that states a fact is tied to an exact passage in a named source. Before a piece can be reviewed, software confirms that each passage exists verbatim in the source and that every number, date, amount and name in the piece appears in a source.
• Two independent reviewers, run separately, judge whether each cited passage supports the sentence written. A sentence either passes both or is rewritten or removed.
• Every piece shows the date of the newest source it relied on, as “Facts as of”, so a reader knows what the piece knew.

Interpretation

• Where we interpret, we say so. Sentences about what a regulator is likely to do, or what a development signals, are written as our reading, not as fact.
• Taft does not provide legal advice. Where a question is legal, we say that legal advice should be taken.
• Where conduct has been alleged but not concluded, we write “alleged” and attribute the allegation to the authority that made it. We describe wrongdoing as established only where a final order, settlement, finding or judgment says so.

Independence

• We publish no sponsored content and accept no payment for coverage.
• Links in our pieces point only to the sources we cite and to our own site.

Review and approval

• Every draft is read by a Taft practitioner on a preview of the page before it is published. Pieces concerning enforcement matters, sanctions or other sensitive subjects require review by a senior practitioner.
• Approval is recorded. For every published piece we keep the sources, the text of those sources as it stood when we read them, the checks that were run and who approved publication.

After publication

• Once a month, every published piece is re-checked against its sources. If a source has changed in a way that affects the piece, we correct the piece.
• Corrections are made openly under our corrections policy. We do not silently edit a published fact.
• Guides carry the year they were written for in the title and are re-issued each year after review.

Software

Software assists with research and drafting. Every piece is read, checked and approved by a person before it is published. If you believe something we published is wrong, write to inquiries@taftcompliance.com and we will look at it within two business days.