Answer
Start by separating investment decisions, operational approvals and independent review across the family office's entities. A written role matrix makes custody, trading and reporting discussions more precise. Agio can discuss the service arrangement; your family office and advisers should define the mandate, delegated authority and ownership requirements.
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Illustrative matrix: an investment lead proposes a transaction, an authorized principal approves the mandate, an operator prepares instructions and a reviewer checks the record. Name a backup for each function and identify conflicts where one person holds several roles. Confirm which controls the proposed service can support.
List the entities, their authorized representatives and the purpose of each account. Agree who receives entity-level statements and consolidated reporting, and who reconciles them. Ask advisers to resolve ownership and information-sharing questions before assuming that family relationships confer access or authority across every entity.
Work through an absence scenario before it becomes urgent. Record alternate contacts, how authority is verified and which activity must wait. Review access when people join, leave or change role. Keep the agreed procedure available to the office and relevant providers without circulating credentials.
Document the permitted purpose, size limits chosen by the family office, required approvals and accepted settlement destinations. For a sample OTC trade, follow the instruction through execution, settlement and reconciliation. Resolve any handover where the trading team assumes the custody team has already checked a detail.
Prepare an OTC trade →Review access rights, unresolved reconciliation items, service changes, reporting recipients and the family's approved mandate. Record decisions and the person responsible for follow-up. Use actual operational exceptions to decide whether the role matrix or provider instructions need updating, rather than simply renewing an old checklist.
Ask legal and tax advisers about beneficial ownership, succession, entity powers and cross-border obligations for the proposed structure. Give them the service agreement and role matrix. Operational controls help administer instructions; the legal effect of a structure requires advice specific to the family and its jurisdictions.
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