Methodology

This statement describes what GUARDD collects, how it is verified, how often it must be updated, and what happens when an issuer fails to meet a deadline. It applies to every security published in the disclosure library.

What GUARDD collects

For each security, GUARDD collects the information set described in Rule 15c2-11(b): issuer name and address, state of incorporation, business description, officers and directors, transfer agent, auditor, legal counsel, capital structure by class or series with the date as of which it is stated, number of holders of record, and financial statements with fiscal years labeled and audit status identified. GUARDD also collects the auditor's report itself, including any going-concern qualification, adverse or qualified opinion, reported material weakness, and any restatement of prior periods.

Where a security is tokenized, GUARDD additionally collects the contract address, network, token standard, whether the on-chain record is the master securityholder file or an instruction layer, the transfer restriction enforcement mechanism, applicable holding period and expiration date, issuer freeze, burn, and reissue authority, smart contract audit status and auditor, eligible trading venues, and any disclosed collateral or lending arrangement. These fields appear on every disclosure page; where the security is not tokenized, each field is marked not applicable rather than omitted.

All disclosure content is issuer-provided information. GUARDD is not the issuer and does not originate the underlying facts.

How data is verified

Each submission is checked against primary sources before publication. Entity existence, legal name, and state of incorporation are confirmed against the incorporating state's records. Transfer agent appointment is confirmed with the transfer agent directly. Capital structure and holders of record are confirmed against the securityholder file maintained by the transfer agent, or against the issuer's stock ledger where no transfer agent is appointed. Financial statements are accepted only as issued by the named auditor, and the auditor's report is read in full; the presence of any qualification, adverse opinion, material weakness, or restatement is recorded as a structured field, not as narrative buried in an attachment. Officer and director identity is confirmed against government-issued identification. Tokenized attributes are confirmed by reading the deployed contract at the stated address, including its transfer restriction and administrative functions.

Where a fact cannot be confirmed against a primary source, the field is published as "Not disclosed" rather than reproduced unverified.

Update cadence

Publication is conditioned on the issuer's agreement to the following schedule:

• Material changes: reported to GUARDD within five business days of occurrence, and published within two business days of receipt. Material changes include changes in officers or directors, transfer agent, auditor, capital structure, state of incorporation, contract address or token administrative authority, and the commencement of any regulatory or insolvency proceeding.
• Annual audited financial statements: delivered within 90 days of fiscal year end.
• Quarterly confirmation: within 30 days of each quarter end, the issuer confirms in writing that the published information remains accurate, or identifies what has changed.

Each page states the date GUARDD published the disclosure, the date the information was last verified, and the date the next annual financial statements are due.

Missed deadlines

A security's status reflects its compliance with the schedule above and is displayed on both the index and the security page:

• Current — all required filings and confirmations have been received on time.
• Update Due — a required annual filing or quarterly confirmation is past its deadline but within 60 days of it. The reason is stated on the page.
• Non-Compliant — a required filing or confirmation is more than 60 days past its deadline, or GUARDD has identified a material inaccuracy that the issuer has not corrected.

Status changes are automatic on the deadline date and are not subject to issuer request. The prior disclosure remains published, marked with its status, so that a person relying on it can see both the content and its staleness.

Flagging and removal

A security is flagged when GUARDD becomes aware of information that contradicts a published field, when the auditor withdraws its report, or when a regulator suspends trading or institutes proceedings against the issuer. Flags appear at the top of the security page.

A security is removed from the active index only when the security ceases to exist, is fully redeemed, or becomes registered under the Exchange Act. Removal does not delete the URL: the page and its JSON representation remain available at their original address with the terminal status recorded, because these addresses are cited in regulatory filings and must resolve permanently.

No editing or suppression of adverse information

GUARDD does not edit, soften, delay, or suppress adverse issuer information. Going-concern qualifications, adverse opinions, material weaknesses, restatements, and missed deadlines are displayed with the same or greater prominence as favorable information. Issuers may not condition publication on the omission of adverse facts; a request to do so results in the security being marked Non-Compliant.

Machine access

Every disclosure is available as JSON at the same path with a .json suffix, and the full library is available as index.json and index.csv. Field names are snake_case, dates are ISO 8601, and each response carries a schema_version field (currently 1.0.0). Pages are static HTML served in the initial response and require no JavaScript to read.