Building a document freeze date that committees can trust · Field Notes

Application packages change while they are under review. Borrowers replace schedules; counsel adds side letters; valuations arrive late. Without a freeze date, an integrity memo can describe a file that no longer exists by the time the committee meets.

We set a freeze in writing at intake: the package as of a named date is the subject of the engagement. Later papers are logged as subsequent events and may trigger a short addendum rather than silent edits to the original memo.

For Taiwanese banks with fixed committee calendars, this discipline is practical, not bureaucratic. It keeps the briefing honest about what was tested and what arrived after fieldwork closed.