The Beacon Seal.

1. What the Beacon Seal is

The Beacon Seal is a quality mark issued by The Beacon (the “Publisher”) to financial firms that meet a set of editorial criteria based on the public record of their regulatory standing, conduct history, and operating tenure. The Seal is an editorial product, not a credit rating, not a regulatory authorisation, and not a financial-advice recommendation. The Publisher is not a credit-rating agency within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009.

2. Two formats: embeddable badge and formal mark

Badge (immediate).Every firm in the entities directory with a Beacon Score above the threshold may, at the Publisher’s discretion, embed an auto-updating SVG badge from https://beacon.enon.md/api/badge/<slug>.svg on its own website. The badge displays the firm’s current Beacon Score and the date as of which the score applies. The badge updates automatically when the underlying score changes. No application is required.

Formal mark (forthcoming).A trademarked Beacon Seal of Approval, issued under written terms to firms that apply, qualify, and accept the conditions of use. The formal mark is being prepared and will launch when the Publisher’s operating legal entity is in place. Until then, the badge above is the live mechanism.

3. Eligibility for the formal mark

When live, the formal mark will be awarded to firms that satisfy all of the following continuously:

• Authorisation— at least one current authorisation from a Tier 1 or Tier 2 regulator as defined on the regulator-tiering page.
• Score— a Beacon Score of 75 or above (band: “Material findings” or “Clean”).
• Recency — no fine, censure, bar, or authorisation restriction in the prior 24 months.
• Tenure — operating under the same corporate identity (or a transparent successor) for at least 5 years.
• Disclosure— where the regulatory regime requires Pillar III or equivalent market-discipline disclosure, the firm is publishing it and links to the current document are findable from the firm’s own website.
• Cooperation— the firm has not materially obstructed The Beacon’s correspondence on factual matters concerning the firm.

The Publisher may also decline to award the Seal in any specific case at its editorial discretion, with reasons given.

4. What firms may do with the Seal

• Embed the live-rendered badge on their own website, linked to the firm’s dossier on The Beacon.
• Reference the Seal in marketing copy as “Listed with a Beacon Score of [X] by The Beacon” or similar factual phrasing, with a current date.
• Cite the Seal in regulatory disclosures where third-party recognition is relevant (subject to the firm’s own regulator’s rules on comparative claims).

5. What firms may not do with the Seal

• Represent the Seal as a regulatory authorisation, endorsement of any specific product, or guarantee of financial soundness.
• Modify the badge image, remove the date stamp, alter the score, or display a historical score as if current.
• Display the Seal after eligibility has been revoked (see § 6).
• Combine the Seal with adjacent marketing that implies the Publisher recommends a specific product, trade, or investment strategy. The Seal is institution-level, not product-level.

6. Revocation

Eligibility for the Seal is continuous. The Publisher revokes a firm’s eligibility (and, for the embeddable badge, alters the served SVG to display “Revoked”) on the occurrence of any of the following:

• An authorisation revocation, withdrawal, or material restriction by any regulator.
• A fine, censure, or bar by a Tier 1 or Tier 2 regulator that reduces the Beacon Score below 75.
• Open criminal proceedings against the firm or against its principal officers in their capacity as such.
• Insolvency, suspension of dealings, or formal winding- up.
• Discovery, on the Publisher’s editorial review, of materially adverse facts about the firm not previously known to the Publisher.
• The firm’s display of the Seal in breach of § 5 (use restrictions), after notice and a reasonable cure period.

Revocation under this section takes effect on the date the Publisher publishes the revocation on the firm’s dossier page. Firms may appeal a revocation in writing to info@enon.md; appeals are reviewed within 5 business days.

7. Right of reply

A firm whose Beacon Score, band, or Seal status it disputes may submit a right-of-reply statement of reasonable length. The Publisher appends published statements beneath the firm’s dossier, with redaction only for third-party personal data or material contrary to applicable law. See the editorial policy for the full process.

8. Fees

The embeddable badge is provided at no cost to listed firms. The formal mark, when launched, will be available on a fee basis to cover administrative and review costs. Fees, once set, will be disclosed in this section. No firm pays for inclusion in the editorial entities directory or for a higher Beacon Score; eligibility for the Seal is determined editorially regardless of any commercial relationship between the firm and the Publisher (see editorial policy § 5).

9. Disclaimer

The Beacon Seal expresses the Publisher’s editorial judgement on the basis of public regulatory and enforcement records and the Publisher’s own assessment. It is not financial advice, not a recommendation to engage with any specific firm, and not a guarantee of future solvency or conduct. Readers and counterparties of any firm listed by The Beacon must satisfy themselves independently of the firm’s suitability for their purpose. The full disclaimer is on the disclaimer page.

10. Changes to this framework

This framework is reviewed continuously and may be updated. Material changes will be published with a revised version number at the top of this page and, for the formal mark, communicated to seal-holders by email with at least 30 days’ notice before they take effect.