FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Nex-Trace evaluates ownership trees deterministically using pure Python NetworkX directed acyclic graph (DiGraph) engines. If one or more sanctioned entities (SDN / CSL listed) collectively own 50.0% or more of an intermediate entity, that intermediate entity is treated as constructively blocked by operation of law. Downstream from that entity, 100% of its ownership stake is attributed as blocked—ownership attribution does not decay through majority-controlled tiers. Calculations use exact floating-point decimals with topological cycle prevention.

Under OFAC FAQ 401, ownership interests of blocked persons are aggregated regardless of whether they act in concert. Since 25% + 25% = 50.0% aggregate blocked interest, the overseas target entity is constructively blocked by operation of law. Nex-Trace immediately assigns the entity a risk tier of CONSTRUCTIVELY_BLOCKED, issues an automated ERP webhook hold, and generates an audit trace identifying both contributing owners.

Federal export controls and economic sanctions (under IEEPA and the Export Control Reform Act) operate under strict statutory liability. Non-deterministic probabilistic models (LLMs) hallucinate relationship weights, suffer token drift, and fail to satisfy federal evidentiary standards in court. Nex-Trace computes all graph traversals, cycle detections, and transitive aggregations deterministically in pure Python code. AI is strictly constrained to text summaries and translation.

While the OFAC 50% Rule uses a cascading fixed-point rule (treating an intermediate >= 50% entity as 100% blocked), beneficial ownership calculations for AML and the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) use multiplicative path tracing. If Owner A holds 60% of Entity B, and Entity B holds 50% of Target C, Owner A's beneficial ownership is 60% * 50% = 30.0%. Nex-Trace computes both metrics in parallel during every traversal.

Prior to releasing a sales order or warehouse shipment in your ERP (SAP S/4HANA, Oracle NetSuite, Epicor, or Microsoft Dynamics 365), an outbound webhook calls `POST /api/v1/screen`. Nex-Trace processes the counterparty against its pre-indexed topological graph in under 14ms and returns a binary gating determination (`ALLOW_ORDER_RELEASE` or `BLOCK_ORDER_COMPLIANCE_HOLD`). If constructively blocked, the ERP order is locked instantly, preventing unlawful physical dispatch.

Nex-Trace enforces a configurable Enterprise Fail-Safe Circuit Breaker. In strict defense environments (default), network timeouts trigger an automatic `FAIL_CLOSED` order hold until cryptographic verification can be completed. In lower-risk commercial settings, a `FAIL_OPEN_AUDIT_LOG` policy permits dispatch while queuing the transaction for asynchronous retro-audit within 15 minutes.

Every webhook response emitted by Nex-Trace includes an `X-NexTrace-Signature` header computed using HMAC-SHA256 with your tenant's 256-bit webhook secret. This guarantees that compliance approvals cannot be spoofed, tampered with in transit, or forged by compromised internal services.

Watchlists update continuously. An export approved yesterday morning may involve an entity whose Russian or Chinese parent company was added to the OFAC SDN list at 2:00 PM today. Nex-Trace Celery beat workers poll federal list mirrors every 4 hours, compute ETag deltas, and run Redis `SDIFF` checks against your active order book. If an approved counterparty becomes tainted, an automated urgent webhook fires within 240 minutes to halt delivery.

Nex-Trace continuously mirrors the U.S. International Trade Administration (ITA) Consolidated Screening List (CSL)—which consolidates 11 federal lists including the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) and Consolidated Sanctions List, BIS Entity List, Denied Persons List, Unverified List, Military End-User (MEU) List, DDTC Debarred Parties, State Nonproliferation Sanctions, and EU/UK/UN sanctions mirrors.

Under 15 CFR § 762.2, exporters must retain records of export transactions for a minimum of 5 years from the date of export. In the event of a BIS Office of Export Enforcement (OEE) subpoena or investigation, Nex-Trace provides an on-demand, cryptographically sealed PDF certificate containing a unique audit UUID, SHA-256 seal, timestamped topological ownership tree, and exact statutory citations. This establishes an affirmative defense of reasonable due diligence under EAR Safe Harbor standards.

Yes. Every audit certificate generated by `GET /api/v1/audit/{id}/pdf` includes an immutable cryptographic digital signature computed over the sorted JSON payload. It qualifies as a self-authenticating business record under Federal Rule of Evidence 902(11) and 902(13) (Certified Records Generated by an Electronic Process or System), eliminating the need for extensive developer testimony.

In compliance intelligence, raw government filing pages, corporate registry filings, and unstructured HTML contain thousands of lines of administrative debris, fee schedules, and boilerplate text. Nex-Trace's Context Economy Protocol strips all non-essential administrative metadata inside Python MCP tools before returning corporate tree results to downstream applications, saving 92% of payload volume and ensuring zero data leakage.

Yes. For prime defense contractors, aerospace manufacturers, and intelligence community enclaves requiring zero external connectivity, Nex-Trace provides an Air-Gapped Appliance deployment bundle via Docker Compose or Helm chart. The air-gapped system operates against an offline, cryptographically verified SQLite/PostgreSQL mirror updated via periodic one-way secure data diodes.