Frequently Asked Questions

Escrow places transaction funds with a neutral third party instead of sending them directly to the seller. The buyer’s money is safe because it only releases when agreed conditions are evidenced — shipment, delivery, inspection or documents. The seller is protected because funds are committed and verified before goods move, removing the risk of shipping on a promise.

Escrow suits transactions where banks decline to issue letters of credit, where the parties want flexible, commercially written release conditions, or where the deal involves services, milestones or partial shipments that documentary credits handle poorly. Advance payment leaves the buyer unprotected; open account leaves the seller unprotected. Escrow protects both by making performance the trigger for payment.

Funds are held in segregated client accounts, separate from TrustGuard Global’s own assets. Release follows a written checklist agreed by both parties before funding — for example, bill of lading plus inspection certificate plus commercial invoice. When the evidence is complete, the escrow desk releases funds within the timeframe set in the agreement.

The disagreement is handled through the dispute procedure written into the escrow agreement: both parties submit evidence, the escrow desk reviews it against the agreed checklist, and funds remain held until resolution or a structured settlement. This neutral pause is precisely what prevents a disagreement from becoming a loss.

Yes. Services escrow releases against milestone evidence — deliverable acceptance, timesheets, certificates of completion or stage sign-offs. It is widely used for development contracts, agency retainers, consulting engagements and construction-adjacent services where output quality is verified before each payment.

Major trade currencies are supported, with settlement by bank transfer in the currency agreed in the escrow agreement. Where currency controls or sanctions affect a corridor, the structuring team will tell you before funding rather than discovering the problem mid-transaction.

Funding typically clears within one to three business days depending on the originating bank and currency. Release timing depends on how quickly release evidence is presented — once the checklist is complete, disbursement is processed without waiting on the counterparty’s cooperation.

Fee allocation is a commercial decision for the parties and is recorded in the escrow agreement. Common patterns are buyer-pays, seller-pays or a 50/50 split; the fee itself is quoted before funding so there are no surprises at settlement. See the escrow pricing page for the factors that drive fees.

Yes. Escrow agreements can define pro-rata or milestone releases tied to partial bills of lading, batch inspection certificates or stage acceptances. Staged release structures are common in manufacturing, commodities and project supply where goods or services arrive in tranches.

Registration status and good standing with the relevant registry, legal form and registered address, ownership and control structure, directors and key officers, financial standing indicators, trade history and litigation or enforcement signals where publicly available. The output is a written report with sources and confidence levels.

Business verification confirms the entity is real and legitimate. Supplier verification goes further into operational capability: production or supply capacity, quality systems, export experience, references and track record on comparable orders. It answers not just “is this company real?” but “can it actually fulfil this order?”

Standard company verifications in well-documented jurisdictions are typically delivered within a few business days. Deeper supplier verifications, difficult jurisdictions or entities with opaque structures take longer — the verification team confirms scope and timeline before you commit.

Yes. Identity verification (KYC) covers individuals — signatories, beneficial owners and high-risk counterparties — through document-checked identity evidence. For corporate groups, we combine entity verification with identity checks on the people who control and sign for it.

Customer identification for entities and individuals, beneficial ownership mapping, document collection and authenticity checks, and screening against sanctions, watchlists and adverse media. The depth scales with the transaction’s risk profile — value, jurisdiction, goods and payment route.

Parties, owners, vessels and payment routes are screened against applicable sanctions programmes and watchlists at onboarding and again before release. Where a match or risk indicator appears, the compliance team reviews it with you before funds move — screening is a gate, not a formality.

Yes. Many clients outsource counterparty due diligence, periodic re-verification and transaction-level screening to our compliance practice. Engagements are scoped to your risk framework and documented so your auditors can see exactly what was checked and when.

Typically: the underlying contract or purchase order, identity documents for signatories and beneficial owners, corporate registration evidence, and the commercial documents the release checklist will reference (invoices, shipping documents, certificates). The escrow desk provides a tailored checklist before funding.

Non-shipment, late shipment, misdescription and quality failures — structured as escrow release conditions rather than after-the-fact claims. Funds do not release until the agreed evidence of conforming performance exists, which prevents most losses before they occur.

Funds are committed and verified in escrow before goods ship, so the seller is not extending open-account credit to a stranger. Wrongful rejection of conforming goods is addressed through the documented release checklist and the dispute procedure, rather than leaving the seller chasing payment across borders.

Both parties submit evidence against the agreed checklist; the escrow desk reviews neutrally and facilitates a structured settlement. Funds remain protected throughout. The process is designed to resolve disagreements on documents and evidence before they escalate into costly cross-border litigation.

Yes. We arrange independent inspection at origin, transit or destination — pre-shipment quality checks, loading supervision, discharge surveys and factory acceptance tests — through vetted inspection partners, with reports feeding directly into the release checklist.

Transaction data is handled on a strict need-to-know basis, shared only as the escrow agreement permits, and protected by access controls appropriate to its sensitivity. Our privacy policy explains what we collect, why, and how long it is retained.

All official correspondence comes from @trustguardsglobal.com addresses — we never use free webmail domains, and we never request payment to personal accounts or ask for credentials by email. If anything looks off, do not act on it; verify through our published contact channels first.

Stop, do not send funds or documents, and report immediately to security@trustguardsglobal.com with the transaction reference and the suspicious communication. The security team will confirm whether the contact is genuine and, where a transaction is active, can freeze the process while the matter is reviewed.

Only what the escrow process requires. Release evidence necessarily flows between parties, but identity documents, screening results and internal risk assessments are not shared beyond the agreed process. Confidentiality obligations are written into every engagement.

Our global headquarters is in Bangkok, Thailand, operating Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 18:00 (GMT+7). Engagements are organised by regional desk across Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America and the Middle East & Africa, and active escrow transactions receive priority handling.

Send the escrow desk a summary of the deal — parties, goods or services, value, jurisdiction and timing. We respond with a proposed structure, release checklist and fee quotation. Nothing is funded until both parties have signed the escrow agreement and completed onboarding checks.

Yes. Escrow exists precisely for businesses that lack the bargaining power to demand advance payment or the banking relationships for documentary credits. Structures and fees are proportionate to transaction size, and verification services scale from a basic registry check to full supplier due diligence.

No. TrustGuard Global is an independent escrow and verification company — not a bank, insurer or law firm. We hold funds as a neutral agent under written agreements, we verify counterparties independently, and we give candid risk feedback. Nothing on this website constitutes legal, tax or investment advice.