Seals (whether physical seals or electronic seals) are integrity certificates and legal basis for organizations or individuals to engage in social and economic activities. They are evidence of exercising legal rights, assuming legal responsibilities, and fulfilling legal obligations. They are important tools for confirming and demonstrating the legality and effectiveness of business management activities, as well as important means of implementing internal management. To meet the different needs of business development, different management systems and methods are implemented according to the different uses and management needs of seals. Due to the wide scope of seal usage, poor management can lead to potential risks and direct losses, and the rationality of seal management directly affects the normal operation of unit business and management activities. Based on years of experience in managing the secure use of physical and electronic seals, it has been found that the organization has various seal usage issues, such as: non compliant seal usage process; seal usage without approval records, using seals before approval, issuing non-standard format documents without legal department review, and using seals without supervision by personnel. Failure to strictly follow the seal usage approval process may lead to the loss of control over the seal usage process and the formation of potential moral hazards. Violation of pre stamping regulations: In order to reduce trouble, the stamping personnel violated the regulation of "strictly prohibiting the stamping of seals on blank introduction letters, guarantees, contracts, important payment vouchers, official document paper, etc." by pre stamping official seals, contract specific seals, or business specific seals on blank agreements, contracts, important payment vouchers, and business receipts, resulting in the loss of control over the content and terms of important legal documents such as contracts and agreements, and creating potential legal risks.

Use department seal for legal documents signed with external parties:

Stamping department seal on legal documents that should use official seal may induce moral and legal risks. Mixing and abusing relevant business seals: Business seals are not used within the prescribed scope, and contract specific seals, department seals, and business specific seals are mixed. The use of incorrect seals and improper internal management may lead to legal proceedings or moral hazard.

Mixing and sharing business specific seals among handling personnel:

Violating the principle of "whoever keeps, uses, and is responsible" for using business specific seals, mixing and sharing business specific seals. Once the handling personnel make mistakes and accidents, it is difficult to define their responsibilities, and it may also leave opportunities for illegal criminals to take advantage of. Inaccurate, untimely, and incomplete seal registration records: There are omissions, incorrect registrations, unclassified registrations, untimely registrations, incomplete and non-standard element records, discontinuous seal approval form numbers, and seal usage records that do not match the actual situation in seal registration, which are not conducive to the inspection and supervision of seal usage and affect post verification and traceability.

Invalid seals continue to be used and not collected and destroyed in a timely manner:

Departmental seals that have been revoked and merged due to institutional changes should be stopped from use. However, in practice, if the relevant regulations are not strictly followed and the seals are abolished and continue to be used, there may be potential risks of being used by internal personnel for abnormal transactions, collusion between internal and external parties for fraud or other illegal activities. With the development of the economy and organizational scale, the types and quantities of seals continue to increase, and the risks and difficulties of seal management become more and more significant. Based on years of experience in seal control and security, Contract Lock has summarized some basic knowledge points for different organizations to refer to:

1. Firstly, necessary seal management systems and processes must be established.

Establish a complete and effective seal management system and process, so that the seal management process has a basis to rely on: for example, the seal use process, clarifying the list of custodians, supervisors, authorized signatories, and approval processes, establishing a job responsibility system, and clarifying the responsibilities of seal related personnel; Regularly observe whether there are any defects or loopholes in the newly established stamping process and system, and make timely corrections once discovered.

2. The setting of seal management positions should be standardized. The job description of seal management positions should be clear, and a monitoring position should be established. Business seals should be kept by designated personnel, with clear responsibilities, complete and controllable processes, and potential moral hazards should be eliminated.

3. Incompatible positions should be effectively separated, and there should be no phenomenon of mixed or concurrent positions.

Incompatible positions should be effectively separated, mainly because the seal and certificate should be managed separately. The authorized signatory of the seal and the seal supervisor, the seal user, and the seal supervisor cannot be the same person, otherwise it will lead to the phenomenon that one person can handle all business, which does not comply with internal control principles. For example, the contract seal, personal name seal, business seal, and department seal are all kept and used by the manager alone, and the position restriction is seriously ineffective. 4. Seal custodians must receive adequate training, and important seals must be managed by two people. Seal custodians must undergo seal management training and risk education training. Seal custodians must be very familiar with the seal management system, operating procedures, and storage and use risks. The business seal shall be kept by a designated person, and important seals shall be managed by two persons. The custodian recorded in the seal custody registration book shall be consistent with the actual custodian to ensure the safety and effectiveness of seal custody and clarify the custody responsibilities.

5、 The seal storage location or facility must meet the requirements. The seal should be stored in a safe or a metal cabinet with a password lock, or in an intelligent seal controller provided by a contract lock; The safe for storing seals should be included in the monitoring scope; The seal custodian must lock and store the seal when temporarily leaving their post. On the contrary, storing the seal in an unsafe location or without monitoring coverage in the storage area; Failure to use, retrieve, and lock the cabinet at any time, and not leaving the line of sight of the storage personnel during use, poses a safety hazard and can easily lead to risks such as seal loss, theft, or misuse.

6、 The seal handover procedures must be complete, the seal must be kept, and the handover registration must be complete. The seal handover must follow the handover procedures; Handing over without supervision, incomplete and incomplete seal storage and handover registration, failure to clearly record the handover process, inability to clarify seal storage responsibilities, may lead to risks such as non-standard handover.

7、 Incomplete archive information for seal storage and use

Establish a seal usage ledger registration system, and ensure that various registration books, forms, and forms for seal management are not lost, otherwise it may lead to the occurrence of cases.

8、 Important seal custodians should undergo regular job rotation. Regular implementation of the job rotation system can expose potential risks and hazards in a timely manner, otherwise it may lead to potential moral hazards.

9、 The implementation and management of the seal supervision and inspection system should be in place. The supervision and inspection of the seal management and use should be comprehensive, and the inspection frequency should comply with regulations. Once problems are found, they should be corrected to avoid the problem from expanding and becoming long-term.

10、 It is necessary to use computer software to implement the seal management system and process of the organization. To ensure the effective implementation of the seal system and process and improve the efficiency of organizational operations, computer software systems are needed to support it. For example, the electronic approval process for seal usage, electronic seal usage documents, and electronic seal usage ledger can greatly improve the standardization and efficiency of seal usage security control and process through effective computer software systems.

11、 Control various physical seals through modern intelligent printing controllers. Installing various seals into the intelligent printing controller can effectively prevent seal counterfeiting, theft, abuse, and personal seals; Each use of seals must be authorized and recorded.

12、 Where electronic seals can be used, electronic seals should be used as much as possible. Electronic seals have strict security controls and anti-counterfeiting properties, and there will be no theft or loss. Compared to traditional physical seals, electronic seals are safer and more convenient. The seamless integration of electronic seals with various management systems ensures a more standardized and secure seal usage process, and electronic seals also facilitate the use of seals in different locations, saving the need for round-trip flights or express delivery. The above is a summary of risk prediction and risk prevention measures that should be effective for all organizations based on the contract lock in seal management and the popularization of electronic seals! Poor management of seals can cause risks and losses, but excessive seal management can also lead to reduced business development and organizational operational efficiency. How to combine the characteristics of one's own unit to design a plan that is in line with the characteristics of one's own organization and can ensure the safety of seal usage is what Contract Lock has been doing!