Why we're building this
Twenty years of CICs, and the financial infrastructure still isn't there. We're building it.
The gap we exist to fill
There are over 37,000 CICs in the UK, contributing an estimated £11 billion+ to the economy. They are the fastest-growing social enterprise legal form. Yet they have no dedicated, standardised financial infrastructure for raising investment.
CICs either pay £5k–£15k to solicitors for bespoke compliance work, or they attempt to DIY and risk unregistered promotion — a criminal offence under s.25 FSMA. There is no middle ground. We built the middle ground.
Governance
Trust is the product. Governance is how we protect it.
- ✓ Compliance Committee — Audits all Trust Mark decisions, handles appeals, publishes quarterly compliance reports.
- ✓ Community Advisory Panel — Elected by participating CICs, vets criteria changes, reviews complaints. Non-binding but must be answered in writing.
- ✓ Open-source criteria — The AI compliance engine's check criteria are published. Anyone can verify the standards.
- ✓ Supermajority protection — Changes to compliance criteria require 75% board vote AND non-objection from the Community Advisory Panel.
Human in the loop
AI does the heavy lifting — document generation, threshold monitoring, compliance scanning. But every Trust Mark is reviewed and signed off by a human. Every appeal is heard by a human. The technology scales the process; it does not replace the judgment.
Partnered with the CIC Association
Common Interest Investments works alongside the CIC Association to ensure the CIC community has the infrastructure it needs to thrive.