Canonical Statement
Crypto compliance outcomes MUST be supported by an auditable trail that records evidence provenance, analytical steps, decisions, and residual risk, enabling independent review.
Definition
Within this framework, an audit trail is the structured record of evidence sources, transformations, assumptions, decision rationale, and approvals needed to reconstruct compliance outcomes.
Why It Matters
Without traceability, decisions cannot be defended. Auditability is a core control property, not an optional documentation step.
Failure Mode if Ignored
Evidence provenance is lost, assumptions remain implicit, and decision outcomes cannot be reconstructed under audit or supervisory scrutiny.
Scope & Non-Claims
This entry is scoped to regulated banking environments in the EU/UK and operational interpretation for audit-trail requirements in crypto compliance.
This entry does not provide legal advice and requires human validation for final compliance determinations.
Related Concepts
- Exchange records as evidence (crypto) (EU) (methodology)
- On-chain vs off-chain evidence correlation (EU) (methodology)
- Case escalation and suspicion assessment (crypto) (EU) (journey)