Getting the records back in a usable state

Format matters as much as delivery.

Records returned at termination frequently arrive as a large unstructured export, in a format tied to the partner's system, without the metadata that makes them usable. Technically the obligation has been met and practically the principal cannot answer a question about any individual client.

The agreement should specify the format and the structure, and the principal should test a sample transfer during the relationship rather than discovering the problem at the end. A trial extraction in year one is a small piece of work.

It is also worth specifying what accompanies the records: the index, the mapping of identifiers, and the documentation of what the fields mean. A dataset without those is a filing problem rather than a record.

Retention obligations continue after the arrangement ends, for the applicable period, and they sit with the principal. The partner deleting its copy is appropriate and does not discharge anything.

Where a partner is uncooperative or has ceased trading, records can become genuinely unrecoverable, which is why the arrangement to hold them centrally during the relationship is worth the friction it costs to set up.