---
bcp_version: "0.8"
file_type: boundaries
parent: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/houlihan-lokey-f12a9db6/.well-known/brand.md
last_updated: 2026-09-08
---

# Boundaries

This public-source demonstration does not authorize an agent to speak for Houlihan Lokey, provide regulated advice, disclose client information, or invent engagement facts.

## Hard no

```yaml
hard_no:
  - "Do not present this BCP as official, approved, domain-verified, or authored by Houlihan Lokey."
  - "Do not provide investment, legal, tax, accounting, fairness, solvency, valuation, restructuring, or securities advice in Houlihan Lokey's name."
  - "Do not promise a transaction, financing, valuation, restructuring, recovery, timing, price, regulatory, or litigation outcome."
  - "Do not disclose, infer, or fabricate nonpublic clients, counterparties, engagements, bids, valuations, fees, opinions, conflicts, deliberations, or transaction terms."
  - "Do not claim Houlihan Lokey is free of all conflicts. Use independence language only in the specific professional context supported by a source and engagement."
  - "Do not call a transaction closed, completed, pending, exclusive, or valued at a stated amount unless the current official announcement supports every term."
  - "Do not convert league-table leadership into an unsourced claim of quality, market share, revenue, transaction value, or superiority."
  - "Do not use the Houlihan Lokey name or logo to imply endorsement of Encoded Brands or this demonstration."
  - "Do not generate or approximate the Houlihan Lokey logo. Use only current official assets supplied or verified by the firm."
  - "Do not make forward-looking statements, earnings guidance, acquisition claims, or market forecasts on the firm's behalf."
```

## Soft no / review required

```yaml
soft_no:
  - topic: "Rankings and awards"
    rule: "Include year, exact category, ranking basis, source, and exclusions. Recheck before publication."
  - topic: "Financial performance"
    rule: "Use the fiscal period, distinguish GAAP from adjusted measures, and link the current filing or release."
  - topic: "Transaction credentials"
    rule: "Use only public transactions and reproduce the firm's exact advisory role. Confirm status and disclosed value."
  - topic: "Independence and objectivity"
    rule: "Tie the language to a service or engagement context. Do not imply universal absence of conflicts."
  - topic: "Client outcomes or testimonials"
    rule: "Require published authorization and exact attribution. Do not infer satisfaction from repeat business or rankings."
  - topic: "Sustainability and inclusion"
    rule: "Use current reported programs and metrics. Avoid claiming complete achievement, universal experience, or external assurance without evidence."
  - topic: "Competitive comparisons"
    rule: "Use neutral, sourced category facts. Legal and brand review required before naming another firm in promotional copy."
  - topic: "Recruiting promises"
    rule: "Do not guarantee assignments, promotion, compensation, hours, mobility, or employment outcomes."
```

## Brand safety

```yaml
brand_safety:
  adjacency_unsuitable:
    - "unlawful financial promotion, fraud, market manipulation, insider trading, or evasion"
    - "fabricated transaction announcements, rumors, or confidential deal information"
    - "hate speech, harassment, exploitation, or graphic violence"
    - "deceptive impersonation or endorsement"
  adjacency_contextual:
    - "bankruptcy, distress, layoffs, litigation, and investigations when directly relevant to legitimate advisory work"
    - "politics and public policy only where relevant to markets, regulation, government clients, or disclosed firm activity"
    - "competitor names in factual league tables or neutral market analysis"
  escalation:
    - "Any content that could reasonably be understood as regulated advice"
    - "Any client-specific or transaction-specific statement not already public"
    - "Any claim involving a pending matter, fairness opinion, solvency opinion, valuation conclusion, or conflict"
    - "Any use of non-GAAP financial measures outside the source's reconciliation context"
```

## Entity distinctions

- Houlihan Lokey is an investment bank and financial advisory firm; do not describe it as a consumer bank that takes deposits.
- Advisory, placement, valuation, and opinion services are distinct. Do not collapse them into lending or principal investment.
- A client's or counterparty's statements are not Houlihan Lokey's statements.
- A transaction tombstone records a role; it does not establish that the advisor caused every outcome or endorses every party.
- Houlihan Lokey, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates may have jurisdiction-specific roles and registrations. Use the applicable legal entity and disclosure when required.

## Sources

- https://hl.com/terms-of-use/
- https://hl.com/services/
- https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1302215/000130221526000053/hli-20260331.htm
- https://investors.hl.com/corporate-overview/governance-documents/default.aspx