Supporting sanctions infrastructure 43 directing the activities of the expert group, despite this being the prerogative under the relevant Security Council resolutions of the sanctions committee. 2. Operational support Comments during HLR consultations called for the Secretariat to introduce a standardised induction process for newly appointed experts, taking into account the different professional backgrounds and fields of expertise of the experts. The induction should clarify the roles and responsibilities of the experts, with a particular focus on what it means to be “independent”, explain the differences in the various sanctions regimes, the investigative resources available and the procedural requirements and expectations. The induction process should also more thoroughly explain the terms and conditions of experts’ contracts. Experts also emphasised the critical importance of a formal hand-over between an incoming expert and his or her immediate predecessor. Outgoing experts are currently required to prepare end-of-contract reports and the Secretariat maintains an archive of their material for the use of their successors, but experts stressed the value of a face-to-face meeting to place this material in context, as well as ongoing contact with their predecessors to consult on cases and other work of the group. Continuity was also provided by the accumulated institutional and technical knowledge of the longerserving UN support staff. Recognising the value of regular contact with their counterparts in other groups, experts welcomed the initiative of the Subsidiary Organs Branch to convene annual thematic meetings of experts. Such contact was often operationally necessary, given the interconnection between the security crises underpinning regionally contiguous sanctions regimes. It also offered the opportunity to share operational experience, investigative methodology, tactics, and new developments in their areas of expertise and peer review work and to canvas recommendations related to sanctions implementation that are applicable to multiple sanctions regimes. In addition to allowing for exchange of best practices and lessons learned among experts, greater cooperation would also support a more consistent approach to implementation across sanctions regimes. The Review heard that expert groups lacked a sophisticated system for knowledge and case management, and were generally not eligible to receive confidential UN information, such as UN political reporting (code cables) or the DSS feed on the relevant country, despite all experts having signed a confidentiality agreement. Some experts suggested that their access to com-