In the increasingly digitized world, many companies are looking to expand their use of electronic signatures (“e-signatures”) for contracts, legal documents or other records. Laws in countries across the world have provided for the legal enforceability of e-signatures for over a decade, but only in the past few years has the industry seen a trend toward broader adoption of e-signatures.

In addition to their convenience, correctly executed e-signatures actually provide security and evidentiary features that provide distinct advantages over physical, “wet” signatures. However, organizations implementing e-signatures face risks relating to the authentication and non-repudiation of an e-signature, as well as the retention of admissible records related to the electronically executed transaction.