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A subquorum is an additional approval prerequisite on top of a rule’s base quorum. Each subquorum you add is an independent, mandatory requirement: the operation cannot complete until every sub-quorum attached to the rule has met its own approval count, in addition to the base quorum. There is no AND/OR selector and no nesting — every sub-quorum on a rule must pass.
Subquorums are an advanced feature. Standard quorum requirements may be sufficient for most organizations. Ask your administrator if subquorums are enabled for your organization.

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What is a subquorum

A subquorum is a group of approvers, drawn from the rule’s base quorum pool, with its own required approval count. You can attach multiple subquorums to a single rule — but all of them must be satisfied. Subquorums cannot be combined with OR logic, and one subquorum cannot be nested inside another. Example:
  • Base quorum: 2 of 7 approvers
  • Subquorum A: 1 of 3 Autonomous representatives
  • Subquorum B: 1 of 2 Labs representatives
  • Result: An operation needs 2 of the 7 base-quorum approvers and at least 1 Autonomous approver and at least 1 Labs approver — all three requirements must be met together.

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When to use subquorums

Use subquorums when:
  • Distributed approval — Different departments or groups must each contribute at least one approver
  • Specialist sign-off — Legal, compliance, risk, or another specialist group must approve certain operations
  • Multi-entity — Multiple legal entities or investor groups in one vault each need representation in approval
Subquorums cannot express “either group can approve” (OR) logic, and cannot express a maximum/cap on a group’s participation — they only add a minimum floor requirement per group. Example scenarios:

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Add a subquorum

1

Open the rule

Go to Settings > Policies, select the policy, then open the rule you want to add a subquorum to and select Edit rule.
Vault policy screen with Add subquorum button highlighted

Initiating subquorum creation

2

Start sub-quorum creation

In Edit rule, tap Add sub-quorum.
3

Select members

From the base quorum’s approver pool, select at least one member for the sub-quorum and tap Continue.
Member selection interface for adding users to the subquorum

Adding subquorum members

4

Set approval count

Set the number of approvals this sub-quorum requires and tap Continue.
Quorum requirement selection showing approval count options

Setting quorum threshold

5

Name and review

Give the sub-quorum a name and an optional description, then tap Finish.
6

Add another subquorum (if needed)

Repeat to add additional subquorums to the same rule. Remember: every subquorum you add is a mandatory prerequisite alongside the others.
7

Save policy

Back in Edit rule, confirm the new sub-quorum, then tap Done. Follow the prompts to submit biometric approval — quorum approval is required.

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Subquorum examples

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Example 1: Finance + Risk

Subquorum A (Finance): 2 of {CFO, Controller, Treasurer} Subquorum B (Risk): 1 of {VP Risk, Compliance Officer} Result: For a large withdrawal, the base quorum must be met, and Finance’s requirement must be met, and Risk’s requirement must be met — all three independently.

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Example 2: Multi-party group representation

Subquorum A (Group 1): 1 of 4 Group 1 members Subquorum B (Group 2): 1 of 2 Group 2 members Subquorum C (Group 3): 1 of 1 Group 3 member Result: Every operation needs at least one approver from each of the three groups, in addition to meeting the base quorum. There is no way to make a group optional — a subquorum always adds a mandatory floor, never a cap or an “either/or” alternative. If you need one group to be optional, don’t add a subquorum for it; only add subquorums for groups whose participation is mandatory.

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Subquorum member management

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Adding members to a subquorum

1

Open the rule

Go to Settings > Policies > Vault policy, then open the rule and select Edit rule.
2

Find the subquorum

Locate the subquorum you want to modify.
3

Add member

Tap the three-dot menu next to the sub-quorum, select Edit members, add the member, and tap Continue.
4

Save changes

Back in Edit rule, tap Done. Follow the prompts to submit biometric approval — quorum approval is required.

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Removing members from a subquorum

1

Find the subquorum

Locate the subquorum in your vault policies.
2

Edit members

Tap the three-dot menu next to the sub-quorum and select Edit members.
3

Remove member

Find the member you want to remove, deselect them, and tap Continue.
4

Save changes

Back in Edit rule, tap Done. Follow the prompts to submit biometric approval.
If you reduce a subquorum’s members below its required approval count, you’ll need to lower the approval count for that subquorum as well.

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Subquorum naming best practices

Use clear, descriptive names: Clear names help approvers understand why each subquorum exists.

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Common mistakes with subquorums

Mistake 1: Expecting OR logic
  • Subquorums cannot express “either Group A or Group B can approve” — every subquorum attached to a rule is mandatory.
  • If you want an optional group, don’t create a subquorum for it.
Mistake 2: Expecting a maximum/cap
  • Subquorums set a floor (at least N approvers from this group), never a ceiling. You cannot use a subquorum to limit a group to “at most 1 counted signer.”
Mistake 3: Too many subquorums
  • Every subquorum you add is a mandatory prerequisite. Adding many subquorums to one rule can make approval very slow, since all of them must be satisfied.
  • Solution: only add subquorums for groups whose participation is genuinely required for every matching operation.
Mistake 4: Stale members
  • Subquorum includes people who’ve left the organization.
  • Solution: regularly review and update subquorum membership.

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Testing subquorum structure

Before finalizing, test your structure:
  1. Trace through scenarios — Mentally trace an operation through the base quorum and every attached subquorum
  2. Check every subquorum can be met — Since all are mandatory, confirm there’s no subquorum whose members are all unavailable
  3. Confirm this is really what you want — Since subquorums can’t be made optional or capped, verify the mandatory-floor model matches your intended approval structure
See Required approvers & sub-quorums for the full base-quorum and sub-quorum configuration flow, and Editing subquorums for modification instructions.