We provide due diligence services at a level proportionate to the associated risks and risk tolerance in your company. Our deliverables range from technology-enabled tools (i2 link analysis and data mining modules) to in-depth, human-driven analysis.

The primary goal is mitigation of the risks of legal penalties, financial and reputational damage from association with unethical, fraudulent or underperforming third parties. Additionally, the success of an acquisition to an acquirer can be significantly enhanced by the depth and quality of due diligence undertaken. When it comes to choosing vendors, suppliers or other contractors, performing due diligence is a must, notwithstanding visible soundness of the commercial proposals and lucrative deals. Not addressing reputational issues can lead to fines, irreparable reputational damage, lost time/resources and an unsustainable company culture.

Today our clients face mounting risks of engaging in commercial deals with legal entities, controlled by Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), their family members or doorkeepers (straw men, proxy owners, front men). Nowadays, the schemes that complicate detection opportunities become more elaborate; corporate networks to hide real beneficiaries behind most significant vendors grow more intricate. In almost all cases, we perform a thorough study of the ownership structure of relevant entities, using automated analytical i2 modules to browse the entire corporate database of legal entities in our jurisdiction for identification of all interconnected and affiliated entities, relevant to the research. Such approach results in identification of comprehensive beneficial ownership schemes, which help to understand the motivation of owners for using different companies and jurisdictions as part of their business networking. Our due diligence reports contain critical components for comprehensive and reliable risks mapping, which is the key to the ability to prove you’ve done everything to detect and mitigate those risks. They are compliant and rigorous, even in their basic layouts, capable of uncovering hidden dangers that increase operational, financial, legal and reputational risks.

Our standard due diligence report as per basic check plan pertaining one targeted legal entity in Russia contains the following data:

• Corporate details with history of all changes, modifications and amendments: identification of risk factors, such as addresses of mass registration, shifts in shareholding and directorships, redistribution of shares, changes of jurisdictions, etc.
• Identification of beneficiaries, profiling of directors and shareholders, revealing track records in industry, affiliated legal entities, life style: creating risk profile – 100% identification of nominal status of shareholders and directors
• Operational profile: general reputation and market performance, including historic one
• Profiling of legal entities, acted as parent company/companies
• Fixed assets availability: real estate (offices, premises, land plots, etc.) and vehicles, registered in the Target’s name
• Personnel availability: basic information on staff (on payroll) members with dynamics of change; indicators of tax optimization schemes – SPV/Shell company status, etc.
• Risk analysis of financial statements with history of changes, cash flows, assets and liabilities, including credit history and current status of bank loans taken
• Analysis of Arbitrage cases and taxation position, pending regulatory issues
• Strategy in state procurements: analysis of wins/losses, state procurement turnover, ratio of state/commercial deals; nomenclature: corruption risks assessment
• Analysis of activity in social network accounts, website availability and update frequency, corporate domains availability.

Even due diligence report with basic scope helps to uncover major issues in integrity risk areas, such as:

• Anti-corruption and anti-bribery assessments, including Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and Bribery Act
• Third party on-boarding for key material and services suppliers
• Vendor and supply-chain screening and checks
• Reputational and risk management
• Mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures
• Fraud, embezzlement, financial irregularities, money laundering and abuse of functions
• Counterfeiting and intellectual property infringement
• Anti-competitive behavior and price fixing
• Bid Rigging
• Grey market and illegal selling
• Pre-engagement screenings

In-depth due diligence report may deliver on specific issues whether it is vendor vetting, compliance risks review, fraud investigation, merger, acquisition, take-over, capital investment, buy-out or green-field investment. Our deliverables can reveal otherwise unobtainable information and provide you with first line of defense in preventing and detecting fraud, financial crimes or potential sanctions-related issues.

Major advantages of our team:

• Deep understanding of the nature of risks and fraud scheming across industries and market segments in our region (over 100 implemented projects of different scope and targeting) with capabilities of translating it to the needs of your company
• Advanced analytical techniques, including sophisticated use of i2 data mining and link analysis modules with capabilities of automated vendor screening with unlimited number of targets. By using latest releases of computer forensic tools and well-developed methodology of investigations, the team will be able to minimize its costs and fees charged to its customers
• Vast HUMINT resources worldwide and CIS countries regional footprint
• Diverse expertize in computer forensics, fraud investigations, data mining and intelligence gathering techniques.
• Excellent command of foreign languages and industry standards

Pricing

To simplify billing to clients, our forensic team will work on a fixed pricing structure in the projects with identifiable scope. The team will determine the standard pricing structure for each deliverable based on capped hourly estimates and fees. This will be expressed to the client as a per-deliverable fixed price in a quote. Clients can determine which deliverables they would like to purchase. The team will charge the quoted price even if we have underestimated hours, to maintain credibility with budget-conscious businesses. Once having used our services, our clients stay with us for years.