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The Client, well-established in the banking industry, needed a Background check (KYC Due Diligence) on a highly exposed Venezuelan businessman. As such, the Client requested insight into the customer’s financial situation, especially the sources of his wealth and income.
GRP received preliminary information about the individual, yet the picture was incomplete and it was up to us to crosscheck, verify and fil in the gaps. Importantly, the target individual was from a sanctioned country, highlighting the necessity for a thorough verification of his mandates and participations in sanctioned entities or links to sanctioned individuals.
To respond to these needs, GRP delivered an Enhanced KYC report, including a first level analysis of the target individual’s sources of wealth. Human intelligence played a crucial role in filtering information from specialized databases and media sources, crosschecking it with available official sources and establishing the evolution of the individual’s mandates and participations.
New discoveries extended the scope of the research to four jurisdictions. Considerable discrepancies were found between the wealth sources made available to the Client and those retrieved during GRP’s research, showing that most of the individual’s wealth derived from his “off-the-books” activities. The report also unveiled other risks, including the individual’s involvement in offshore businesses, close links to political actors and sanctioned associates, proving that GRP’s capacities guarantee the delivery of information for your banking needs.
One of our clients, an international Swiss company, contacted us in support of a Merger and Acquisition (M&A) process of a UK-based company.
Frequently mandated by this client for M&A Due Diligence, GRP’s team was well equipped to establish a thorough report on the UK entity for the client.
Our research first focused on the British company, and was then extended to include its closely related individuals and entities to identify and assess any risks in connection to the target company and any potential cases of fraud.
Our investigation first revealed a potential risk linked to the individual identified as the ultimate beneficiary (UBO) of the target company: a possible homonym was subject to penal prosecution in India, his home country. For our client, such information would serve as serious grounds to question its pending M&A project.
GRP specialists conducted a detailed crosscheck investigation between the individual homonym subject to prosecution in India and the ultimate beneficiary connected to the British entity.
In a country where homonyms are very common, our expertise served in identifying personal information between the homonym and key individual of interest. In this case, a clear distinction was made between a risk-prone individual and the UBO, allowing us to silent any alarm bells for the client regarding their M&A project, giving them the key to proceed with confidence.
As part of his compliance routine, our Client requested an anti-corruption Due Diligence on one of its service providers in China, a transport company active on the national level. Such Due Diligence implied background checks on numerous directors and supervisors of the company, all with multiple homonyms referenced in specialized databases.
China presents a critical challenge regarding the identification of individuals. Not only is it the most populous country in the world where homonyms are very common; but also different Chinese names are frequently translated into the same name in English, which can lead to inaccurate results when only English spellings are considered. With compliance databases and media sources often relying on English names, due diligence checks on Chinese individuals can turn into a real challenge.
To efficiently eliminate homonyms, GRP specialists performed a two-phase research strategy. Detailed identifying information was first gathered on each key individual involved in the company (their respective gender, photos, date of birth, location, short biography, etc.). Then, similar information was researched for potential homonyms listed in specialized databases or mentioned in sensitive news. By crosschecking these elements, GRP was able to rule out most homonyms as false positives, and identify any real risks presented by the Chinese company’s management and shareholders.
As a result, the Client obtained a reliable report featuring an accurate risk assessment with all high risks efficiently mitigated.
Our client, a company active in spare parts distribution, is bound to comply with a number of regulations including the UK Modern Slavery act. Companies subject to this law are required to explain and publish the efforts undertaken to identify and analyze human trafficking and slavery risks in their supply chains. Given the large amount of data to process, our Client expressed the need to first identify, within its suppliers, the countries and the industry sectors most at risk according to the UK Modern Slavery guidelines.
GRP has recently released two risk indexes (the Global Corruption and ESG Indexes) designed to identify specific risks from a country & industry perspective.
In this case, GRP offered to fully customize the ESG Index, a composite tool focusing on socially responsible conducts, according to the Client’s specific needs. The ESG Index measures risks concerning the environment, human rights and health & safety via its 3 sub-indexes, each comprising various indicators. A series of discussions with the Client allowed GRP to determine the sub-indexes and indicators of interest for him, as well as the Client’s specific features to be considered within the index’customization.
To address the Client’s primary concern (compliance with the UK Slavery Act), GRP fully customized the ESG index by selecting relevant sub-indexes & indicators, and adapting their weights in accordance with the law’s requirements and the Client’s specific situation.
At the end of this process, 4 different indexes were delivered to our client in .csv files, with comprehensive documentation.
Our customization service has allowed our client to pursue his compliance process based on indexes specifically built to answer his needs.
Our client, a major player in the oil & gas industry, was served defendant in a lawsuit spanning multiple jurisdictions. The case concerned the exploitation of an offshore oil field, and the client was represented by several law firms in order to manage its scope.
Given the complexity of the case, the client needed not only a review and analysis of all the official and internal documents concerning the matter, but also thorough investigations on all the case’s elements for additional evidence. GRP’s goal was to ensure the client had a clear picture of the situation and therefore an informed strategy moving forward.
As such, Global Risk profile provided various litigation support services with a quick turnaround. A committee of analysts was organized to treat the client’s needs and work on simultaneous research and investigations covering all facets of the case.
On the one hand, GRP analysts focused on the review and analysis of the case’s various documents. This process included forensic accounting to reveal any suspicious financial activities, as well as provided the client with a systematic organization of the case’s most important details.
At the same time, GRP analysts conducted thorough investigations on the key individuals and entities identified in the case, including solvency and financial checks. To fill in any gaps as well as to retrieve additional evidence, our analysts conducted targeted searches in official sources, media reports, blogs and social networks. During the whole process, data was consistently crosschecked and all inconsistencies were highlighted.
Overall, GRP helped the client turn a blurry situation into the clearer picture they needed to deal with the lawsuit at hand. Organizing and analyzing key sources of information, as well as investigating new elements, allowed us to develop a timeline of events that brought to light the case’s key developments and serve as an essential tool for the client. In addition, our Client was provided with new supporting evidence suitable for their defense as legal proceedings continued.
