Due Diligence and New Market Entry Risk Assessment

International investor was considering substantial investment in real estate in a specific area in Balkan state that recently has joined EU. The investor has approached us asking to perform due diligence and new market entry risk assessment in respect of the internal economic and political situation in the country and the level of influence of organized crime in the targeted region for intended investment. Also he wanted to check the credibility of the land price offers he has received from different local businesses in the area. We have performed the due diligence and risk assessment for the client by checking the pattern of previous foreign investment in the area and discovered that the local organized crime has acquired prime locations and offers them in lucrative prices in order to lure in investors. Subsequently their customary practice was to approach the foreign investors and offer them “services” to obtain the necessary building permits, etc. These so-called “services” made the investment opportunity unprofitable and problematic. Due to our risk assessment the client has decided to reconsider investment plans and abstain from this particular opportunity. Eight months later we found out that other foreign investors who have decided to pursue with their investments have encountered the same predicted by us problems with their properties that made them too expensive to maintain and develop and were looking for exit.

Due Diligence and Regulatory Framework Analysis

A private client of ours considered to perform a deal with a respectable Russian company that included purchase of silver. Before executing the deal the client has tasked us to check Russian company’s reputation and the Russian legal framework concerning purchase and transfer of precious metals. Our investigation has established that although the company had an impressive past track record of dealing with foreign clients the operative management has been changed recently and some financial difficulties became an occurrence. In addition we have found out that several recent similar deals of this particular company were accompanied with difficulties linked to vague regulations. Although we were unable to establish a direct link or prove a common practice it became evident that there is an effort to keep the advance payment from the foreign investor and delay the silver delivery. We have reported our suspicions to the client that subsequently has decided to minimize his risk and to order much smaller quantity of the metal than originally planned. Unfortunately this deal has not been completed until today.

Due Diligence

A private client of ours has received an offer from an African company to purchase large quantity of gold at a very lucrative price. The offer came from a respectable African operator. We were hired by the client to review the tread of the deal in order to find possible flaws in it due to client’s harbored suspicions concerning the nature of the deal. Our review has demonstrated two certain flaws in this particular offer. The first one being linked to the mode of transfer of the precious metal, namely in the form of dust that makes the quantity and quality control checks harder to perform. The second flaw was connected to our discovery of claims of fraud from customers of the same supplier that have reported up to 40 % quantities to be delivered missing in similar deals. Due to our report and advisory our client decided not to partake in the deal.

Due Diligence and Regulatory Framework Analysis 2

A private client of ours has received an offer from an African company to purchase large quantity of gold at a very lucrative price. The offer came from a respectable African operator. We were hired by the client to review the tread of the deal in order to find possible flaws in it due to client’s harbored suspicions concerning the nature of the deal. Our review has demonstrated two certain flaws in this particular offer. The first one being linked to the mode of transfer of the precious metal, namely in the form of dust that makes the quantity and quality control checks harder to perform. The second flaw was connected to our discovery of claims of fraud from customers of the same supplier that have reported up to 40 % quantities to be delivered missing in similar deals. Due to our report and advisory our client decided not to partake in the deal.

Competitive Intelligence and Business Profiling

A certain bank from a German-speaking country desired to extend its operation to countries in Europe where it did not operate previously. The bank wanted to receive assessment about the actual level of governmental interference, as well as possibilities of interference from interest groups and/or organized crime. It also was interested in business profiling of several local partners considered for future partnership. Our research has demonstrated that in the recent years due to change of government and improved legislation in certain countries in focus it became much safer and favorable to start operation. We have established the fact that the security services of the countries in focus dealt firmly with governmental interference attempts, as well as attempts stemming from third parties and thus created safe environment for the bank’s planned activity. We have profiled the scope of possible bank partners that proved to be with respectable reputation. Thus we were able to recommend the ones that met best the bank’s needs. Subsequently the bank has begun to plan its future activities in the countries in scope.

Risk Assessment and Consultancy

A private client has planned to open a business operation in a country known for unfriendly business environment. The client has tasked us to perform risk assessment of the actual environment of the planned business operation. In addition the client has decided to entrust us with the scheduling, preparation and physical organization of the actual meetings with potential local partners on the spot. During the actual business visit of the client we had to take all necessary security precautions preventing potentially unsafe and unpleasant situations stemming from certain practices of the local environment. During the stay we employed tactic of unveiling specific business information at certain public places. This was done in order to evaluate certain approach made by specific local contacts that we and our client felt that needed closer look in terms of reliability and possible conflict of interests. We were not surprised to discover that by the end of the visit the client has received feedbacks and offers of exact match of the initial information spread. These along with the constant physical location switches of the client due to security concerns led to the decision of our customer to reevaluate his business strategy concerning this particular country thus avoiding further unsafe entanglements.