Today, more than ever, business opportunities and business risks go hand in hand. We help financial, investment, legal and compliance officers find and interpret complex information and develop comprehensive due diligence and compliance programs. DFRC have been actively involved in the concept of investigative due diligence, providing clients with the intelligence they need to make informed decisions about the companies and people with whom they do business. As the financial market landscape is ever changing: –
And DFRC is changing with it… DFRC is now uniquely positioned to support clients across the full spectrum of their needs, with due diligence solutions that run from basic screening through the most complex investigative due diligence. Our platform combines the benefit of technology and programmatic innovations (to support high-volume requirements and access to ever-growing volumes of publicly available electronic information) with DFRC’s traditional expertise in investigative reviews.
ENHANCED DUE DILIGENCE
DFRC’s analysts review a wide range of media sources, as well as national, state and local regulatory and court databases to confirm professional registrations and ownership, and to assess regulatory exposure and involvement in legal proceedings. In jurisdictions where less information is available online, where more insight is needed about a subject’s corporate affiliations, or where perspectives on a subject’s character, political connections and business practices are desired, our Enhanced Due Diligence research augments the public record with in-country and on-site research. DFRC’s Enhanced Due Diligence team is highly skilled in research, observation and inquiry, and includes former prosecutors, journalists, law-enforcement agents and experienced industry professionals. They unearth hidden information and identify patterns to create detailed portraits of subjects’ business activities and overall reputation.
INVESTIGATIVE DUE DILIGENCE
The risks inherent in today’s financial transactions – including mergers and acquisitions, as well as public offerings, joint ventures, private equity, venture capital, and other investments – are greater than ever. While these kinds of deals often involve major commitments of capital and other resources, they may be based on expected synergies and anticipated profits – and not on verified business relationships, management experience or financial data. DFRC’s Investigative Due Diligence leverages the most comprehensive set of databases, deepest analysis of public records, and access to an elite network of domestic and international sources to enhance the success of a deal by uncovering potential vulnerabilities. DFRC provides comprehensive background information and intelligence including personal and business reputations; financial and operating histories; verification of key non-financial representations; records of litigation and disputes; environmental liabilities and other actual or undisclosed problems. We examine misrepresentations or non-disclosure of material facts; financial management and system problems; unrealistic projections or overstated assets; unrecorded or understated liabilities; significant managerial or business issues; and independent business valuations. The result is a detailed profile of any issue of concern enabling the client to manage the identified risk by restructuring or repricing the deal, or even exiting from the proposed transaction.
INTEGRATED DUE DILIGENCE
When investing in emerging or frontier markets, investors must be prepared for a more complex and changeable operating environment. Investors are increasingly aware that commercial assessments cannot be accurately made without understanding a whole range of political and reputational factors, particularly in high-risk markets. In these jurisdictions, being able to fully understand the overlaps between commercial, reputational and operational issues is not only key to mitigating risk, but it can also be fundamental to gaining a competitive advantage. Traditional due diligence in developed markets is often completed in distinct silos, with a strong focus on risk and less emphasis on transaction intelligence. However, today’s investment environment has quickly rendered this approach insufficient. Investors need to understand the potential impact of the increasingly blurry line between business and government interests.
