Services

Due Diligence

Protecting your reputation and your business

With four decades of global experience, FACT Due Diligence are a trusted and reliable partner to organisations worldwide. We service a diverse range of clients; including government, banking and investment, legal, real estate, and private high-net-worth individuals.

We conduct enhanced due diligence on potential customers and business partners to help our clients identify and mitigate risks. Our expertise and specialised country knowledge ensure that you have access to the information you need to make informed business decisions.

Whether you need assistance with third-party due diligence, an investigation into AML, or risk profiling, we have the skills and expertise to support you.

We also offer a comprehensive range of investigation services, including corporate investigations, asset tracing, digital forensics, and more.

Contact us today to find out how we can assist you with your due diligence needs.

SERVICES WE OFFER

We offer a comprehensive suite of due diligence services aimed at assisting companies in recognising and mitigating risks associated with their operations.

Third-party due diligence is an integral part of risk management that ensures the protection of your organisation’s reputation, assets, and sensitive information. It involves a thorough assessment of external parties, such as suppliers and vendors, to identify potential risks and mitigate them effectively.

When you need Third Party Due Diligence:

  • Onboarding New Vendors/Partners: Before entering into a contract with a new third party, it’s vital to conduct a thorough assessment of their financial stability, legal compliance, ethical conduct, and ESG factors.
  • Annual Review: Regular reviews of existing vendors are crucial to ensure they remain compliant and continue to meet your company’s standards.
  • Significant Changes: If there’s a significant change in a vendor’s business – such as a merger, acquisition, or notable growth – it’s time for an updated due diligence review.
  • Regulatory Changes: Changes in the regulatory environment may necessitate additional checks to ensure your business and its partners are in compliance.
  • Risk-based Approach: Depending on the inherent risk associated with the third party, more frequent and detailed checks might be required.

Know Your Customer or KYC is a critical process used by organisations to verify the identity of their clients. Our KYC service can help you comply with these regulations by providing accurate and up-to-date information on your clients. We can verify identities and assess creditworthiness to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

The KYC Process: A Step-by-Step Guide:

Customer Identification: The first step in the KYC process involves gathering key identification information about the customer. This usually includes basic details such as name, address, date of birth, and contact information.

Customer Verification: Once the identification information has been collected, the next step is to verify this data. Verification serves to confirm that the customer is who they claim to be.

Risk Assessment: Following verification, a risk assessment is conducted. This is a crucial stage in the KYC process, as it involves assessing the potential risk that the customer may pose in terms of engaging in illegal activities such as money laundering or terrorist financing.

Ongoing Monitoring: The final stage in the KYC process involves ongoing monitoring of the customer’s transactions. This allows financial institutions to identify any unusual or suspicious activity, which might indicate potential illicit actions.

AML regulations require financial institutions to implement procedures to detect and prevent money laundering activities. Our AML service can help you achieve compliance by providing comprehensive risk assessments, identifying potential money laundering activities, and recommending appropriate controls.

Circumstances mandating AML monitoring in business operations:

  • Customer Onboarding: Before establishing a business relationship with a new customer, especially those classified as high-risk, AML due diligence is indispensable. This process involves verifying the customer’s identity, understanding the nature of their business, and assessing their risk profile.
  • Ongoing Monitoring: AML compliance is not a one-time task but an ongoing obligation. Regular monitoring of transactions, particularly those that are large, recurrent, or exhibit suspicious patterns, is critical.
  • Change in Customer Profile: Any significant changes in a customer’s business, such as mergers, acquisitions, or a sudden increase in transaction volume, warrant a fresh round of AML due diligence.
  • Regulatory Updates: The AML regulatory landscape is dynamic and evolves continually. Any changes to legislation or guidelines necessitate an updated AML due diligence process to ensure continued compliance.

Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) are essential for identifying individuals who may pose a higher risk due to their political exposure. Our PEP service can help you uncover and minimise these risks by conducting thorough checks on individuals and their associated entities. We can also provide ongoing monitoring to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

Here’s how a politically exposed person can affect a company:

Reputation and Business Relationships: Being associated with a PEP can affect a company’s reputation. Other businesses and financial institutions might be cautious about engaging in transactions or partnerships with a company dealing with PEPs due to the perceived higher risk.

Regulatory Compliance: Companies dealing with PEPs must comply with strict regulations and guidelines set forth by regulatory authorities. Failing to adhere to these regulations can result in severe penalties, fines, and legal consequences for the company.

Financial Risk: There’s a potential financial risk associated with dealing with PEPs. If the PEP is found to be involved in illicit activities or if their funds are frozen due to sanctions, the company might suffer financial losses.

Increased Scrutiny: Companies dealing with PEPs may attract increased scrutiny from regulatory bodies. Authorities might closely monitor their financial activities and transactions to ensure compliance with regulations, leading to additional administrative burdens.

Operational Challenges: Implementing the necessary compliance measures can be operationally challenging, costly and may require investment in specialised staff, technology, and training to ensure they meet regulatory requirements.

Risk profiling is essential for managing risks effectively and understanding your risk appetite. Our risk profiling service can help you identify and assess the risks associated with your business operations to develop effective risk management strategies. Our experienced team can analyse data, identify potential risks, and provide recommendations on risk management strategies and controls.

Here’s how risk profiling can help your business:

Identifying Risks: Risk profiling helps businesses identify various types of risks, such as financial, legal, operational, and reputational risks. By understanding these risks, a company can take proactive measures to mitigate them effectively.

Compliance with Regulations: Businesses operate in a complex regulatory environment. Proper due diligence ensures that a company complies with relevant laws and regulations, avoiding legal issues, fines, and reputational damage associated with non-compliance.

Enhancing Decision-Making: Thorough due diligence provides valuable insights into potential partners, clients, and investments. This information empowers businesses to make informed decisions, reducing the likelihood of entering into high-risk partnerships or ventures.

Protecting Reputational Capital: A damaged reputation can be detrimental to a business. By conducting due diligence on partners, suppliers, and clients, a company can avoid associations with entities involved in illegal or unethical activities, preserving its reputation in the market.

Preventing Financial Losses: Proper risk profiling and due diligence help identify financial red flags, such as a partner’s unstable financial situation or outstanding legal obligations. By avoiding financially risky engagements, a business can prevent substantial monetary losses.

Building Trust: Demonstrating a commitment to due diligence and risk management builds trust among stakeholders, including customers, investors, and business partners. Trust is the foundation of successful and enduring business relationships.

Mitigating Operational Disruptions: Identifying potential risks before entering into agreements can prevent operational disruptions. For example, conducting due diligence on suppliers helps ensure a stable supply chain, preventing interruptions in production or service delivery.

In association with

SECTORS WE COVER

Governments

FACT have gained a strong reputation providing high-quality reports to support governments around the world connected to the Citizenship By Investment and Residency By Investment Programmes. We are seen as a trusted partner due to our global service which also covers investigations in countries on the sanctions list.

Financial Institutions

Our international team provide expert financial investigations to private banks, asset management firms, payment services plus other areas of the financial services ecosystem.

Law Firms

Discreet and effective pre-litigation reporting to support civil and criminal cases. Complex multiple jurisdictions investigative work is conducted by our investigation and digital forensics teams. Our expertise in forensic acquisition, investigation, and examination has enabled us to provide evidence for legal and commercial clients throughout the UK for over two decades.

Multinational Corporations

Benefit from our corporate intelligence expertise to make informed business decisions. FACT provides enhanced due diligence, and risk management services backed by an extensive partner network across the globe.

UK Organisations

Deploy an executive vetting service for C-Suite and board-level executive hire, or covert workplace investigations relating to fraud or data leaks. We follow strict business protocols to safeguard the integrity of the companies we represent.

For Private Individuals

Our due diligence service provides HNWIs with comprehensive and customised analysis and verification on business and personal affairs, ensuring they have all the necessary information to make informed decisions and mitigate risks.

Why work with us

Experience – We have a successful track record across a broad range of sectors, including financial, legal, real estate and retail.

Global intelligence – Our due diligence teams comprise experts fluent in more than 40 languages and from diverse professional backgrounds, including finance, policing, law, professional services, and government. Our extensive regional expertise is crucial to effectively identify, analyse, and interpret information from every corner of the globe.

Client service – We pride ourselves on promptly responding to client queries and incident response requests. Our white-glove service delivers timely updates on vital findings and provides expedited reports to meet the tightest deadlines. Our tailored approach ensures that reports are unparalleled in their comprehensiveness, accuracy, and reliability.

Get in touch

Regal House
70 London Road
Twickenham
Middlesex
TW1 3QS

Press enquiries

Mandy Belnick

Head of Communications and Marketing

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