What Does Due Diligence Involve?

Date: August 2018

THPT Response: All the obvious things… however we came across a firm that added an interesting dimension to DD.

GPW is a political risk, investigations and dispute consulting firm with offices in London, Dubai and Singapore.

We are regularly retained by multinationals, financial institutions, private equity, law firms and investors – including hotel developers – to conduct detailed due diligence ahead of investments, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and senior appointments.

While we are unique in covering a broad range of emerging markets, we are equally at home in more developed economies.

Our due diligence work is geared towards underpinning a client’s confidence in business decisions and identifying relevant and material issues in order to manage risk across the entire spectrum of business and investment opportunities, wherever they occur in the world. Unlike other providers of due diligence, we do not simply collect and sell information, preferring to work in consultation with clients to provide critical insight.

We are typically retained at board level, by legal counsel, advisors, strategy teams, compliance as well as security and risk management divisions. Our approach ensures that all reasonable steps are taken to examine and appraise the integrity of subjects and any information they provide, be they individuals or corporations.

We have a track record of identifying closely-held information directly or indirectly linked to subjects as well as potential conflicts of interest, financial, legal or reputational risk, here in the UK, with FCPA considerations and the UK Bribery Act 2011 always a prime consideration.

While several of our recent assignments relate to in-depth and complex FCPA and fraud investigations and asset tracing on defaulting parties, assessing the reputation, integrity and track record of potential counter-parties is a mainstay of our work.

With a network of contacts on the ground across the globe, we are well-versed in obtaining information on companies and individuals, including making full use of the available public record databases and navigating the regulatory, legal and political landscape.