Why conducting due diligences ?
The due diligence tool is a validation both of the past (accounts), of the present ( audit ), and of the future (business plan, projection capacity). Performing due diligence has become a vital step in most of a company’s strategic decisions .
Corporations and have an obligation to perform due diligence on their suppliers and customers.
All OECD members countries are required to conduct due diligence. In France, the Sapin II Law (Law 2017-399) requires due diligence on foreign suppliers and on compliance with international regulations of fight against corruption and money laundering (customers, suppliers, partners).
If due diligence is compulsory for companies, we consider above all that it is a great tool for the evaluation of your international risk / opportunity couple.
We would like to support you on strategic plans as operational in your development thanks to our risk assessment and opportunity identification tools .
your needs
Whether they are customers, suppliers, franchisees, intermediaries or agents, you may need to evaluate your international partners to improve your trade relations.
Customers
Is my customer reliable ?
“Know your Customer” is a business necessity, but it is also a strategic, legal and reputational imperative.
Know your Customer
“Know your Customer” is a business necessity, but it is also a strategic, legal and reputational imperative.
The customer risk is diffuse in all processes of your company or your project. New regulations and standards now required to perform a validation of the customer account:
– Upstream “customer onboarding”
– As part of a transaction “Transaction & Customer Intelligence”: financial, credit, “mortality rate”, etc.
– Post-trade: monitoring of customer risks: new shareholders, sanctions, politically exposed persons.
We perform custom due diligence missions on your customers and prospects, discreetly and tactfully.
We favor the control of your risks, but are above all “pro-business” and was intended to assist you in your development.
Suppliers
Is my supplier reliable ?
The importance of quality control and the relationship with suppliers is fundamental to your company’s value chain.
We validate your supplier
The proliferation of suppliers, subcontractors and “Service providers” internationally, making it difficult to perfect knowledge of your suppliers.
We are validating your suppliers, bringing you a good knowledge of their structural environment and the different entities, even in several jurisdictions.
It is not uncommon that our due diligence reports for the validation process providers led us to investigate 4 or 5 different jurisdictions, on several continents.
We also bring you knowledge of the directors, shareholders and decision makers of your potential or existing suppliers.
Easy reading grid will enable you to compare qualifications or reference announced by suppliers, with real existing.
We also put in place for certain customers a vendor management policy, including: due diligence, validation, monitoring, as well as SRM (Suppliers Resource Management) as extranet dedicated to your supplier relationships, and management of the impacts of reputation.
Franchisees
Need for support to develop your franchising internationally?
Many groups franchises in catering, hospitality, education, test centers … trust us for many years.
Our support missions franchises
Real growth of partners and validation opportunities for groups of franchises and master franchisees, we perform support duties in many countries.
We have allowed the creation of regional master franchises in all continents, and have also foiled the traps inherent to development, including fraud attempts, of belonging to mafia groups trying to use our customers to establish laundering as in Eastern Europe than in Turkey or Argentina.
We are at your service to our references. Do not hesitate to order us a validation mission:
Business intermediaries & agents
Can I trust the local agents?
Get new markets, opportunities or access a particular business network, especially in emerging countries, passes very often by local agents services.
Many risks
The risks inherent to the signing of agreements intermediation, representation, agency or “sponsor” is very high, particularly because of:
1. The variable quality of these agents: professionalism, honesty, monitoring, reputation
2. Corruption’s risks
3. The risks of opportunities, related to the choice of the agent in terms of its relationships (proven or not) with local decision makers. These relationships are very often prone to exogenous risk factors that can lead to sudden changes.
4. Business practices related to non-compliance with the rules of competition, intellectual property of your trademark, infringement, establishment of parallel distribution circuits, non respect of territorial limits stipulated in your agreements, documentation fraud , is not respected countries under embargoes, non-payment of royalties, etc.
Therefore it is essential to conduct extensive due diligence both upstream (selection of your agents) that during the life cycle of your relationship with your agent or intermediary.
We carry many investigations of local partners and can meet your needs.
Investors
Have I found the right financial partner to invest in my business?
Help you in your development, controlling risks.
Due Diligence: Mapping your Investors and Partners
On the principle of KYC “Know Your Customer”, financial institutions and now businesses will need to establish an identity and a precise mapping of investors and strategic partners who would be asked to take part in their projects.
New regulations and standards now required to perform a validation of investors or financial partners:
– Upstream “onboarding”
– As part of a transaction “Transaction Intelligence”
– Post-transaction: risk monitoring: new shareholders, sanctions, politically exposed persons.
We perform custom due diligence missions on your customers and prospects, discreetly and tactfully.
We favor the control of your risks, but are above all “pro-business” and was intended to assist you in your development.
Leaders
Is my manager who he claims to be?
As spokesman of a company, the choice of a leader is crucial.
Choose its leader
The choice of a leader should not do lightly. Indeed, key decisions for the company can not be implemented without prior approval. This requires that the shareholders or beneficial owners of the company have confidence in him. This is not to reiterate the Gaillard affair, where a scammer, using a false resume, became airport director, after being sentenced for impersonating a police officer and false a military untrue.
It is essential to learn about the actual qualifications of the person, contact the institutions that have hosted, verify the authenticity of diplomas and do a check of its reputation. Indeed, the reputation of a leader is intimately linked to the reputation of the company to the general public. The CEO is the spokesperson of the company, it must be unassailable. Perform due diligence on the person limits the risks taken by a company when recruiting its leader.
Economic beneficiaries
Are my beneficial owners reliable?
To limit money laundering and terrorist financing, please inquire.
Why I should validate may beneficial owners?
The beneficial owner is necessarily an individual.
We must distinguish between the beneficial owner and :
– The customer, whose could be a natural or legal person, or a legal structure without legal personality;
– The person in relation to the customer,
– Contract or transaction’s recipient:
- for funds’ transfers, the beneficiary means the natural or legal person who is the final recipient of funds;
- in the field of insurance, the beneficiary is the natural or legal person designated by the subscriber to receive the benefits guaranteed under the contract or transaction.
In banking and insurance to known the economic beneficiaries of an operation is required to fight against money laundering and terrorism . In order to avoid corruption in businesses, and to comply with the requirements of corporate social responsibility is important to inquire about economic beneficiaries of an operation. Due diligence performed on a beneficiary can protect the reputation of a company by detecting for example a person whose would have links with mafia organizations.
Whether to acquire a company, to settle abroad or complete a transaction, we are here to provide you the necessary due diligence.
Acquire a company
Is it really an opportunity ?
Acquiring a company is a risky operation, before taking a final decision it is necessary to know the entity‘s financial report. To study a company’s accounts allows to know past and present to anticipate future.
Once the financial reporting performed, it is necessary to perform a non-financial reporting. It is necessary to assess the reputation of a company. To make this report, it is necessary to adopt a broad vision, in fact, that report should help prevent disasters such as Rana Plaza’s case in Bangladesh. The verification of an infrastructure can be tricky, but it is possible to know when the latest work has been done, the number of workers and their working conditions. Indeed, it is vital for a company’s reputation that Human Rights are respected. Also check the safety and implementation of health and safety standards. Corruption is a very high risk in some countries. It is necessary to know how identify it to not be mixed. Before confirming a company’s acquisition, it is essential to know its legal liabilities, if it has pending cases, or if social conflicts are recurrent.
Finally, for companies with over 500 employees in France and more than 10,000 employees worldwide, it is necessary to set up a vigilance plan to conform to the new French regulations.
Establishment abroad
Am I ready for the international market ? Are there really a growing market in this country?
Most SMEs which want to operate abroad wish conquering growing markets. For a successful implementation it is necessary to fulfill several criteria:
- a critical size
- innovative products, which may interest the intended market
- qualified and if possible personal knowledge of the culture of the target country
- a solid financial structure, which can withstand setbacks, at least at the beginning of the implementationfaire appell
If all these criteria are met, it is necessary to take time to properly build the project, and to call upon professionals and organizations that will be able to support an establishment abroad.
First of all it is necessary to do a very thorough country analysis to know the culture but also the legal and regulatory framework. The socio-cultural study is often overlooked, yet it is an essential constraint. Indeed, untrained expatriate staff could be an important cost for society. Finally, it is useful to know the logistics facilities, the population’s purchasing power, and also where to find skilled labor. Find a local partner of trust can be a real asset to expand abroad while limiting the risks.
Export
Should I export to develop myself ?
You want to check the authenticity and detect fraud business operations? Our Intelligence Transactions service enables you to detect fraud and to confirm the authenticity of products and seriousness of your interlocutors.
Intelligence Transactions
Our Intelligence Transactions service enables you to detect fraud and to confirm the authenticity of products and seriousness of your interlocutors.
Our experts collect market knowledge and specific information about transactions through direct contacts, site visits and market research, information which is then combined in a single, secure report.
We realize for you a real validation roadmap of your business transactions.
We check:
Existence of the entity and the trading partner
Business activities of the entity
Characteristics of goods
The authenticity of the transaction documents and informations
Tariff elements and evaluation elements
Local regulations, tariff changes
The inventory storage conditions
Import
Where could I find the right supplier ?
You want to check the authenticity and detect fraud business operations? Our Intelligence Transactions service enables you to detect fraud and to confirm the authenticity of products and seriousness of your interlocutors.
Intelligence Transactions
Our Intelligence Transactions service enables you to detect fraud and to confirm the authenticity of products and seriousness of your interlocutors.
Our experts collect market knowledge and specific information about transactions through direct contacts, site visits and market research, information which is then combined in a single, secure report.
We realize for you a real validation roadmap of your business transactions.
We check:
Existence of the entity and the trading partner
Business activities of the entity
Characteristics of goods
The authenticity of the transaction documents and informations
Tariff elements and evaluation elements
Local regulations, tariff changes
The inventory storage conditions
Complete a transaction
Do we take the right decision ?
The due diligence process is an essential step in the validation of an opportunity for a business. It allows to limit the risk in a transaction, There are mainly four types of risks:
market risks are the risks of losses due to changes in the market value of a portfolio of financial instruments. The management of these risks needs to do in the short term, and regularly.
counterparty risks are characterized by the fact that the person making a loan should bear a risk of default by the borrower. This failure may relate to all or just a part of the money lent, and may result from an unwillingness on the part of the debtor or his inability to repay its debt.
operational risk is the risk of losses due to personnel errors, systems or processes, or due to external events, such as the risks of damage to production facilities, technological risks, climate risks, risks environmental, health risks, etc …
reputational risks mean the risk of losses due to deterioration of a company’s brand image. This devaluation of the image can be linked to social scandals, health or environmental. The reputational risk is difficult to assess because it must take into account the information propagation speed and the potential impact on public opinion.
So before finalizing a transaction, it is essential to take into account all of these risks and how to measure them. Due diligence is a very valuable decision support.
Develop a local partnership
How these partners could help me ?
During an international expansion, the legislation of the host country may require the creation of a local partnership, it is often the case in the Middle East. When local regulations is not binding in this area, it may be wise to engage the services of a partner. Indeed he knows local needs and legislation and business customs. He is a key person for efficient and timely a successful acculturation of the company in a foreign country far away to the culture of his own. Finally, a good partner must have an onsite network, which is a valuable time saver. It is essential to prepare a solid contract with this partner to have recourse in the event of failure on its part.
Before entering into a business relationship, it is imperative to conduct a due diligence on the partner, it must have an impeccable reputation, not to damage the reputation of the company, it is necessary that it is solvent, expertise must be real, and their skills, qualifications must be recognized.
ABI valid regular business partnerships in the field of education for example, so that an institution can make its mark in franchise. in each case we:
Are identifying the target and its environment:
Evidence of existence: Recording, education license
Ownership structure, funding
Management
Identify liabilities and business relationships:
Stakeholders assessment: Clients, students, suppliers
Online and offline Reputation
Income statements, payment terms
Litigation record
Background Check: blacklists, embargo, etc.
Chek references and accreditations:
International partnerships announced
Accreditations, rankings
Recruit
Recruit
Recruiting new personnel is risky for the company. Indeed, if the person is not suitable it is not always easy to change employee. The human being is at the center of the company, its decisions are based on the affect, the ego, the look, packaging and discourse. But in business it is essential that a person is able to take a decision in full knowledge of the facts. Thus it is necessary to minimize the emotions, risk aversion or enthusiasm at a decision. But when recruiting a person, the feeling, intuition is often at the center of the decision.
Thus, during recruitment for key positions it is necessary to do a due diligence on the person, in order to minimize the risks to mistaken identity. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) American and the OECD Convention on the fight against corruption require companies to exercise greater vigilance and perform due diligence before hiring key staff, or contractors.
Indeed, it is necessary to check the person’s skills, and the authenticity of its certificates. But it is even more important to check its reputation, so the company does not take risks by hiring a politically exposed person, for example, or do so knowingly.
To verify an identity ID CHECK®, manage political risks, business customs or applicable law, we provide a suitable support on the ground.
Check identity
Is this person the one it claims to be ?
ID check is a tool developed by ABI capital to verify the veracity of a passport. In due diligence, the concept of KYC (know your customer) is central. Verifying the identity of a person is the first step in the validation of a partner.
Conflicts of interests, rights and business customs
Applicable law / law applied (business customs, conflicts of interest)
During an international expansion, it is important to learn about business customs. Indeed, the law explicitly prohibits certain behaviors. However, in every countries there are rules which correspond to the informal legislation. Not knowing the law is not enough to protect himself, indeed “deliberate ignorance” or “willful blindness” may be held against a person.
The due diligence used to validate the conformity of conduct to a standard, that it be compulsory or just a recommendation. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) created new needs, in fact companies are looking to make socially responsible investments. The implementation by a company of a CSR standard improve its brand image with a Western public opinion increasingly focused on human rights and environmental respect.
The duty of care, motivates, for example, wealth management companies to pay attention of sourcing the nature of assets and management methods.
Reputation
Are there risks for my brand value ?
According to a Deloitte study from December, 2012, 87% of leaders consider reputational risk as the most important strategic risks for their business, and 41% of them consider that a breach of their personal reputation may have impact on business turnover. Finally, more than half of the managers surveyed wish to implement tools for analyzing the image of the brand to anticipate any risk of reputation.
Reputation is related to many factors, very different from each other as:
- ethics, integrity, fraud and corruption
- health risks and safety related
- risks relating to products and services
- personal reputation of senior management and employees
- the reputation of customers, suppliers and subcontractors
- Competition’s attacks
- exogenous factors such as natural disasters
To face this risk, it is necessary to know the environment, the competitors, but also his closest collaborators. And perform due diligence ahead of the realization of a relationship is important, and can help in many cases to avoid reputational risks.
Political risks
How to manage relations with local governments?
Political risks are ever-changing risks faced by evry economic actors. Investors are the most exposed to this type of risk.
Political risks are due to policy, social, and security changes that could have an impact on all human interests, economic interests or diplomatic interests. This risk can arise from a central or local government. Indeed, a change of government, a change in political system, may affect the interests of an actor, the unilateral termination of an agreement can destabilize a society .
When one wishes to develop its business it is essential to make a political risk analysis in order to prevent it or mitigate its effects. ABI during its due diligence systematically performs an analysis of country risks in order to provide the best support companies in their international expansion process.
Solvency
Is my partner or customer solvent?
The creditworthiness of a partner or a customer must always be the first thing to check before finalizing a partnership. However it should not be limited to the study of past and present balance sheets, it is necessary to be able to project into the future in order to better anticipate any changes.
- The past:
- Financial accounts
- Payment history
- History of disputes
- Past investment performance
- The present:
- Reputation, references
- Economic activity
- Compliance with standards
- Quality of a product, service
- The future:
- Team’s capability for projection
- Validation of a business plan
- Legal commitments and contracts
- Business and operational synergies
- Ability to turn R & D into Innovation
It is necessary to interview databases, regardless of the country in which is a partner. it means it is sometimes necessary to source locally when business registers, and court registries are not available online. ABI has an excellent network of sources on the ground in countries where the information can sometimes be difficult to access.
Regulations
How to manage regulations in your projects
Whatever the project, it is necessary to know the regulations that govern each stage of its realization. Standards are often sparse and therefore difficult to find. Different directives depending on the state can adversely affect the same product or service.
In addition, the regulations are not frozen, so it is highly recommended to set up a system of legislative and regulatory watch, in order to be reactive in the event of modifications. Finally, the most effective way is to master the legislative process at the beginning of the chain, and to carry out effective and targeted targeted lobbying.