We have just finished a series of three very difficult cases. The common theme in each case involved either a “survey” on trade dress issues or scientific studies supporting the opposition’s claims. In any … Read More
Due Diligence: M&A Sans Investment Bankers
As a CEO you go to an investment banker and you say, “gee I think I am going to acquire a company for US$N per share. Do you think it is a good idea?” What are the chances they say no? If they say no, you get … Read More
Due Diligence: Here a Regulator, There a Regulator, Everywhere a Regulator
How did we come to this? How did we come to this oppressive weight of regulations and regulators? I did some high end sleuthing and plied my subjects with wine, fatty food and cigars to loosen their lips and tell … Read More
Bay Area Launch Event
Thank you to everyone that came and showed interest, and lended their support to our first bay area event held February 6th in San Mateo at the Marriot. Our flier of the event. Handout from the event. … Read More
Speaking Engagements
March 11th – 12th, New York, NY Anti-Money Laundering fmwonline.squarespace.com/anti-money-laundering April 15 th to 17 th • Mombasa, Kenya AACI – Anti-Corruption Manager Certification … Read More
Carbon Credit Due Diligence
Carbon Credit Due Diligence Carbon credits were created as a tool intended to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. All parties to the Kyoto Protocol receive these carbon credits, which are redirected to final … Read More
CI and M&A
CI and M&A It is a fact of life that many companies prefer to steal their ideas for products as opposed to license them. Every manager is looking for their edge. Add to that the massive intelligence gathering … Read More
Transporting High Value Items
Transporting High Value Items We see it in the movies and it happens in real life. The transport trucks arrives the paperwork is in order, the truck has all the right markings and the cargo is loaded. Guess what? … Read More
Big Data on Fraud
Big Data on Fraud Whether it be security fraud, insurance fraud, billing fraud, or even unemployment fraud, big data and our ability to crunch big data is an important tool. As so much is not automated anymore, we … Read More
Selling Your Business
Selling Your Business At one time or another all of us who own our own business will need to sell the business. So what does the small operator need to do to sell a business? Well, it's a lot like selling you home. … Read More
DOJ Warning of FCPA Legacy Liability
DOJ Warning of FCPA Legacy Liability The Department of Justice - Opinion Procedure Release 14-02 (the “Opinion”)[1] The Opinion stands for the proposition that the DOJ will not penalize a company subject to the … Read More
First Certification Event – Texas A&M Lawschool
The International Due Diligence Organization held its first Certification program in Fort Worth Texas on January 4th. 20 Future lawyers are now certified in IDDO due diligence. … Read More
Due Diligence on USA’s Recognition of Cuba and the Impact on CARICOM
Due diligence is about asking questions until you get the answers you need. It is a quest for information upon which to make choices. Many of the questions should be based upon current circumstance and future … Read More
Speaking Engagements
February 06th 2015, San Francisco Bay Area IODD Open House and Introductions http://www.international-due-diligence.org February 19th - 20th, Luxembourg FATCA www.interfima.org March 11th - 12th, New York City … Read More
Banks Required To Rely Less on Ratings Agencies
Banks Required To Rely Less on Ratings Agencies Since 2010, the ECB has been trying to break banks reliance upon credit rating agencies. In 2011 Jean-Claude Trichet ranted and raved against the influence of … Read More
Spying On Start Ups
Spying On Start Ups If you want to get an idea of what a competitor is doing, start with their web page and internet presence. Check the pages for the code and look for the key words being used by the pages. Look … Read More
The Use and Abuse of Drones
The Use and Abuse of Drones They are here and like any weapon, they can be used by you and against you. The old Dirty Harry movie, the “Dead Pool”, has Dirty Harry chased by an RC car that was going to explode. … Read More
Green Cars Are Not That Green
Green Cars Are Not That Green I was asked by one of my daughters “How much better is an electric vehicle over a gas engine? Dad what is your favorite green car?” A good question for a young lady leaning to … Read More
Background Checks
Background Checks The IDDO – The International Due Diligence Organization was launched last month and almost immediately had several people requesting a spot to speak at our launch event in San Mateo this … Read More
178 Billion in Fines
178 Billion in Fines 2014 has set a record for fines. According to an article in the Bank Rate 2014 has been the most expensive year on records for fines levied against banks and financial instructions around the … Read More
New Rental Cars
New Rental Cars I recently rented several different cars in several US cities and I came to the sound conclusion – I detest them – I detest them all. Speaking of a sound conclusion; how do you get one of these … Read More
Due Diligence For Asset Recovery
Due diligence investigations into the assets of a fraud feasor is delicate work. Even proposing to do some research into a potential fraud feasor to see what can be done to recover assets, that is if there are any, … Read More
The Big Debate: Citizenship by Investment
Economic Citizenship – Do Your Due Diligence By Burke Files, President, FEE Inc, United States Citizenship is a privilege granted by birth, heritage, or earned over time. Economic citizenship is a privilege … Read More
Due Diligence Failures
Due Diligence Failures The most dramatic example of a failure to date has been the BNP Paribas debacle. The due diligence was good but management overloads what they were told. So how does due diligence work in … Read More
OPSEC best practice
OPSEC Best Practice By John McCarthy, CCP and OPSEC President When conducting OPSEC assessments and surveys for Department of Defense (DoD) and other Government acquisition programs include Supply Chain Risk … Read More
Effective Mobile Security in the Post-Snowden Era
Effective Mobile Security in the Post-Snowden Era The revelation in October 2013 that the US National Security had monitored the mobile phone calls of Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel started alarm bells ringing … Read More
Appropriate Due Diligence
Appropriate Due Diligence Could this be the “Miss Manners” edition on due diligence? No – never! But it is about what is appropriate given the circumstances and time. We cannot get all of the information in … Read More
Over Reporting
Over Reporting A new hot topic is AML and SAR over reporting. Bankers and financial managers are both so spooked about not filing SAR’s and have such little knowledge of their clients that as soon as something … Read More
Check Them Out! Background Checks
Check Them Out! Background Checks, Step-by-Step, by William Hermann Follow this link to the amazon page: … Read More
Speaking Engagements – December 2014
Speaking Engagements - December 2014 January 7th – 11th, Texas A&M Law School IODD - Due Diligence Certification http://www.international-due-diligence.org January 26th - 27th, Dubai FATCA www.interfima.org … Read More
Due Diligence In The MENA
The topic is as fascinating as it is complicated, not just complex. I am sure; at least for me that is why I find the work fascinating. The first step is to understand the nature of the target of your research. … Read More
Speaking Engagements – November 2014
November 3rd - 8th, Anti Money Laundering, Nairobi KenyaINTERFIMAhttp://www.interfima.org/ November 25th - 27th, Amman JordanAmerican Anti-Corruption Institutehttp://www.theaaci.com December 11th – 12th, AML … Read More
The Ultimate Risk
The Ultimate Risk I have been traveling a great deal and advising some companies on due diligence processes to better ferret out unknown risks. In particular, I have been thinking about how to anticipate several … Read More
Understanding Your Competitor’s Slackers
Understanding Your Competitor’s Slackers The best way to understand a company is to look at the company from the point of view of those who wish to subvert the company. Exterior subversion can come in the form of … Read More
Scare at T2C Paris
Scare at T2C Paris After a short stay in Paris, all my stays are too Shortt. I began the day with packing and getting ready for an afternoon flight to Belgrade on Etihad, the airline that is either loved or hated. … Read More
FinCEN wants Natural Persons
FinCEN wants Natural Persons The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), has proposing rules under the Bank Secrecy Act to clarify and strengthen customer due diligence requirements for: (i) banks; (ii) … Read More
FATCA and the Inadvertently Regulated
FATCA and the Inadvertently Regulated FATCA is a bad law at the wrong place at the wrong time and it will not be repealed. Not even the Republican Majority in the House and Senate can do it. FATCA was enacted as … Read More
Laundering Money with a Hedge Fund
Laundering Money with a Hedge Fund Today most retail banks have become very good and I do mean very good at spotting money laundering. They have been doing it for some time and most have got the hang of spotting … Read More