SERVICES

Investigating hidden fund movements
and governance risk

The method is the same in every engagement.
We read the original records of the subject and its counterparties across several years.
What changes is the scope, the deliverable and the turnaround, depending on what the result is for.

FIVE ENGAGEMENT TYPES

Five types of engagement

01
Pre-deal forensic diligence

Accounting irregularities, governance risk and undisclosed liabilities at acquisition, investment and joint-venture targets, verified against the original records. Run before the deal is signed, so the findings can still affect the terms.

SCOPE
  • Five years of financial statements reviewed for anomalies
  • Related-party transactions and tunnelling structures
  • Receivables and payables checked against the counterparty's books
  • Audit opinion, key audit matters, internal control review
  • Changes of control and financing history
  • Undisclosed affiliates and beneficial control
02
Related-party and ownership mapping

Who actually stands behind the counterparty, and what has moved between them. Registry records, filings, shareholder composition and addresses are cross-read to establish whether companies that look unrelated on paper are in fact the same operator.

SCOPE
  • Corporate registry cross-checked against shareholder composition
  • Shared officers and shared registered addresses
  • Affiliates omitted from group disclosure filings
  • Volume and terms of intra-group transactions
  • Divisions and assets moved to owner-held companies
03
Fund-flow reconstruction

Where the money left and where it ended up, rebuilt year by year with figures. A single line in the accounts is followed through the notes and into the counterparty's books until the route is visible. This is the work that supports recovery and the amounts argued in litigation.

SCOPE
  • Loans, accrued income and write-off history
  • Convertible and warrant bonds, issuance and transfer
  • Placement allottees and use of proceeds
  • Pricing on asset sales and purchases
  • Accounts compared before and after mergers and demergers
  • Final destination of the funds
04
Litigation and regulatory support

An evidentiary record that can be used in proceedings and regulatory filings as it stands. Every item carries the source it came from, so another person working from the same documents reaches the same conclusion. Delivered in a form counsel can pick up and use.

SCOPE
  • Quantification of economic loss
  • Source table, item by item
  • Accounting irregularities set out in sequence
  • Complaint and regulatory referral packs
  • Identifying the records to seek in an inspection claim
05
Korea work for risk consultancies

The Korean part of an engagement taken on by a global risk consultancy. We deliver in the instructing firm's report format and confirm before starting which fields can be populated and which will stay empty for jurisdictional reasons. The report goes out under the instructing firm's name.

SCOPE
  • Level 1 to Level 3
  • Availability confirmed before work begins
  • Mapping to the instructing firm's fields
  • Delivery in priority order
  • Mutual NDA and independent contractor agreement
LEVELS AND DELIVERY

Levels and turnaround

Each level includes the scope of the level below.
Fees depend on the size of the subject and the complexity of the matter, so we quote on request.

LEVELSCOPETURNAROUNDDELIVERABLE
Level 1 Existence and registry verification, listing and audit status, sanctions and public list screening, surface Korean-language media, basic credit summary 3–5 business days Flag report and hit list
Level 2 Full reading of the original filings, related-party and ownership mapping, litigation and regulatory history within public reach, Korean-language media and reputation About 2 weeks Analyst narrative report, 8–15 pp
Level 3 Fund-flow reconstruction, accounting red-flag detection, no-capital acquisition and tunnelling structures, construction of an evidentiary record 3–4 weeks Full dossier, 15–30 pp, TRACE grading, one briefing and one written follow-up

Domestic instructions are priced on a separate matrix by subject type and asset size.

TRACE FRAMEWORK

Five modules, three grades

Analysis is organized under our own framework, TRACE (Tunneling Risk Assessment for Cooperation Evidence).
Each of the five modules is graded on three tiers, and the most severe module grade becomes the overall grade.
Every report comes out in the same structure, so results can be compared and the deliverable is settled before work begins.

01
Cash flow architecture

The route through which the transaction was actually carried out.

02
Cumulative leakage

Total funds extracted across multiple years, quantified.

03
Tunneling pattern

The structure classified under the academic and legal typologies.

04
Owner linkage

The party the benefit finally accrues to, traced through registry and filings.

05
Audit opinion

Signals raised at the external audit stage, reviewed alongside.

DELIVERABLE

What the report contains

Set out for a Level 3 dossier.
Lower levels contain the relevant parts of the same structure.

01
Summary and risk grade

What was found and how serious it is, on one page.

02
Subject profile

Ownership, group relationships and recent changes of control.

03
Findings

Each matter separated out, with the basis for it.

04
Fund route and figures

Year-by-year movement, totals, and where the money ended up.

05
TRACE grading

The five module grades and the overall grade.

06
Source list

The document and page each item came from.

07
Fields not obtainable

What could not be verified for jurisdictional reasons, and why.

08
Options

What is available next, by purpose: negotiation, litigation, regulatory filing.

PROCESS

How an engagement runs

STEP 01
Instruction and scope

We confirm the purpose and the subject, then agree scope, deliverable and turnaround.

STEP 02
Collection and first pass

Filings, audited statements and registry records for the subject and its counterparties are obtained in the original and screened for anomalies.

STEP 03
Analysis and interim report

Counterparty books are cross-read and records placed on one timeline. An interim report sets out progress and reasoning.

STEP 04
Delivery

The report is delivered in the agreed form, with advice on next steps where required.