Corporate Due Diligence Services

Corporate investigations and risk intelligence for confident decisions

ACK3 provides corporate due diligence and investigative intelligence for investments, M&A, partnerships, suppliers and high-risk third parties. Our specialists combine corporate records, beneficial ownership analysis, background checks, sanctions and litigation screening, reputational research and in-country intelligence to identify hidden risks before a decision is made. With international reach and experience in complex jurisdictions, we help organizations verify counterparties, understand exposure and move forward with greater confidence.

What is corporate due diligence?

Corporate due diligence is the structured investigation of a company, individual or third party before an investment, acquisition, partnership, transaction or commercial contract. It combines corporate records analysis, beneficial ownership checks, background screening, litigation and sanctions research, market intelligence and reputational risk assessment to determine whether a counterparty is legitimate, transparent and aligned with the information it has disclosed. Effective due diligence goes beyond verifying stated facts: it identifies hidden ownership structures, regulatory exposure, undisclosed litigation, conflicts of interest, reputational concerns and inconsistencies that could create financial, legal or operational risk.

Due Diligence

Why due diligence matters more than ever

The cost of a bad counterparty is rarely limited to the transaction itself. An undisclosed beneficial owner, an intermediary with a corruption record or a partner operating in a sanctioned supply chain can expose an organisation to regulatory enforcement, contractual loss, litigation across multiple jurisdictions and lasting reputational damage. In many markets, none of this appears in the documentation the counterparty provides — and none of it appears in a database screening either.

Effective due diligence closes that gap. It establishes who is really behind a company, how it actually operates, what it has been accused of, and what it stands to gain from the relationship it is proposing. Done before signature, it is a fraction of the cost of unwinding the consequences afterwards.

3 in 4
Foreign bribery cases involved payments through intermediaries or third parties
2/3
Of countries score below 50 on the global corruption perceptions index
20+
Jurisdictions currently under increased international AML monitoring
2–5%
Of global GDP estimated to be laundered through the financial system each year

International standards require organisations to look through corporate layers to the natural persons who ultimately own or control a legal entity. Formal registry information alone is not sufficient where ownership is structured through nominees, trusts or offshore vehicles.

— FATF standards on beneficial ownership and transparency of legal persons

The overwhelming majority of foreign bribery schemes are executed through agents, distributors, consultants and other intermediaries — making third-party due diligence the single most consequential control in an anti-corruption programme.

— OECD Foreign Bribery Report

Due diligence is expected to be risk-based, proportionate and ongoing. A verification carried out at onboarding and never revisited does not meet the standard where the risk profile of the relationship has materially changed.

— The Wolfsberg Group principles on financial crime risk management

What a rigorous due diligence process should cover

Risk Vector Criticality What It Reveals and Why It Matters
Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) Critical Traces control through holding companies, nominees and offshore vehicles to the natural persons who actually own the counterparty — and to anyone deliberately kept off the paperwork.
Sanctions exposure Critical Detects direct and indirect links to designated persons, entities, vessels, sectors or jurisdictions, including exposure through ownership and control thresholds.
Financial standing & solvency Critical Assesses filings, trading history, insolvency records and group indebtedness to establish whether the counterparty can actually perform the obligations it is assuming.
PEP & political exposure High Identifies political influence, family and associate networks, state connections and the bribery and conflict-of-interest exposure they generate.
Litigation & regulatory record High Surfaces civil and criminal proceedings, enforcement actions, arbitration history and patterns of contractual dispute across every relevant jurisdiction.
Adverse media & reputation High Analyses local and international coverage, including local-language sources, to identify allegations and investigations long before they reach official databases.
Jurisdictional risk High Evaluates corruption levels, judicial independence, registry reliability, AML maturity and the practical enforceability of contracts in the relevant country.
Source of wealth & funds High Tests whether declared wealth is consistent with a verifiable commercial history, particularly for ultra-high-net-worth individuals and investment counterparties.
Third-party & supply chain risk Medium-High Maps indirect exposure through agents, distributors, subcontractors and intermediaries — the route through which most corruption liability actually arrives.
ESG & human rights exposure Medium-High Identifies labour, environmental and community concerns attached to the counterparty, its projects or its supply chain, now a growing source of regulatory duty.

Choosing the right level of enquiry

Not every counterparty warrants the same depth of investigation, and applying the highest level indiscriminately is expensive without being safer. We recommend the level of enquiry after an initial risk assessment of the transaction, the jurisdiction and the profile involved.

Level Scope Typically Applied To
Standard due diligence Corporate verification, registry filings, shareholding, sanctions and PEP screening, litigation search and adverse media review from documentary and open sources. Routine onboarding, lower-value contracts and counterparties in transparent jurisdictions.
Enhanced due diligence (EDD) All of the above plus ownership tracing across jurisdictions, financial and litigation analysis in depth, local-language research, source-of-wealth verification and network mapping. High-risk profiles, offshore structures, PEP-linked counterparties and significant transactions.
Investigative due diligence Discreet in-country enquiries through vetted networks and human sources, providing operational context, market reputation and information that exists nowhere in writing. Complex and opaque markets, disputed facts, unresolved red flags and pre-litigation matters.
Ongoing monitoring Continuous review of ownership changes, sanctions designations, litigation, media and emerging risks throughout the life of the relationship. Long-term partnerships, portfolio companies, supplier frameworks and regulated relationships.

How we run a due diligence engagement

01 — Scoping and risk assessment

We establish what decision the report has to support, which subjects and jurisdictions are involved and what would constitute a deal-breaking finding. Scope, timeframe and fixed fee are agreed before any work begins.

02 — Documentary and corporate research

Corporate registries, regulatory filings, financial statements, insolvency and litigation records are collected across every relevant jurisdiction and cross-checked against what the counterparty has disclosed.

03 — Open-source intelligence and screening

Sanctions and PEP screening is combined with structured OSINT and local-language adverse media analysis, so that allegations and investigations are surfaced before they reach commercial databases.

04 — In-country enquiries

Where records are unreliable or the question cannot be answered from open sources, discreet enquiries are conducted through vetted local networks — without any approach that could compromise your position or the transaction.

05 — Analysis, grading and reporting

Findings are corroborated, graded for source reliability and separated clearly into confirmed facts, unresolved indications and matters requiring further work. The report opens with an executive summary and a risk assessment usable directly by boards, investment committees and counsel.

The failures we are most often asked to correct

Screening mistaken for due diligence. A clean database result confirms that a name does not appear on a list. In opaque jurisdictions, that is exactly what a well-structured problem looks like.

Ownership traced only to the first layer. Stopping at the registered shareholder — usually another company — leaves the actual controller unidentified and the regulatory obligation unmet.

English-only research in non-English markets. The allegation, the court filing and the press coverage that matter are frequently published only in the local language, and never translated.

Intermediaries left out of scope. Most enforcement exposure arrives through agents and distributors, yet they are routinely the least examined parties in the chain.

Onboarding treated as the end of the process. Ownership changes, designations are added and cases are opened after the contract is signed. Without monitoring, none of it is seen.

Who we work for

Our due diligence practice supports private equity funds and institutional investors assessing targets and co-investors; corporates entering new markets or appointing local partners, agents and distributors; law firms requiring investigative support for transactions, disputes and asset recovery; banks and regulated entities conducting enhanced due diligence on high-risk clients; and family offices and UHNW individuals verifying counterparties, advisers and investment opportunities before capital is committed.

THE ACK3® DUE DILIGENCE APPROACH

We combine documentary verification, financial and litigation analysis, open-source intelligence and discreet in-country enquiries conducted by professionals with a background in special mission support. Every finding is sourced, graded and assessed for what it means to your decision — never presented as inference dressed as fact. In complex and emerging markets, due diligence is not a compliance formality: it is the difference between a transaction you understand and one you have simply been told about.

What questions does a due diligence investigation answer?

A due diligence investigation is commissioned to resolve a specific question about a counterparty, not to produce a generic file. The enquiries below are those ACK3 resolves most frequently for private equity funds, corporates entering new markets, law firms and family offices — combining corporate registry research, open-source intelligence and discreet in-country enquiries across jurisdictions where documentary records are unreliable.

ACK3 Security Operations Centre in Madrid, where due diligence, beneficial ownership tracing and open-source intelligence analysis are conducted

WHAT OUR DUE DILIGENCE ANSWERS

› Fraud and misconduct. Contextual intelligence supporting investigations into alleged fraud or misappropriation of assets.

› Financial crime exposure. Tax evasion, sanctions breaches, terrorist financing, bribery and corruption allegations.

› Politically exposed persons (PEPs). Direct and indirect links, family and associate networks, and their consequences.

› Ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO). Control traced through nominees, trusts and layered offshore structures.

› Management integrity. Conduct and reputation of directors and shareholders, including undisclosed matters.

› Human rights and environmental risk. Concerns across operations, projects and supply chains.

› Source of wealth and funds. Verification of declarations made by ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

› Complex litigation. Status, exposure and enforceability across multiple jurisdictions.

All examples are anonymised. Client identities, jurisdictions and case details are never disclosed.

Why these questions cannot be answered by database screening alone

Database screening confirms whether a name appears on a list. It does not establish who controls a company through a nominee shareholder, whether a director’s reputation in the local market contradicts his filings, or why a supplier’s ownership changed three weeks before the tender. In jurisdictions where corporate registries are incomplete or actively misleading, a clean screening result is frequently what a well-structured problem looks like.

ACK3 resolves these questions by combining documentary verification, financial and litigation analysis, open-source intelligence and lawful in-country enquiries conducted through vetted local networks. Every finding is sourced, graded for reliability and separated into confirmed fact, unresolved indication and matter requiring further work.

Frequently asked questions about ACK3 Due Diligence services

What is due diligence and why does it matter?
Due diligence is the structured investigation carried out before committing to an investment, acquisition, partnership or contract. It verifies who stands behind a company, how it actually operates and what exposures are not visible in the documentation the counterparty has provided. Its value lies less in confirming what has been disclosed than in identifying what has been omitted: undisclosed ownership, litigation history, sanctions exposure, regulatory action or a track record that does not match the pitch. Conducted properly, it turns an uncertain decision into a priced, informed one.
What is the difference between due diligence and KYC?
KYC is the structured verification of a client’s identity and risk level, driven primarily by regulatory obligation. Due diligence is broader and investigative: it examines ownership structures, financial standing, litigation, business conduct and reputation, and it can extend to discreet enquiries on the ground where records are unreliable. KYC is normally one component of a wider due diligence effort, not a substitute for it.
What does ACK3’s due diligence service include?
Corporate and financial verification, ultimate beneficial ownership analysis, integrity and reputational assessment of companies and individuals, sanctions and PEP screening, litigation and regulatory record research, adverse media analysis in local languages, discreet in-country enquiries through vetted networks, and ongoing monitoring where the relationship is continuing. Scope is agreed case by case according to the decision at stake and the jurisdictions involved.
What are the different levels of due diligence?
Standard due diligence relies on documentary and open-source verification and is appropriate for routine, lower-risk counterparties. Enhanced due diligence (EDD) applies where the profile, jurisdiction or transaction value raises the risk: it involves deeper ownership tracing, litigation analysis, source-of-wealth verification and, where justified, human source enquiries. We recommend the level after an initial risk assessment rather than defaulting to the most expensive option.
How long does a due diligence report take?
A standard corporate and reputational check is typically delivered within a few working days. Enhanced due diligence involving multiple jurisdictions, offshore structures, local-language research or in-country enquiries requires longer, and the timeframe is agreed when the scope is defined. Where a deal deadline is fixed, we can prioritise a preliminary red-flag assessment first and complete the full report afterwards.
Which jurisdictions do you cover?
We operate internationally, with particular capability in markets where public records are limited, incomplete or unreliable and where verification requires local presence and established networks. In these environments database screening alone routinely returns a clean result on entities that are anything but, which is why our methodology combines open-source research with enquiries conducted on the ground.
Is the process confidential, and will the subject find out?
Yes. Enquiries are conducted discreetly and no approach is made that could compromise your position, the transaction or your relationship with the counterparty. Client identity is never disclosed to sources, and our engagements are governed by confidentiality undertakings from the outset.
Is due diligence legal, and how do you handle data protection?
Yes. Our enquiries rely on public records, licensed databases, open-source intelligence and lawful human enquiries. We do not use intrusive or unlawful collection methods. Personal data is processed in line with applicable data protection legislation, including the GDPR where it applies, on a defined lawful basis and limited to what the assessment requires.
Can you identify ultimate beneficial owners behind offshore structures?
This is one of the core reasons clients come to us. Where ownership is layered through holding companies, nominee arrangements or offshore vehicles, we trace control across the chain using corporate filings, litigation records, transactional footprints and local enquiries. Where a link cannot be established to an evidential standard, we say so and set out what is known, what is indicated and what remains unverified — rather than presenting inference as fact.
What does the final report look like?
Reports open with an executive summary and a clear risk assessment, followed by the detailed findings. Every finding is sourced and graded for reliability, red flags are distinguished from unconfirmed indications, and the implications for your decision are set out explicitly. The format is designed to be used directly by boards, investment committees, compliance functions and external counsel.
What happens if you find something concerning?
A red flag is not automatically a reason to walk away. We set out what has been found, how solid the evidence is and what it means in practical terms, so you can decide whether to withdraw, renegotiate, restructure the relationship or mitigate the exposure through contractual and monitoring safeguards. Where a finding requires deeper investigation, we will tell you what further work would resolve it and what it would involve.
How much does a due diligence report cost?
Cost depends on the level of enquiry, the number of subjects and the jurisdictions involved. We quote a fixed fee against an agreed scope before any work begins, so there are no open-ended charges. For recurring requirements — supplier onboarding, portfolio monitoring, periodic reviews — we can structure a framework agreement with pre-agreed unit pricing.

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