Corporate investigations

Octopus is the leading corporate intelligence firm.

We help assess commercial opportunities and risks, resolve disputes, and protect your reputation by collecting and analysing information. Creating insight isolates more certainty and signals of future opportunities and threats.

Our corporate intelligence is people-powered and supported by technology. Not the other way around. Each team member is a practitioner and is deeply involved in every project. And a common set of skills unites us. That’s the attention to detail, rigour, the ability to own a brief, and doing what it takes to find the most relevant information for you. The analysis of the information is second nature to ensure the best possible insight.

The truth can be hard to find. Some swear black is white. Others spin silk into gold. Everywhere there are hidden obstacles that prevent you from seeing the real picture. Bad apples need to be removed and protected against; even if you think you have a robust framework, there are still likely to be significant vulnerabilities.

Haemorrhaging money and not knowing where from or why is an all too familiar story. Proactive prevention and eliminating financial leaks is a far easier, cost-effective and beneficial way to improve cash flow than struggling to increase revenue or productivity.

We work globally on one-off assignments and ongoing projects for a wide variety of organisations, including multinationals, law firms, financial institutions, investors, and family offices.

We provide corporate intelligence to help you reach decisions. Our clients come to us when: 

• Looking at a new business relationship or commercial opportunity
• In a situation or part of the world where there is the potential for some kind of risk – be it political, reputational or regulatory
• When they need our support in their own internal inquiries or external dispute
• They need corroboration and insight into unknown territory or business opportunity
• Prevent and detect financial and reputational damage
• Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG)
• Know Your Customer (KYC) exposure
• They want to see the real picture and get to the bottom of the problems associated with financial leaks, fraud and business disputes

Whatever the brief, we build them into questions to answer, then use analysis, judgment, and experience to gather information, make sense of it and deliver it in a useful, meaningful way.

Who are you going to deal with?

Before any business decision and investment, we are able to dig around key players’ backgrounds. With our corporate investigations, we find the skeletons before they are moved into your closet. We help identify fraudulent practices to prevent significant financial & reputational loss. And you need the full picture before you can make the right decision associated with:

• Commercial opportunities
• Investments
• Background checking and Due Diligence

Investigations to prevent further financial and reputational damage

We keep you on the front foot by avoiding nasty surprises. Before it is too late, we will help you understand what’s happening and reveal what you could get yourself into. So you are forewarned, able to take precautions and sort things out should the sticky stuff hit the fan.

We are here for you to eliminate corrosive elements within your organisation and avoid commercial scandal and damage to your reputation. To achieve a successful and just outcome, any complex legal dispute – whether litigation or arbitration – needs intelligence and professional Corporate Investigations skills at its heart.

More than just a database search

It’s not just a database search, and off you go, happy. We try to understand the behavioural characteristics of individual decision-makers. And, in most cases, certain character idiosyncrasies do leave a footprint.

We go beyond box-ticking and spreadsheet diligence

We go beyond box-ticking and spreadsheet diligence, high-quality research backed up with access to local databases and leaks. We also can offer boots-on-the-ground investigations and site visits. Gaps in information can hinder justice. Also, we unearth evidence by speaking to the people who know what has happened and producing information on both the background and context of the dispute to help you present an effective case.