Featured - 4 items
External Fraud is on the rise
Fraud and corruption is one of the biggest and most damaging risks businesses face. The headlines are full of organisations both in the private and public sectors affected by fraud, irregularity or other wrongdoing – either as victim or accused. The impact can be substantial. Apart from financial losses, organisations face reputational damage, disbarment from tendering, penalties, etc.
We can help you to prepare and protect your company from fraud and corruption related regulatory, financial and reputational risks.
Corporate Fraud Investigations
When you’re facing an allegation, investigation or a crisis it’s crucial to get to the relevant facts as quickly as possible. But these events typically arise unexpectedly, often catching the organisation on the wrong foot. We are here to support you at every stage, from detecting, identifying, extracting and analysing pertinent data, in order to mitigate potential future wrongdoings.
In particular, we:
- Investigate the nature and extent of any alleged fraud, irregularity or breach of duty and any associated losses from the post room to the board room.
- Investigate mobbing and harassment allegations acting promptly to manage and settle disruptive workplace complaints with the involvement of our legal experts. Make informed decisions to manage the risk and minimise potential collateral damage (e.g. reputational damage).
- Identify and quantify any accounting misstatements and advise on changes to accounting or disclosure.
- Use evidence from the investigation, as well as publicly available sources. We can evaluate the viability of third parties as targets for recovery actions.
- Help in providing the appropriate response to legal authorities.
- Produce factual and/or expert reports (also for use in legal proceedings) and other analyses in support of recovery actions.
- Identify potential recoveries from others less directly involved in the fraud.
Anti-bribery & corruption – ABC
No business is immune to corruption, whether it’s deliberate or unintentional. PwC’s Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2020 established that 24% of global companies reported having been victims of bribery or corruption. Third parties represent the most significant bribery, corruption and sanctions risk for organisations. Whether you are considering a merger, an acquisition or have a supply chain that’s heavily dependent on third parties, it’s essential to understand exactly who you’re doing business with. Our anti-corruption professionals have relevant experience, knowledge and global reach.
In particular, we:
- Help our clients understand and respond to anti-corruption compliance in all its phases, even when their businesses span many jurisdictions and are governed by different regulators.
- Help companies investigate alleged acts of corruption as well as design, implement, evaluate and monitor anti-corruption programmes.
- Advise you in building and implementing a compliance programme, responding to allegations or remediating in connection with a bribery or corruption incident in order for you to focus on safeguarding your business, reputation and finances.
Asset Tracing & Recovery
The 11th Congress of the UN on Crime Prevention concluded that asset tracing is an effective measure against criminal activity. In case of fraud, corruption, as well as arbitration and divorce cases, clients often suffer from the loss of assets or those intentionally hidden. We use our advanced tools and methods to help clients track misappropriated or hidden assets and the status of their debtors` assets. In doing so we identify assets that could be subject to recovery on a worldwide basis. Solving the fraud doesn’t always mean recovering the money.
In particular, we offer targeted research of worldwide asset registers and fund flow to:
- Identify assets in suspected fraud or asset misappropriation cases
- Enforce international arbitration awards and court orders
- Recover assets which may be held as security or guarantee for loans
Protect your employees from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment
It is every employer’s obligation to protect their employees from sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment and to create a safe, inclusive, gender-equal, and welcoming workplace.
“Together with you, we evaluate the effectivness of the overall advice and reporting mechanism and review your policies and align them with international standards.”
Your benefits
We work alongside in-house and external counsel, carry out internal or regulator-mandated investigations, and frequently support audit teams to assist them in understanding red flags and issues that occur during their work. Our support - amongst others - typically includes:
Forensic technology
Using cutting-edge forensic technology to extract and process relevant data from electronic and other sources, including high volumes of transactional data.
Data analytical methods
Applying innovative data analytical methods aimed at identifying patterns as well as assess documents and other sources.
Remediation
Issuing a remediation plan, including a factual report or presentation for the regulator or any other relevant stakeholders, if necessary.
Interviews
Conducting formal interviews as well as information-gathering meetings with targeted personnel, compliant with law enforcement/criminal evidence legislation depending on the relevant jurisdiction.
Monitoring
Support you with the design of preventative tools in order to enable you to monitor your internal processes and to identify irregularities within your accounting system at an early stage.
Experience
Offering experienced financial and non-financial investigators (20+ years of experience) with a wide range of skills including compliance specialists, lawyers & attorneys, bribery and corruption investigators, forensic accountants, intelligence analysts as well as former law enforcement staff.
“Our international investigations team has extensive experience working on a wide range of complex cross-border investigations in multiple jurisdictions as well as industries, including some of the most high-profile prominent cases ever conducted.”
Investigate – a PwC game
Play Investigate and you will experience a realistic simulation of a regulatory crisis. You will experience how an investigation unfolds in a time pressured environment, the decisions that need to be made along the way, and the sources of evidence at your disposal as you build your understanding of the case.
You will search e-mails, interview suspects, analyse data and make real time decisions to compile evidence and identify the suspects. When you submit your report you'll find out just how well your team performed!
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Case study
Seeking out fraud in a global business
Our client suspected irregularities at one of its global distributors. Using data analytics techniques, our team investigated, looking for indications of bribery, corruption or fraud. The results of this analysis informed our on-site visits, reducing the cost of the reviews. The resulting forensic report meant that the client eventually took legal action against the distributor, as well as a number of employees.
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Related content and services
Contact us
Partner, Forensic Services, TIS and Global Client Partner United Nations, PwC Switzerland
Tel: +41 58 792 17 63
Senior Manager, Forensic Services, PwC Switzerland
Tel: +41 58 792 97 30