Knowledge & Insights
Risk management and due diligence insights, articles, reports, and resources
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EBOOKS & REPORTS:
eBook
A Beginner’s Guide to Background Checks in Operational Due Diligence
Before making any investment decisions, it’s essential to perform comprehensive operational due diligence to prevent organizations from financially devastating consequences. However, in today’s financial environment, operational due diligence needs to dig deeper than the standard checklist and include thorough background checks. The insights gained from a background check can give firms the confidence they need to make the most informed investment decisions.
eBook
Understanding the US Legal System’s Role in Due Diligence
When it comes to pre-investment due diligence, a basic understanding of the U.S. legal system can be invaluable, particularly in regard to background checks. In the event that a red flag appears on the legal section of a background check, you are better equipped to evaluate the result and gain better insight into a potential business partner or a C-suite executive.
Report
Intelligo Risk Barometer 2022
Pre-Investment Risks Indicators and Insights
Intelligo’s annual Risk Barometer analyzes and identifies the top pre-investment risks disclosed on the background checks we ran in the past year as a reference for future due diligence and analysis. The insights are based on data from thousands of background checks on individuals who were reviewed by Intelligo’s background intelligence technology and expert analysts.
eBook
Due Diligence in a new world –
AI and automation in the post-Covid era
The COVID pandemic has changed the professional landscape in many ways. In this report, we examine how those changes have impacted the the role of pre-investment due diligence how AI-based automation can streamline the process while increasing accuracy.
Report
Linkedin Lipstick –
Who’s Lying and How to Spot It
A LinkedIn presence has become essential. But when users can change their profiles at a whim, how much can we trust what we read? We used the latest in AI-powered background checking tools to review executive LinkedIn profiles, revealing just how reliable LinkedIn profiles can be in today’s world.
Report
Political Contributions – Their role in executive due diligence and why it matters
Political contributions are never far from the headlines. The implication that political influence can be bought is always sure to stir up a Twitter storm. In this report, we explore the trends in individual political donations, why it matters for executive management, and what red flags to watch out for.
WEBCASTS:
Webcast
Understanding the US Legal System
Legal nuances and their importance for investment decisions
We take a closer look at the U.S. judicial system and highlight the importance of its nuances in the context of your decision-making process. Intelligo’s senior analysts discuss various legal cases and demonstrate the importance of a proper analysis of background reports, from differences between federal and state-level cases to the most typical securities class actions.
Webcast
Top Pre-Investment Risks Disclosed
We analyze the top risks indicators and insights
Intelligo’s Co-founder and Chief Research Officer Dana Rakovsky joins Customer Success Manager Yishai Kurtz to discuss our latest report, the Intelligo Risk Barometer 2022. Our research analyzed and identified the top pre-investment risks disclosed on the background checks we ran in the past year in the “Intelligo Risk Barometer” as a reference for future due diligence and analysis.
CUSTOMER STORIES:
FROM THE BLOG:
Adverse Media: Why No News Is Good News
In the world we live in today, the media controls the narrative, and thus, public opinion relies significantly on media portrayal. As a result, any news regarding an individual or company that’s presented in a negative light can have serious reputational and financial implications. This is why it is essential for due diligence background checks to cover adverse media. However, while technology has made global news more accessible and readily available, it has also made it easier than ever for fake news to spread.
Executive Background Checks: What Are Execs Hiding?
Executive management and board members stand at the helm, steering a company towards success. However, given the power and responsibility of upper-level management, investors and board members need to be sure they are placing their trust and their capital in the right hands. But how can investors know if an executive candidate is telling the truth about their background? In this case, many firms are using executive background checks to provide the complete picture of any potential business partner or executive hire.
Understanding Operational Risks
Operational risks originate from the interaction of people, processes, and technology, both internal and external to an organization. Advances in technology have changed the nature of work, but companies remain driven by people, and people remain imperfect. Employees, customers, vendors, and service providers are all sources of risk within a changing regulatory framework under increased scrutiny. That being said, recent developments in AI-powered risk intelligence provide new tools for operational risk management. These tools can help anticipate threats and prevent long-term damage to an organization.
International Background Checks: Strategies for Global Due Diligence
With the advancement of the modern globalized economy, international background checks continue to grow both in prevalence and in importance. Given that investors often seek out foreign investment opportunities, ensuring complete transparency requires conducting pre-investment due diligence that includes an in-depth global background screening of a company and its executives.
Sanctions Against Russia: What Investors Must Know
The current Russia-Ukraine conflict has sent ripples throughout the global economy. With the U.S. and other Western countries imposing expansive sanctions against Russia, companies are on high alert to ensure that they are in full compliance with the recent announcement made by the U.S. and European governments. This has major repercussions on current and future investment opportunities, both for asset managers and asset owners. With these directives coming into effect, it is all the more important for these businesses to protect themselves and their high-stake ventures.
Background Check Software: Choosing the Best Tech for Your Operational Due Diligence
When considering the pace at which business deals progress today, investment opportunities require an in-depth analysis covering all possible red flags to be delivered as quickly as possible. As a result, investors and operational due diligence professionals have advanced to adopting background check software to generate accurate and reliable background checks faster than ever before.
Ethical Management: How Conduct at the Top Can Drag Companies to the Bottom
Top-level management often represents the face of a company. In today’s society, where public scrutiny and opinions spread like wildfire, the integrity of a firm is not only affected by the organization’s performance, but it is intrinsically linked to the ethics and reputations of its senior executives.
Corporate Scandals. What Happens When Executive Due Diligence is Overlooked
Executive management is the heart of any company. Their leadership dictates its present operations and steers the way into the future. But what happens when that leadership is flawed? We look at some of the recent biggest unethical corporate scandals and how they might have been avoided.
Due Diligence Screening: An (In)Expensive Solution That Reduces Risk and Increases Profit
High-end screening is a necessity, not a luxury, for people and organizations making investments, establishing partnerships, and hiring high-level executives. The reputational and financial risks of failing to know what you should have can be devastating.
The Power of AI in Business – Redefining Due Diligence
AI is redefining business practices and enabling firms to achieve their overarching goals. In the financial industry, due diligence is a prime example of a business activity in which the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning can help firms actualize their objectives of absolute efficiency. By reducing natural human errors, eliminating manual inaccuracies, and automating internal operations to increase productivity, AI is transforming due diligence and investment risk analysis norms.
Is White Collar Crime Inevitable? How to Protect Your Organization
Many companies have made significant investments in preventing corporate crime and fraud, and yet, 47% of executives surveyed reported that their company had experienced white collar crime in the past two years. With the problem so prevalent, what can be done to further prevent white collar crime?
What is Reputational Risk? How To Recognize It and Prevent It From Impacting Your Organization
Harm to a company’s reputation can have a significant overall financial impact. While other forms of risk are easier to identify and mitigate against, reputational risk can appear random and impossible to prevent. Recent developments in AI-powered risk intelligence are changing that and making preventing reputation increasingly possible.
Understanding and preventing corporate fraud. How to avoid investing in the next Theranos.
Getting caught by a company engaged in law-breaking or dishonest business practices has always been a risk in any investment opportunity. With high-profile cases such as Theranos still hitting the headlines, we ask what constitutes corporate fraud, how it is different from other forms of white-collar crime, and how you can reduce the risk of being duped.
How Confirmation Bias Affects Investment Decisions
Using personal judgment to conduct due diligence may not be the optimal way to make business decisions. Many psychological studies show how our decision-making capabilities are limited due to the biases that are inherent in human nature. While the phrase ‘“go with your gut” may have positive implications, in reality, it could be fueled by “confirmation bias” — with disastrous repercussions for investors and decision-makers.
Statutes, Screening, and Snapchat. A Look into How Social Media is Changing the Background Check Industry
The proliferation of social media into our daily lives comes as no surprise, and yet people who love to share what they’ve eaten for breakfast with the world are apprehensive about sharing what they post on social media with their prospective employers.
Background Check Trends From A Future Lense
While not much has principally changed in terms of employers being accountable for their employees’ actions, the future of due diligence seems to be taking some interesting twists and turns.
Beefing Up On Background Checks: Why So Many Companies Have Invested In The Screening Process
Globalization leads to a competitive talent search worldwide due to the borderless nature of employment, and companies have demonstrated an increase in demand to engage in the pre screening process. Protecting company reputation, making optimal business decisions, and ensuring employee and customer safety are among the top priorities for global brands looking to maintain their long term positions in the market. In 2018, for the 11th consecutive year, HireRight reported that the most popular types of background checks include employment, identity, criminal searches, and education verification.
The Cost of Employee Fraud (and How to Prevent It)
According to StatisticBrain research institute, employee theft is a crime that costs U.S. businesses $50 billion annually. On a global scale, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners reported that the median loss to businesses due to employee and executive fraud is $145,000- or an aggregated $3.7 trillion annually. More specifically, a study by global specialist insurer Hiscox found that the financial services sector had the highest level of losses due to employment fraud across all industries. In 2016 losses were over $120 million. How can these alarming figures be avoided to prevent future devastating losses to businesses?
Fiction Or Fact: Debunking the Top Myths About Due Diligence
Although the due diligence and background check sectors seem to be particularly straightforward in operations (find out all you can about a candidate, use that information to make a go/no go hire or investment decision), there are many more intricacies and complexities than meet the eye. With the continuous dynamic changes in political, technological, legal, cultural, and essentially all realms of society, information overload is inescapable.
The Divided States of America. A look into the complexities of FCRA pre-hiring regulations across America
Selecting a new employee to join a company is no easy feat for a hiring manager. In this overly pressurized, highly competitive marketplace, managers are under intense scrutiny to ensure that they hire top talent individuals from the marketplace. Moreover, managers in the U.S. face a network of intricate and overwhelming complexities when it comes to hiring laws and regulations. While it may be called the United States (emphasis on the United), most states are quite divided about their policies toward conducting background checks and pre screening hiring procedures. Let’s examine some of those differences and see how they affect the due diligence process.