Third party risk

Who are you really doing business with?

Organisations are constantly searching for new growth opportunities in global markets. But with a world of opportunity comes uncertainty. An increasingly complex network of third party relationships creates the potential for reputational and regulatory risk. Do you really know who you are doing business with?

We help you understand and mitigate the risk of working with third parties and choose business partners that enhance your brand, rather than risk damaging it. Our use of innovative technology, research and analytical techniques give you the confidence that your third party network meets your own high standards of integrity, and that the risk of financial and reputational damage are minimised.

The danger of the unknown

Third party relationships – with suppliers, distributors, intermediaries, logistics providers and customers – are the basis of a successful global business. But regulators are watching. A swathe of regulation, including the UK Bribery Act, the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Modern Slavery Act and anti-money laundering and sanctions screening requirements, exposes businesses to the risk of legal liability and significant remediation costs – not only from their own actions, but from those of third parties they deal with.

This legislation has made third party risk the most significant that multinationals businesses face. In reality, understanding the scale of the risks is a significant task:

What is your third party population and what are the different risks that they pose?
Are any third parties working with subcontractors without your knowledge?
Are you confident that every third party you work with has robust controls and meets all compliance requirements?
Do you know everything you need to know?

Whether you need us for a standalone project or for high-volume third party reviews, we will help you verify the information you hold, and find the information you don’t.

How we can help

Our third party risk capability draws on a wide range of skills and experience from across our global network. We can call on more than 180,000 industry and regulatory experts in 157 countries; our teams include multilingual anti-corruption and financial crime investigators, intelligence analysts with an understanding of specific sector risk. We work closely with our sustainability, climate change and cyber specialists. Using the latest innovative technology and machine learning techniques we can support your third party management, whatever your needs:

A risk-based approach – we will help you design, implement and test third party risk and compliance programmes across a wide range of risks, making use of cutting edge technology
Anti bribery and corruption and sanctions due diligence and screening – we help carry out efficient and detailed due diligence on third parties, and M&A transactions and identify ABC risk across the entire lifecycle of a deal.
High-volume – we use bespoke technology to carry out sanctions screening, due diligence and risk assessment of high volumes of third party relationships.
Real-time monitoring – our innovative tools allow for real-time monitoring of suppliers and other third parties, allowing you to always be on the front foot.
Third party audits – we will help you screen and risk assess suppliers and distributors including detailed due diligence, monitoring and on-site visits.

Case studies

Third Party Management

Our client, a global FMCG company, engaged us to support in rolling out a new third party code of conduct for distributors which covered bribery and corruption as well as broader sustainability risks. We designed and delivered an implementation framework including project plan, implementation guidance, training and communication materials, as well as running a pilot implementation in 3 territories.

Due diligence on a global scale

We have worked with a world-leading technology company since 2012, helping them design and execute a programme to risk assess and screen their complex, global third party network of suppliers, distributors and agents. Our public domain research is carried out in multiple languages, with a clear focus on identifying ‘red flags’ relating to possible bribery and corruption.