Thorough screening
Who exactly am I doing business with? The answer to this question is important in the world of finance. It is up to consultants and attendants to find out more about the other party before a take-over or a merger. A thorough screening is the best way to achieve the required information. In actual practice, thorough screenings are only common in the USA and the UK. In most other countries screenings do not get enough attention. But wrong assessments may have serious consequences, especially for smaller agencies. The actual economic climate also leaves little room for such mistakes. One of our clients was prepared to tell us something more about his interests in a thorough screening.
Leon Archer, aged 45, has a corporate finance consultancy in London with twenty men staff; Archer Daniels Securities Ltd. Archer has been active in the world of finance since 1987. He started as a stockbroker and worked for Prudential Securities and Credit Suisse First Boston, among other companies. He owns an office in the City since halfway the nineties.
"Look, it is obvious", says Archer, "my company is off course a small business and we can not afford to make any mistakes. These are hard times for our line of business and since we rely entirely on our assignments it is important to check everything beforehand. The fact is that it is part of our procedure to screen possible business partners in England, but in the Netherlands this is not the case. Here they stick to the rule: ‘He is all right because I frequently play the odd 18 holes with him.’
My colleagues also want to know whom they do business with, of course, but just checking resumes and references is no longer sufficient. Something more is required in this time of public scandals involving fraud, money laundering and financial networks that might pose a threat to nations worldwide. Years ago I was confronted with a less serious case of fraud myself: We also do a lot of business in Italy. Like my colleagues I speak several languages, among which Italian, and we were asked to monitor a huge sale in Milan.
The Italian salesman gave me a magnificent list with references and a beautiful brochure, which included the names ‘Ernesto’ & Young and Morgan Stanley. In this particular case, one phone call was enough to set things straight: the man in question was unknown to Morgan Stanley. I soon realised, however, that this had been an obvious lie and that it would have been more difficult to find out about a more sophisticated and obscure lie. I simply do not have the expertise for that. So I opted for structural and professional screenings. First in England and recently also in the Netherlands, with Hoffmann Strategic Risk Management as our partner."
Structural and professional screenings have been part of the core business of Hoffmann for over 40 years now. We maintain a leading position in this line of business because we have always been thinking along with our clients and their changing needs. We conduct screenings for several purposes, among which are employment of new staff and the verification of customers. Hoffmann screening is a professional service that is highly valued by companies as Leon Archer’s, for which trustworthiness constitutes the key factor of their trade. After all, it is important to know whom you do business with.
Leon Archer, aged 45, has a corporate finance consultancy in London with twenty men staff; Archer Daniels Securities Ltd. Archer has been active in the world of finance since 1987. He started as a stockbroker and worked for Prudential Securities and Credit Suisse First Boston, among other companies. He owns an office in the City since halfway the nineties.
"Look, it is obvious", says Archer, "my company is off course a small business and we can not afford to make any mistakes. These are hard times for our line of business and since we rely entirely on our assignments it is important to check everything beforehand. The fact is that it is part of our procedure to screen possible business partners in England, but in the Netherlands this is not the case. Here they stick to the rule: ‘He is all right because I frequently play the odd 18 holes with him.’
My colleagues also want to know whom they do business with, of course, but just checking resumes and references is no longer sufficient. Something more is required in this time of public scandals involving fraud, money laundering and financial networks that might pose a threat to nations worldwide. Years ago I was confronted with a less serious case of fraud myself: We also do a lot of business in Italy. Like my colleagues I speak several languages, among which Italian, and we were asked to monitor a huge sale in Milan.
The Italian salesman gave me a magnificent list with references and a beautiful brochure, which included the names ‘Ernesto’ & Young and Morgan Stanley. In this particular case, one phone call was enough to set things straight: the man in question was unknown to Morgan Stanley. I soon realised, however, that this had been an obvious lie and that it would have been more difficult to find out about a more sophisticated and obscure lie. I simply do not have the expertise for that. So I opted for structural and professional screenings. First in England and recently also in the Netherlands, with Hoffmann Strategic Risk Management as our partner."
Structural and professional screenings have been part of the core business of Hoffmann for over 40 years now. We maintain a leading position in this line of business because we have always been thinking along with our clients and their changing needs. We conduct screenings for several purposes, among which are employment of new staff and the verification of customers. Hoffmann screening is a professional service that is highly valued by companies as Leon Archer’s, for which trustworthiness constitutes the key factor of their trade. After all, it is important to know whom you do business with.
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