References & Accomplishments
Our clients and business partners have our commitment that we maintain strict confidentiality at all times, starting right from the mandate agreement. For this reason, it may not always be possible to cite some of our clients by name.
Even so, some of our prestigious references are available to speak to reference seekers on a bilateral basis. We will be happy to provide contact details of the references to you, should you so wish.
Below is a small but significant palette of personal comments from equia’s business partners as well as a glimpse of selected services provided.
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ): FCPA Compliance Monitorship
In 2014, the FCPA unit of the U.S. DOJ, after an intensive selection process, chose equia, working in cooperation with the renowned Zurich attorney, Dr. Mark Livschitz, for the Compliance Monitorship of a German listed corporation. The selection of this partnership was, other than the impeccable reputations and long-term relevant experience of the two, based on the audit approach they presented to the DOJ.
The suggested approach would use minimal resources on the part of the Monitorship Team, which when compared to other FCPA monitorships, would also keep the costs for the company manageable. As far as known, Dr. Mark Livschitz and equia conducted the monitorship using one of the smallest teams for the carrying out of such a vast exercise.
MLAG and equia approached the monitorship in a totally different from the norm way. Rather than carry out a cumbersome and entire assessment of all business areas and transactions, they opted to do a multi-dimensional risk assessment of the concerned company. They evaluated the corporate governance and the compliance relevant process requirements that were already in place, but also included risks typical to specific business models and validated and extended these risks using targeted management interviews. This resulted in the identification of the specific business units, processes or national companies with a higher compliance risk. This made it easier to whittle down the list of companies and select those which mandated “field visits”, where test scoping, which were auditory in nature, were carried out. Thus, using limited effort, a representative test result was obtained, on the basis of which an efficient improvement in compliance could be achieved in the monitored group. All this at a fraction of the cost and resources usually associated and needed for such an exercise.
In December 2018, the monitorship came to a successful closure, when agreement was reached between the U.S. DOJ and the concerned company.
Internal Investigations
One of equia’s core competences constitutes in-house investigations into so-called forensic examinations, an area where, in recent years, they have conducted multiple internal investigations for both multinational corporations and SMEs.
equia staff are comprised of experts in their fields, who bring along enviable and extensive experience in internal investigations in industries as varied as automotive, construction, financial, food and defense. equia has not only investigated fraudulent transactions in the purchasing area, but also conducted internal investigations connected to embezzlement and obtaining orders through improper contributions to decision-makers. The recreating of so-called “schemes” for corrupt contributions, including the traceable preparation of financial flows and how they are presented in accounting was a standard part of these assignments.
Most of the mandates included the preparation and reviewing of correspondence and voluminous amounts of data (e-discovery) as part of the internal investigation. equia supported the clients by targetedly focusing on the analysis of the data to ensure efficiency, thereby always remaining cost conscious.
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ):
Swiss Bank Program
As part of the so-called Swiss Bank Program of the U.S. DOJ, equia conducted procedural and technical checks for several foreign banks in Switzerland on behalf of the independent examiner of an international law firm. The essence of the program was an opportunity for Swiss banks to manage potential criminal liability risks in the United States by fulfilling certain defined conditions.
equia’s main responsibility was validating the data integrity in the ERP system of the banks. Additionally, the quality of the KYC process and the client dossiers were also the focus of the investigation. The results were documented in an audit-safe way and made available to both the Independent Examiner and the contracting law firm.
The working results were used to categorize the banks into the pre-determined classifications for further legal processing of the requirements of the Swiss Bank Program.
Compliance Management System (CMS)
In the role of compliance consultant, equia has supported numerous companies in industries as varied as energy, construction, food and defense to build and further develop their CMS.
In the consultation process, equia offered advice and concrete suggestions on how to introduce respectively, improve compliance components such as third party management, the so-called third-party due diligence review and the associated due diligence process, or the effectiveness of the internal control system when it comes to adhering to compliance requirements.
And this is by no means an exhaustive list. equia has conducted compliance training and education for a host of organisations, tailoring the content of each one to perfectly suit the target group and presented in a practical way. The focus of such trainings and education has always been to present compliance requirements in the course of daily business and how to integrate possible alternatives into operative processes as well.
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