Brasidas Group is a global strategic intelligence and risk advisory firm established in 2007 with headquarters near Zurich, Switzerland, and affiliate offices in New Jersey, US, and Belgrade, Serbia.

We offer premium, bespoke business intelligence services based on tenets of discretion, reliability, veracity, and timeliness.  As a global risk advisory partner, our aim is to identify tomorrow’s international headlines today and deliver actionable information that makes a difference.

We leverage our extensive on-the-ground network, latest technology enablers, and deep subject matter experts to provide strategic insight, enabling clients to make educated and timely decisions, take pre-emptive action, protect their assets, and seize new opportunities.

Our client base includes global corporations, financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, oil and gas conglomerates, high-net-worth individuals, wealth managers, and law firms in the private sector, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other geopolitical entities in the public sector.

Human and open source intelligence methodologies for the financial sector

Our human source intelligence (HUMINT) and open source intelligence (OSINT) collection methodologies combine to provide a well-rounded and corroborated perspective of an event, situation, company, or individual. Our analytic-driven approach combines intelligence obtained from a proprietary network of human sources that is cross-referenced with proprietary deep and dark web search tools and subscription-based databases and other open sources.

As a client-centric company, we offer customised and personalised services and develop innovative solutions to meet clients’ requirements.

Our key strengths include:

  • Discretion and confidentiality
  • Vetted proprietary contact network
  • Direct access to subject matter experts
  • Deep cultural awareness
  • Extensive emerging / frontier market access
  • Unbiased viewpoint
  • Customised detail-oriented investigations
  • Flexibility

Global information network

We maintain a global network of proprietary sources operating across various sectors such as commercial, industrial, financial, academic, journalism, law enforcement, governmental, and military. These sources undergo an internal vetting process before being integrated into our trusted contact network to provide actionable intelligence.

Our networks of experts and in-country teams are constantly refreshed and augmented in order to maintain access to critical targets and information.

Brasidas Group has completed more than 2,000 projects in over 90 countries, including:

  • Discreet due diligence in support of M&A activity in Angola, Israel, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Kuwait, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UK, Germany, the US, Brazil, and Argentina
  • Conflict of interest investigations in Russia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, China, Libya, Malaysia, the UK, the Netherlands, Italy and Switzerland
  • Know-your-consumer (KYC) inquiries for financial institutions in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Pakistan, Switzerland, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Libya, China, Thailand, Spain, and France
  • Corporate investigations in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Russia, UAE, Indonesia, China, Singapore, Turkey, the Netherlands and India
  • Market segment research / analysis in support of hedge funds and private equity in Serbia, Kuwait, Iran, the UAE, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, and Libya
  • Political and security risk assessments in Iraq, Lebanon, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, Morocco, Libya, Algeria, China, Russia, Ukraine, and Yemen
  • Industry landscaping research in Pakistan, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Ukraine, and the UAE
  • Opinion analysis and political scenario mapping in China, Colombia, Serbia, Qatar, Russia, Ukraine, Malaysia, and Iran
  • Cyber threat monitoring focusing on jihadi or criminal networks in Russia, Latvia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Iraq, Pakistan, Romania, China and Turkey

We monitor complex situations in challenging environments with keen business acumen, complete cultural sensitivity and awareness, as well as local immersion.

Business intelligence solutions for risk assessment applications

The implementation of global financial regulatory reform has advanced a great deal over the past years.  Most financial institutions have implemented policy reforms and regulations that will increase transparency in the markets, promote stability and support growth. In reality, the risks in today’s financial sector have grown despite the increase in regulatory oversight. The often, rudimentary box-ticking exercises carried out by many in-house compliance teams may overlook the more serious regulatory or criminal aspects of dubious business partners or investment opportunities.

Given how action actionable intelligence can help mitigate the potential pitfalls of doing business in the fast-paced financial arena, it is only natural that business intelligence and risk advisory firms such as Brasidas Group can assist in the decision-making process. This is done through conducting systematic and proven collection methodologies geared towards the objective in hand.

The broad categories of services provided by Brasidas Group to minimise client risks and maximise awareness are as follows:

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Compliance

  • Investigative due diligence
  • Source of wealth / AML investigations
  • KYC client onboarding
  • Reputational assessments
  • Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance investigations

Wealth Management and Risk Advisory

  • Competitive intelligence
  • Fraud investigations
  • Embezzlement, extortion, insider trading
  • Asset tracing
  • Proprietary hedge fund research
  • Market landscaping, entry and exit strategies
  • Industry-specific risk assessment
  • Crisis / terrorist / geopolitical risk assessments
  • Local vendor and partner validation

Internal and External Cyber Threat

  • Cyber threat monitoring
  • Cyber threat readiness

Previous case studies

A number of Brasidas Group’s previous projects include:

  • Russia: individual due diligence

A financial sector client was interested in on-boarding a new Russian customer; however, the client sought clarification of allegations of financial impropriety, which were addressed through discreet inquiries with local contacts and targeted open source research

  • Sierra Leone: corporate due diligence

Considering the general lack of reporting in Sierra Leone, a mining company was interested in an in-country understanding of the relationship between a major mining operation and the government, along with the reputation of the company in the eyes of other key stakeholders in the country (NGOs, labour business, foreign governments/embassies, etc.)

  • USA: real estate fraud

An ultra-high net worth individual was brought into a high stakes real estate development deal, which was later discovered to be a sophisticated scam. An investigation geared towards building a legal case against the perpetrator uncovered a network of serial scammers involved in numerous financial fraud, wash trades, misappropriations of funds and money laundering, and jihadist ties.  Findings of the investigation were used to prosecute the main perpetrator of the scam

  • UAE: litigation support and asset tracing

A law firm commissioned a project to track down a former hedge fund manager who absconded with funds. The subject was found and the assets in question were uncovered as being held in offshore jurisdictions under a corporate shell structure

  • Pakistan: political and security risk analysis

A multinational client exploring a business opportunity in the country requested an assessment of the near-term and mid-term political landscape to gauge the future stability of Pakistan

You can read more insight/analysis from Brasidas Group’s experts at the blog link under our Contact details, and if you wish to receive regular news and updates from Brasidas Group, you can subscribe using the Contact Us link.