CRI Group™ Celebrates 32 Years
May 17th of 2022 marks the 32nd anniversary of the establishment of Corporate Research and Investigations (CRI Group™). Yay, for us! From the very beginning, the CRI Group™ has been dedicated to safeguarding organisations and helping businesses by establishing the legal compliance, financial viability and integrity levels of outside partners, suppliers and customers seeking affiliation. And we would like to thank all of you who have supported us over the last 32 years.
We were then, and continue to be, passionate about helping businesses fight bribery and corruption while promoting transparent business relations. CRI Group™ always stands ready to assist clients on every level and has achieved many significant accomplishments within the past year alone. From engaging in new partnerships, adding new clients to a new AML advisory service, and even opening two new offices, CRI Group™ has been busy expanding our reach to help more organisations prevent fraud, bribery, corruption, and other business risks.
Expanding the Global Reach With New Office Locations
In November 2021, CRI™ proudly announced the opening of its office in Turkey and, in February 2022, the opening of its Estonia office. Zafar Anjum, Group CEO at CRI™, said: “The ability to effectively pre-empt fraud and corruption by mitigating internal and external risks to prevent these issues can save corporations from immense potential losses and reputation damage. Our services such as DueDiligence360™, 3PRM™ and EmploySmart™ can significantly help organisations deal with bribery and corruption, third-party risk management, noncompliance with the regional and international regulatory framework and malpractice. CRI Group™’s expertise will enhance Turkey’s diverse pool of business support services.”
“Today’s business climate dictates an increasing demand of international business organisations for proactive measures designed to reduce bribery and corruption, particularly in the financial, government and multi-national business sectors,” Anjum further said. “CRI Group™’s worldwide network of multi-disciplined subject specialists and analysts, which now include Estonia, helps organisations prevent and deter bribery and corruption, third-party malfeasance, threats and corruption risks while ensuring our clients conform to the local and international regulatory framework. The establishment of our offices in Turkey gives us the platform to expand further and enhance the level of support we offer to the international business community.”
Dynamic New Industry Events, including our own ABAC Summit
In March, CRI Group™ was delighted to take its place at the Trade Winds, the largest annual U.S. government trade mission organised by the U.S. Commercial Service. Trade Winds was a great opportunity to have meaningful conversations with many of you. Our 3PRMTM solution address various specific areas, including conversations on how to protect your organisation from liability, business interruption and brand damage by partnering with the CRI Group™.
- Third-Party Integrity Due Diligence and Screening: ensures global compliance, provides adequate monitoring and protection against potential litigation;
- 3PRM Enhanced Background Checks: uncovers derogatory information within the public and private record resources through risk-based background checks, including investigative research into suppliers and individuals, ultimate-beneficial owners;
- ISO 37001 Anti-Bribery Management System: CRI Group™’s independent and accredited Certification Body can examine your Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption procedures and issue an accredited Certification; and
- ISO 37301 Compliance Management System: CRI Group™’s independent certification body helps companies worldwide to increase and measure their efforts against regulatory compliance risks.
This weekend, we attended FutureFest, Pakistan’s largest tech conference & Expo. CRI Group™ was able to talk with many of you about your goals and challenges in staying better protected from fraud and corruption. If you missed the event, don’t despair, CRI Group™ invites you to schedule a quick appointment with us to discuss how conducting due diligence and compliance can help you and your organisation. The role or size of the third party is not as important as the nature of the relationship they have with your business. Think of your third-party access to your sensitive data or your property!
After two years of having to put our ABAC summit on hold because of the pandemic, we are very excited to finally announce our “2022 Anti-bribery, anti-corruption (ABAC™) Summit.” In association with the Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption (ABAC™) Center of Excellence, our Summit embraces the theme of “Managing your Organisation Governance, Anti-bribery, Whistleblowing, Compliance & Risks Effectively.” This must-attend event for anyone working in anti-bribery and anti-corruption, due diligence, risk management, and anti-fraud such as CEOs, CFOs, Chief Legal Officers, Chief Compliance Officers, In-house Counsels, Compliance Managers, Lawyers and Auditors, Heads of Procurement and Other officers responsible for Compliance and Anti-Corruption. You can check out the full schedule here.
The ABAC Summit will bring together some of the greatest minds in the fight against corruption, with a lineup of expert speakers that share their experiences, knowledge and best practices with an attentive audience, including members from MACC, the Prime Minister of Malaysia Office and the U.S. Embassy in Malaysia. Intending to redefine the anti-bribery culture within organisations in the country, the conference and workshops bring together Foreign Consulates, high-profile enforcement authorities, faculty speakers, delegates from top 500 Forbes and public limited companies, and media in a single forum to discuss effective internal controls, ethics, compliance measures and best practices for preventing and detecting bribery within organisations. The event aims to provide guidance and training that enables business sectors to fight malpractices.
Finally, we are delighted to unveil our place at the 2022 ACC (Association of Corporate Counsel) annual conference as a sponsor and exhibitor. The ACC Annual Meeting at Las Vegas on October 23-26 is convened each year, emphasising law, legislature, training, and compliance associated topics in correlation to Third-Party Risk Management and ISO certification (ISO 37001 Anti-Bribery Management System and ISO 37301 Compliance Management System).
The ACC Annual Meeting is the world’s largest gathering of corporate counsel and will include more than 30 sessions led by industry-leading specialists and counsel. It is standard for the Exhibition Hall to be packed with industry affiliates and experts showcasing their goods and services and is an excellent prospect for you to educate yourself about the most recent industry manufactured goods and services that can be used to enrich your organisation’s stance on conducting due diligence and compliance. Every attendee is guaranteed to leave this conference equipped with significant data and resources to advance their corporate objectives.
If you are attending 2022 ACC, please come by and visit with us. CRI Group™ would love to talk about your goals and challenges in helping your company stay better protected from fraud and corruption.
New Webinars that Help Spread Knowledge About Bribery and Corruption Risks
With businesses continuing to turn to online learning opportunities, CRI™ hosted several webinars, including the upcoming “Compliance and Adequate Due Diligence for Third-Party Risk Managements” with the speaker, Samia El Kadiri, a renowned Consultant, Author and Trainer (6σGB | IRCA- QMS Lead Auditor | TOT | Auditor | Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption (ABAC™) Center of Excellence). A webinar on building a Culture of Compliance and Trust Through ISO 37301:2021 CMS: Compliance adequate Due Diligence for Third-Party Risk Management – corporate compliance program.
In February, our CEO was invited to speak at The Fraud Outlook 2022 Webinar hosted by the Fraud Advisory Panel. A webinar took a forward look at some of the current and emerging global fraud threats and what they mean for practitioners. It will provide a timely update on the current fraud landscape in Europe, the U.S., the Middle East and Asia, key insights into anticipated fraud trends over the next 12 to 18 months and the implications for counter fraud professionals and businesses.
New Anti-Money Laundering (AML) services
We launched new Anti-money laundering (AML) advisory services that help analyse systems and develop effective solutions that reduce your company’s risk of falling prey to employee, supplier or outside corporate and financial crimes. An effective AML framework is a testament to your organisation’s position against crime. Our unmatched investigative capabilities, worldwide presence and a long-standing reputation for independence and integrity make us uniquely qualified to resolve regulatory concerns.
Our vast Anti-Corruption and Compliance network provides the protection you need when making critical bottom-line decisions crucial to your organisation’s success. Leave it to experts. Ensure you have the 360-degrees analysis of your challenges – get in touch with the experienced CRI Group™’s AML team for a bespoke quote.
As a global business entity with a range of subsidiary partner operations that cross several distinct business sectors (including but not limited to telecommunication, financial services, petrochemicals, energy production/distribution, chemicals, fertilisers and food), your organisation needs to recognise that it is targeted by hostile entities seeking to take advantage of your market presence.
One of the critical challenges is corporate finance’s control and movement and ensuring that effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML Framework) procedures and practices are in place. Refusal to accept the risks and your organisation is openly exposed to:
- Corporate Fraud;
- Corruption;
- Exploitation from the theft of money & other assets.
You need to comply with national, regional, and international legislative frameworks such as:
- Section 453 of the 2017 Companies Act (Pakistan); and
- U.K.’s Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) 2000).
More fundamentally, money that is unknowingly, unwittingly or (in the case of fraud and corruption) even consciously ‘laundered’ through the organisation could ultimately support, finance and promote international terrorism and the drugs trade.
A money-laundering prevention program is an essential element among institutions’ measures to protect their operations and promote trust among their clients and partners. CRI Group™ works with clients to design, implement, and refine comprehensive AML policies and procedures and establish an overarching compliance strategy and culture, including firm-wide training on AML compliance that reflects the latest regulatory and enforcement trends and industry best practices.
As global corporate citizens aware of their responsibilities, any international organisation must comprehensively address these concerns and implement policies, procedures, and associated risk assessment mechanisms.
CRI Group™: A Brief History
Reflecting on the beginning of our company’s story, our CEO, Zafar I. Anjum, said: “While working on one insurance fraud case, I realised that whereas the justice system deals with most types of crime, fraud itself mandates investigation by an external specialist agency in fraud detection however such organisations were sorely lacking. In addition to a distinct lack of counter fraud education in the general population, which aided those committing fraud greatly. Even where individuals were aware that they were being defrauded, they lacked the knowledge of how to resolve disputes between themselves and the defrauder effectively”.
Mr Zafar Anjum raised the firm to a new level in 2006 when he incorporated the U.K. company in 2006, and Corporate Research and Investigations LLC DIFC was incorporated in 2008 in UAE. Today, CRI Group™ is a leader in employee background screening services, investigative due diligence, third-party risk management services and Anti-bribery Management Systems.
Today, the company is a global firm with experts and resources located in key regional marketplaces across the Asia Pacific, South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, North America and Europe. The company’s success and growth continue; CRI Group™ always stands ready to assist organisations and has achieved many significant accomplishments within the past year alone. From expanding service capabilities to launching podcasts and webinars every month, CRI Group™ has been busy helping businesses overcome risk management challenges. We collated a few of our achievements below.
Looking forward
Thank you for your past support, and we look forward to continuing to work with you. Check out our eBook of Why Partner with CRI Group™. CRI Group™ invites you to schedule a quick appointment with us to discuss how our risk management solutions can help you and your organisation.
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