Carratu International provides enhanced due diligence research for higher-risk relationships, transactions and appointments. Each brief identifies the material questions, the information already available and the reporting requirements of the client and their advisers.

Depending on the risk, EDD may need to examine beneficial ownership, control, source-of-funds or source-of-wealth context, political exposure, sanctions indicators and whether the commercial narrative is consistent with independent sources.

Typical briefs

Research can address a defined concern or contribute to a broader assessment. Relevant briefs include:

Complex or opaque ownership and control structures.
Politically exposed persons, sanctions exposure or higher-risk jurisdictions.
Material gaps between a stated business profile and the available public record.
Unusual source-of-funds or source-of-wealth explanations requiring contextual verification.
Significant transactions, appointments or relationships carrying heightened financial or reputational consequence.
Adverse information, litigation, insolvency or enforcement history that needs proper context rather than a database flag.

Ownership and control require context

The agreed scope can include ownership and control, connected interests and the commercial history relevant to the proposed relationship. Findings are presented in the context of the client’s brief, with supporting references and the status of unresolved points.

Carratu International can examine corporate structures, directors, persons with significant control, predecessor entities, connected companies and other available indicators to build a clearer picture of who appears to exercise influence and how the structure has developed.

EU beneficial ownership and privacy. Unrestricted public access to beneficial-ownership data has been curtailed following Court of Justice decisions, while EU rules continue to require ownership and control to be identified. For EU-linked briefs, that makes careful screening and multi-source corroboration more important: a register entry can be relevant evidence, but it should not automatically be treated as the whole ownership conclusion. Read the source-referenced analysis.

Source of funds and source of wealth

Where relevant to the instruction, research can help test whether an explanation of funds or wealth is consistent with the subject's known commercial history, assets, business interests and public profile. For regulated clients, this can support—but does not replace—their own customer due diligence, enhanced due diligence, sanctions or professional obligations.

What the report should answer

Who is the subject and who appears to own or control the relevant entities?
Does the available evidence support the stated business history and purpose?
Which risk indicators are material to the proposed decision?
What is established, what is only indicated, and what remains unresolved?
Which further questions or specialist checks would be proportionate?

Read about the scope and evidential principles of enhanced due diligence.

Risk-led, not allegation-led: adverse information and structural complexity are indicators for assessment, not proof of misconduct. Findings are reported with supporting sources, an assessment of confidence and any points requiring further verification.

Discuss a higher-risk relationship or transaction

Tell us what decision is being considered, what has already been verified and what is causing concern. We can then define a proportionate research scope around the unresolved risk.

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