We explain what can be checked before a transaction, how owners and connections are established, where a search for a person or assets begins and where the lawful limits of analytical work lie.
There is no news feed here and no general commentary. Each article answers a specific practical question and helps to understand what information is required for the next reasoned step.
What information a standard extract confirms, where it ends and when it is necessary to check owners, activities, related parties and the circumstances of a specific transaction.
7 min readBLACKFILE Editorial & Investigations Team
Open sources rarely provide a ready answer. Meaning appears once the subject has been identified, sources verified, connections compared and confirmed facts separated from assumptions.
The blog materials show the logic of this work through clear situations: before a partnership, a large payment, a search for a person, debt recovery, litigation or an assessment of personal risk.
A five-step diagram: question, source data, verification, discrepancies, decision. The discrepancies point is marked as the key one.
Companies, individuals, owners, authority to act, reputation and the circumstances of a transaction.
Asset tracing, debtor behaviour, related parties and preparation of materials for further action.
Lawful grounds for a search, source data, international situations and safe establishment of contact.
Digital exposure, reputational risks, data leaks and factors affecting a personal or corporate decision.
Formal registration answers the question of whether a company exists. For a decision on a payment or a partnership, what matters is understanding who controls it, how it operates and what circumstances may affect performance of obligations.
Eight levels of company verification: from registration status to a transaction risk map, with the limit of what can be concluded set out at each step.
22 min
Open the checklistFrom a standard extract to verification of owners, actual operations and circumstances capable of changing a decision before signing or payment.
7 min
Read about the check
CHECKS AND DUE DILIGENCE / 01How to separate a biography from records belonging to people with the same name, verify business history and stay within lawful limits.
6 min
Read about checking an individual
LOCATING PEOPLE / 03Who counts as a PEP, how a name match is distinguished from an identity match, where screening ends and a lawyer's work begins.
18 min
Read the analysis
LOCATING PEOPLE / 03Namesakes, inconsistencies in dates, concealed connections, bankruptcies, PEP status and deleted context: a system for assessing signals in which a conclusion is built on a combination of confirmations.
18 min
Read the analysis
CHECKS AND DUE DILIGENCE / 01Triggers for Enhanced Due Diligence: a complex structure, a high-risk jurisdiction, a PEP, an unusual payment and adverse information. How to choose the depth of work and avoid an automatic refusal.
18 min
Read the analysis
CHECKS AND DUE DILIGENCE / 01A method for reconstructing the ownership chain down to individuals: shareholdings, structures, voting rights, financing and the level of confirmation for each node.
19 min
Read about the method
DEBTS AND ASSETS / 02Why preparation begins before an open conflict and how a chronology of connections helps to understand the movement of assets.
7 min
Read about debtor behaviour
LOCATING PEOPLE / 03What determines how long a search takes: data, geography, availability of sources, the age of the trail and the person's consent to be contacted.
17 min
Read the analysis
Ethical protocol: verification of kinship and risk, work from open sources, a neutral message through an intermediary and the consent of the person found.
21 minOpen the analysis →
A search route across several countries: the legal gateway of each jurisdiction, restricted categories of data and secure delivery of a message.
22 minOpen the analysis →
Methodology for vetting a candidate for a critical role: authority profile, legal basis, confirmation of career history and a fair decision.
23 minOpen the methodology →
How to assess the public and professional risks of a candidate for a senior role without going beyond the limits of the position or the law.
21 minOpen the analysis →
Which discrepancies point to a gap between formal ownership, actual control and economic benefit.
What source data is required, how priorities are set and how an asset map differs from a list of property found.
Legitimate interest, checks on the client, the limits of the task and cases in which the search must be declined.
The minimum set of information, useful reference points and information that should not be sent through an ordinary form.
Public profiles, corporate connections, domains, data leaks and other elements that make up a person's digital exposure.
BF-005When the formal structure does not explain actual controlFormal ownership led to nominee holders. A check of connections separated the levels of confirmation and showed the actual centre of decision-making.What information is required for an initial assessment, what should not be sent immediately and when a secure channel is agreed.
Open the guideThe blog answers practical client questions. The Intelligence Center covers broader developments: sanctions, jurisdictions, corporate structures, digital assets, political and regional risks.
Describe the task in general terms. At the first stage, do not send documents, bank details, personal data or other sensitive materials.