Corporate investigation is a form of private investigation that focuses on the needs of corporations. Corporate investigations UK involves gathering information and evidence related to managing and mitigating risks to a corporation in the UK, both internal and external to it.
This type of investigation is usually undertaken at the behest the security function of a corporation which is responsible for managing risks, continuity of function and compliance.
A corporate investigator may be tasked with a wide range of briefs that can include determining facts related misuse of company data, illegal activities by staff members, embezzlement, misuse of the corporate computer network, possible liability faced by the corporation, fraud deterrence among others.
They are also often tasked with performing due diligence on business matters such as acquisitions and mergers to assess risks and to ensure transparency. In many cases this can involve performing background checks on the management team of the target merger or acquisition organisation and ensuring that there is no bribery or other malfeasance with which they are involved and that the organisation itself operates lawfully.
Within an organisation the corporate investigator is required to determine the facts about an issue identified by management and to provide evidence that may be used for a lawsuit, employee firing or other consequence of wrongdoing. Employee misconduct, for example, can involve harassment (whether sexual, physical or verbal), substance abuse or theft. This misconduct needs to be investigated thoroughly and impartially but also with discretion and tact so that normal business operations are not affected.
Employee time theft is often difficult to prove in today’s connected world. While they are their desks seemingly working, they could be on the web or using their smartphones to play games. It is the corporate investigator’s job to gather the required evidence for this, particularly for employees that spend the majority of their time outside the office and are therefore harder to monitor.
There are a wide range of other areas in which corporate investigations UK can be involved including specialised investigations that involve computer forensics. This involves a detailed process of recovering all information that exists (or existed) on a computer system or storage device for evidentiary purposes. This can include emails, deleted documents, information entered and deleted from software, financial transactions undertaken and website browsing information.
Since 2001 corporate and private investigations UK were overseen by the Security Industry Authority (SIA) that licensed private and corporate investigators. However due to cutbacks, the licensing function has been halted indefinitely.