About Us
We advise a select group of top-tier clients working in challenging markets and dealing with complex transactions, disputes, and negotiations. Decades of work in commercial, advisory, investigative, and analytical contexts has given us deep regional and sectoral expertise.
We combine a wide range of approaches, including extensive fieldwork, a large network of high-quality contacts, and sophisticated investigative techniques.
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Working for risk and compliance teams at large financial institutions and corporates, boutique emerging markets investors, and hedge funds and private equity, we conduct in-depth due diligence on individuals and businesses before acquisitions, capital markets deals, joint ventures, onboarding, and other commercial transactions.
We identify signs of suspected financial wrongdoing such as fraud, corruption, and sanctions evasion. We review the track record, and probity of people and firms to identify reputational risks. We unravel sources of wealth and beneficial ownership to ensure compliance with the UKBA, FCPA, sanctions regimes, and other legislation, and pre-emptively identify future sanctions risk.
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We gather evidence and intelligence for litigators, arbitrators, in-house counsel, insolvency practitioners, and strategic communicators from pre-proceeding to enforcement stages. We investigate suspected wrongdoing, identify beneficial ownership, trace the assets, income streams, and ‘pressure points’ of recalcitrant debtors, locate defendants and witnesses, identify third-party debtors and creditors, and monitor opponents’ activity. We also act as expert witnesses.
We also work with parties and their lawyers to devise non-legal resolutions to complex local and cross-border litigation and arbitration, as well as problematic relations with host governments. We identify political, institutional, business, informal and other barriers to resolution, help clients understand the negotiating culture, and advise on advocacy options and conduits to key decision makers.
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We work with boards, senior leadership, and government affairs and geopolitical risk teams to identify risks and mitigate their impact. We advise on diverse issues, including government policy and engagement, crises such as expropriation, strategic risks such as geopolitics, advocacy areas such as decarbonisation and ESG, and competitor activities.
We identify and analyse host governments’ strategies, capabilities, and internal dynamics. We unearth the motivations and intentions of stakeholders, including their informal political and commercial relationships.
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We advise corporate strategy and business development teams on prospective and ongoing transactions. We anticipate risks emerging from government policy, key stakeholders, and competitor activities. We also screen for informal relationships that could lead to reputational and criminal exposure, or fraudulent or corrupt practices that create an uneven playing field.
We monitor threats to transactions expeditiously. We then work with our clients on methods of avoiding, mitigating, or transferring this risk. Our market experience also allows us to identify unexpected opportunities and potential counterparties.
Where we work
We are recognised experts in our chosen markets. All of our work has some link to Europe and Eurasia, including eastern Europe, Ukraine, Turkey, the Caucasus and Central Asia, Russia, Iran, Mongolia, and China. The multi-jurisdictional nature of our work means we are comfortable gathering evidence and intelligence to support our work in a wide range of American, European, Middle Eastern, and offshore markets.
We have also developed significant in-house expertise in energy, mining, banking and finance, nuclear fuel, transport and logistics, and infrastructure, and experience in key policy areas such as decarbonisation and energy transition, ESG, and digitalisation.
Our Team
At PRISM, our team is composed of dedicated professionals with diverse expertise, committed to providing unparalleled insight and support to our clients.
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Kate is an acknowledged political risk expert and corporate intelligence practitioner. She has worked continuously in Eurasia since the early 1990s. Kate assists clients by placing their business risks in a political context. She enjoys regular dialogue with an unrivalled network of influential policymakers, businesspeople, journalists, and commentators. Kate acts as an expert witness on a range of regional matters. Kate is an Associate Fellow at Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Programme, an advisor to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and is recognised by Chambers & Partners as one of the top political risk practitioners globally.
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Benjamin has more than 15 years of commercial experience in Central Asia, Ukraine, and Russia - including 9 years based in Kazakhstan and Russia. Between 2007 and 2016, Benjamin worked with exporters from Europe and North America seeking to access to regional markets, giving him extensive experience of government-business relations. In 2016, he moved into political risk consulting at a strategic analysis firm, where he covered the former Soviet region. He has a master’s degree in international development from Bristol University. He speaks Russian.
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(Investigations)
James leads evidence gathering and asset tracing matters in jurisdictions across Eurasia. James joined PRISM from a London-based boutique investigations firm and previously covered the former Soviet Union for a political risk consultancy in London. James has also collaborated with academics on a range of issues, including sanctions and the identification of Russian assets in Western jurisdictions. He has a master’s degree focussing on Eurasian-origin illicit finance from King’s College London, and speaks Russian, French, Italian, and Arabic.
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Olivia advises us on regional and investigative matters. She has more than 15 years’ experience carrying out complex, cross-border investigations and supporting integrity and governance at companies and international financial institutions. She was previously a senior managing director at a global investigations firm and a partner at KPMG, where she set up and led the firm’s Forensic practice in Kyiv. Olivia has repeatedly acted as an expert witness relating to anti-money laundering and financial crime in Ukraine. Olivia is an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and is recognised by Who’s Who Legal for her asset tracing expertise. She speaks Russian.
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Bryn researches Eurasia, specialising in the banking, mining, and energy sectors. Before joining PRISM, he worked at the Moscow office of a political risk and corporate intelligence firm focused on the former Soviet Union. Bryn is a graduate of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Oxford. Bryn speaks Russian, German, French, and Polish.
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Cécile has 10 years' experience supporting executives in the technology and intelligence industries. Cécile is a certified internal auditor and holds a bachelor’s degree in History and French from Royal Holloway University. She speaks French and Spanish.