PRACTICAL TIPS FOR OVERSEAS INVESTIGATIONS · practical tips for overseas investigations In...

©2014

PRACTICAL TIPS FOR OVERSEAS INVESTIGATIONS

In addition to being costly, successful overseas investigations require additional planning to

execute in a hostile environment without transgressing any laws. This session will address

practical and legal problems you may encounter, including document and digital data gathering;

interviewing using translators; resourcing local investigators and legal firms; and dealing with

potential violations of U.S. and UK bribery and corruption laws.

CHARLOTTE COCHRANE, CFE, CA, CII

Founder and Managing Director

CC & Associates, International Fraud & Compliance Consultants

Hong Kong

Charlotte Cochrane has more than 25 years of financial crime investigative experience, including

extensive fraud risk assessments. She has worked in the financial services industry and with

governments in Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia Pacific with many successful

investigations and prosecutions in local and worldwide jurisdictions. Whilst in the UK, she

worked for an international white-collar crime investigation consultancy before joining the

forensic accountants unit of the Crown Prosecution Service. In her 18 years with a large

international financial institution, she helped the compliance department develop whistleblowing

policies to comply with increasing international regulations and legislation, in addition to

investigating many whistleblowing complaints in Asia Pacific.

RONALD YU, J.D., LLM

Consultant

CC & Associates, International Fraud and Compliance Consultants

Hong Kong

Ron Yu is an author, a U.S. Patent Agent, general counsel, former digital forensics professional,

and conducts postgraduate classes on patent, intellectual property and information technology

law, and intellectual property strategy. He has published articles on online learning, digital

forensics, and intellectual property, and he has authored the Information Security and Forensics

Society’s publications on computer forensics and computer forensics best practices, the

book Intellectual Property for Business, and the Hong Kong chapter for the 3rd edition of the

book Electronic Evidence.

“Association of Certified Fraud Examiners,” “Certified Fraud Examiner,” “CFE,” “ACFE,” and the

ACFE Logo are trademarks owned by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Inc. The contents of

this paper may not be transmitted, re-published, modified, reproduced, distributed, copied, or sold without

the prior consent of the author.


2014 ACFE Asia-Pacific Fraud Conference ©2014 1

NOTES With the advent of the Dodd Frank Act in 2010, more and

more whistleblowers worldwide are standing up to be

counted. This is great news for Certified Fraud Examiners

who are now in even more demand to undertake corporate

fraud investigations, often in overseas subsidiaries of U.S.

corporations. These whistleblowers can be dissatisfied

clients or customers, unhappy lower management

employees, or unsuccessful bidders on purchase

contracts—or, as was recently reported by the International

New York Times, 5% of whistleblowers of Chinese

Government employees are disgruntled mistresses, also

known as the “little third” or “other woman.”

So what are some of the pitfalls you will encounter in an

overseas investigation?

Probably the most important tip for overseas investigations

is to make sure you have an accurate briefing of what

exactly is required of you before you start. Does

management want “to send a message” of zero fraud

tolerance or do they just want to know what is happening in

their Outer Mongolian subsidiary? How much will they

spend to put the perpetrators behind bar—or do they just

want to recoup their losses? The why is as key as the how.

Once you know why they want the investigation, the how

becomes easier. Major decisions like whether the

investigation will be covert (undercover) or overt (not

undercover) are crucial and need to be made up front with

senior management.

Determine what resources are needed and whether you

need to take them with you or find them locally. These

include translators, transcribers, local investigators, and

lawyers (with criminal and civil labor law knowledge) as



NOTES well as local IT support. You will most certainly need good

local legal advice on the ground.

I have seen many two-week investigations turn into four

weeks waiting on legal opinions on such things as:

Has the target signed a document allowing access to all

his work-related data?

What rights does the target have during the

investigation (e.g., rights to know how the investigation

is proceeding)?

Can we access his personal items (e.g., computer files,

filed documents, email, letters, invoices, appointment

books, etc.)?

Can digital or paper data travel across borders (i.e.,

does the digital data analysis need to be done in

country, or can it be done at an overseas location)?

My legal colleague, Ron Yu, will speak in more detail

about this later.

Before jumping on that plane (and I know that you really

cannot wait!) make sure you have done your desk research

before you leave. Research the laws of the country you are

going to before you go, so that you have at least some idea

of the legal principles operating there. Always make sure

what you plan to do is legal.

I once travelled to a European country to do a covert

investigation into a senior manager. Our first act was to

“clone” his company laptop, which he had conveniently left

in his office, which was unlocked. I had informed his

immediate supervisor, an American, the day before, about

the overnight cloning so when I came in the next day, after

two hours sleep, I was really upset to find out the target’s

immediate supervisor had told him that his computer had

been cloned. The senior manager then made all sorts of



NOTES threats against us saying that it was an illegal act in this

country, under data privacy laws, to do such a thing without

the consent of the computer’s owner. This was a criminal

act punishable by imprisonment, and ignorance of the law

was no defense.

On another occasion I was working on an investigation in a

Middle Eastern country when I upset one of the more

senior managers in the company (by asking him awkward

questions during a translated interview). He exacted his

revenge by getting a copy of my passport from immigration

(where he had friends) and noticed that I had entered the

country on a visitor’s visa, not a business visa, as required.

I had not had the time to get a business visa and had just

applied for a tourist visa on arrival. So he organized a posse

of people from immigration to come around to the office to

arrest me. Fortunately, I got wind of this arrangement and

grabbed my computer and the office printer, and fled to my

hotel room where I continued my work undisturbed.

Document Gathering

Document gathering offers a particular challenge in

overseas assignments, mostly because the documents are

unlikely to be in English. Therefore, when searching areas,

you have to make a judgment whether a particular

document is important or not. Even being able to read a few

Japanese, Korean, or Chinese characters can make a big

difference; otherwise, you will need to delegate that job to

a local who will need to be fully briefed on the exact

information for which you are looking.

In Mainland China there is a huge trade in fake fapiao

(invoices). It is usually possible to buy, for a small sum of

money, a genuine-looking invoice possibly reproduced on

reputable company paper with a genuine-looking chop,

(rubber stamp), including believable sequencing, dates,



NOTES names, and amounts—so be warned when looking at

Mainland China invoices.

As an investigating accountant, one needs to be aware of

what to expect in a genuine Mainland China invoice.

Generally, there are two types of fapiao—that is, general

invoices where the total is inclusive of sales tax and those

showing sales or value added tax (VAT) separately in the

total. These invoices are deductible for tax purposes and

scrutinized by the taxman. Both invoices will probably

have company chops on them, but, despite a very stiff

criminal penalty for creating forged chops, there are many

such forged chopped invoices out there. A sales tax or VAT

invoice is required to include a company tax number, an

address, a telephone number, and bank account

information, so this gives you several parameters to check

if this is genuine or not.

Spotting duplicates is difficult, so always check back with

the originating company. A good local investigator should

be able to guide you.

For valuable information sources, I personally find that

diaries, especially those containing appointments, are very

useful. Also name cards and phone numbers scribbled on

Post-Its can all be useful sources of information—and do

not forget a quick search of the rubbish or trash bins.

Often, it is important to analyze large amounts of computer

data to determine the scope of an investigation. This will

require local IT support, preferably someone with

knowledge of data analytics. This person should be selected

very carefully to ensure that he is not the perpetrator of the

fraud (or connected to the perpetrator) being investigated!

Transactional analysis can give you a population of targets



NOTES to work with (e.g., a list of people who have authorized

certain transactions on the computer system).

Local people with knowledge of the computer systems are

invaluable, especially in explaining the many different

ways that payments can be made by a company. A

background in accounting or auditing is very useful in such

a case.

Interviewing

Deciding to delegate to others the interviewing of key

targets is not easy. I prefer to discuss beforehand with the

translator (or local lawyers) what questions I would like

posed to the targets and in which order. Of course, this

makes it difficult to follow up immediately or circle back to

previous questions and answers, and the accuracy of the

translation is not measurable.

You could choose to use transcription, which is

subsequently translated, but this is extremely time intensive

and can get very expensive. However, for important

interviews with key people, this is the best way to go and

will result in a good interview capable of being used in a

courtroom. Again, chose your translator carefully,

preferably one who is locally registered and with court

experience if possible.

Using a translator during interview does give you the added

advantage of being able to read the target’s body language

at your leisure throughout the interview. However, do be

aware of anthropological traits and customs of the current

country where you are investigating, and study up on body

language before you go.

The local laws regarding taping conversations need to be

followed. If it is illegal, you cannot do it. It may be legal



NOTES but still not admissible in a court of law. Keep the

investigation legal.

Choosing a Local Lawyer or Legal Firm

When choosing a local lawyer or law firm, try to get word-

of-mouth recommendations. Most larger law firms in Asia

have American affiliates. This is a good place to start, but

check them out locally. They will be more expensive. Other

sources are law yearbooks, Internet listings, or

recommendations from other investigators.

Make sure you ask for specific legal skills as appropriate,

such as good labor law knowledge or experience in dealing

with labor union disputes, arbitration, litigation, criminal

law, or civil law. It really is a case of “You pays your

money and takes your choice.” Saving money by using a

small, inexperienced law firm may cost you more in the

end.

Sometimes you need to play hardball, especially in some

South American countries, where legal criminal cases can

drag on for years with poor results. Sometimes what you

really need is a good, hard negotiator to go to bat for you.

Often, this will give you a more satisfactory outcome, both

in monetary and time terms. I still have some criminal

cases in Europe and Argentina, from the late 1990s and

early 2000, running through the courts with no definite

outcome.

Choose legal help according to the country’s laws.

Remember, lawyers are expensive. Use them for legal

advice, not translation services, as this can get very pricey.

Choosing a Local Investigator

Again, personal recommendations are invaluable, but a

good place to start is the ACFE register of members, which



NOTES will give you a list of reliable investigators in each country.

Also the Council of International Investigators

(www.cii2.org) is a good source of international

investigative expertise.

Local investigators need to be briefed very carefully to give

you the best chance of discovering what you want to know.

They must be clear about what they can and cannot do. The

U.S. is one of the few countries in the world that actually

grants licenses to private investigators, so you need to rely

on the local investigator and local legal advice to keep the

investigation within the law.

The “turnaround” time of a job by local investigators is

key. They need to be given a deadline to stick to. It is no

use coming up with the “smoking gun” after the case is

closed.

Searches for Information on Overseas Shell Companies

This is a complex and expensive area of investigation. Most

local private investigators will not—or cannot—help, but

someone will know someone on the ground (in the British

Virgin Islands (BVIs), Isle of Man, Channel Islands, etc.)

who, for a large fee, might be able to pierce the corporate

privacy veil to reach the actual owners, and—rarely—the

assets, of such overseas entities.

My experience in these cases has only been successful

when I have actually fronted up and visited the local

financial regulator or commission of that overseas

jurisdiction or visited a local lawyer or accounting firm

involved in the case. Sometimes a whole case can be

“cracked open” by one visit and a lot of luck.

http://www.cii2.org/



NOTES Other Resources

One often-neglected resource overseas is local law

reinforcement. In some countries, it can be woefully

underfunded, like in one African country where we had to

supply telephones, computers, printers, transport, and food

to get them to help us.

Taking Information Overseas

Taking information overseas is an action that is now in a

tangled web of data privacy and other laws.

Be very careful when carrying computer hard drives cross

border. Not only may they contain “personal data,” which

cannot go cross border without the owner’s specific

permission, but they might also contain harmful or

unsuitable pornography.

The data privacy laws vary greatly country by country as

do those allowing pornography to go cross border. Despite

corporate policies, computer discs belonging to company

employees in many countries around the world contain

many gigabytes of pornography or other material that

would breach local morality laws. Customs officers can

confiscate such data if they feel it would harm the country

you are entering.

Bribery and Corruption Overseas

It is important to remember that business is conducted in

different ways in overseas countries. In Mainland China,

there is the prevalent concept of guanxi which is mandarin

for connections leading to a favor. Most business

transactions take place because there have been previous

guanxi between the parties involved. This guanxi would

have been built up over a period of time and would

probably have involved the exchange of gifts. The gifts

could have been fairly substantial and certainly way beyond



NOTES anything contemplated in the U.S. Foreign Corrupt

Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 and the UK Bribery Act

(BA) of 2012. Examples of such gifts are: valuable

artworks, antiques, overseas properties, education, or even

employment—in the U.S. or Europe—for their children.

However, in the current climate in Mainland China,

compliance people are looking at expensive moon cakes

and rice wine provided as gifts to government employees as

being unacceptable in terms of potential corruption

according to the PRC Central Communist Party.

During investigations, you will probably find yourself

explaining to the folks back home what really goes on in

overseas business transactions. It is not uncommon for

local businessmen to ask for a “training” trip to the U.S.,

preferably somewhere like Las Vegas. They would expect

to fly business class and stay in five-star accommodation

and to have sight-seeing tours and various forms of

entertainment provided to them. They would, of course, be

accompanied by their wives or other loved ones. Only after

this trip would they consider doing business with an

American company.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) has issued guidelines to

make U.S. companies overseas very much aware of what

they can and cannot give in the way of gifts or provide on

training trips. As an investigator you should certainly make

yourself aware of the provisions of the FCPA and how it

might relate to you when working overseas.

Just be aware that an American CFE and his wife were

recently jailed in Mainland China for allegedly breaking

local laws in obtaining information for GlaxoSmithKline to

try to prove corruption. The documents they obtained were

deemed to be “state secrets,” and they were jailed. My

colleague Ron Yu will deal with this in his section.



NOTES In Summary

For a successful investigation overseas, plan carefully,

especially in determining and choosing your resources very

carefully and, above all, obey the laws. Be well aware of

privacy laws when gathering and handling documents, and

when interviewing people, and be careful not to breach

local laws such as government State Security laws,

especially when examining potential bribery and corruption

violations.

Now, let me hand you over to my colleague, Ron Yu, who

will specifically address some of the legal aspects of

obtaining and handling digital data in overseas countries.

GO RON!

Ronald Yu, J.D., CFE

Getting the Digital Data

It’s quite obvious that to do any sort of e-discovery, you

need to successfully acquire the data—but an international

digital investigation presents its own set of additional

challenges.

When investigating internationally, it is helpful to have the

right software version with, for example, double-byte

character support for Asian languages, the proper character

sets installed on your computer if it is necessary to review

any foreign language content, and—if you don’t read the

local language—someone whom you trust to help you with

file names or other foreign language content.

But there are other critical matters that must not be

overlooked.

First, if multiple sites in different geographic locations are

involved, it is important to make realistic plans, starting



NOTES with locating the different sites on a map, keeping in mind

that two places that appear close together on a map may not

actually be physically close to one another in real life.

Also keep in mind that timely travel between these two

points may be difficult or even impossible because of

limited transport options, physical infrastructure, and

geographical or other barriers.

The time you are physically travelling is also important

because of potential weather-related delays (depending on

the month involved) and traffic jams (depending of the time

of day and the place).

Many overseas cities are famous for their traffic delays;

some literally shut down during typhoons, snow, or even

heavy dust storms. In October 2013, the Chinese city of

Harbin literally shut down because of air pollution. Do your

homework before visiting any overseas location.

Lastly, if your travel involves multiple countries, also

factor in the time it takes to get in and out of an airport, and

the time of the day when you can physically travel from the

airport.

Unless you have an international driving license and can

actually drive between sites, assume that you will need to

use some form of public transport. This presents other

practical challenges.

Firstly, because you will be carrying equipment that is not

insignificant in terms of size and weight, you will need to

pack light. That is, do not bring an excess of clothing or

other personal items, but at the same time do not skimp on

necessities.



NOTES I once encountered a manager who thought that because we

were travelling from a location in South Asia to one in

North Asia in the middle of February, what he was wearing

for one location was suitable for the other, because these

places both happened to be in the same time zone. This

would be akin to assuming that Maine and Florida are the

same temperature in winter, simply because they are on the

East Coast of the United States.

Thus, remember to bring appropriate clothing, travel

umbrellas, and any necessary medicines. Be prepared to

deal with stomach upset in unfamiliar locations. If in doubt

about, for example, the safety of the water, drink hot rather

than cold beverages.

The other reason to pack light is that you may not be able

to carry much onboard your flight, which of course will

affect the time needed to transit in and out of and through

airports. Although many international airports impose

restrictions on the size of a carry-on bag, many airplanes,

particularly those used on local domestic flights, lack the

physical shelf or bin space for even a medium-sized carry-

on.

Finally, with respect to airports, be aware that many

airports are notorious for flight delays, and getting from

one part of an airport to another is not always

straightforward—so do your homework before you travel

and incorporate contingencies in your planning.

Once you are out of the airport, you also must deal with

ground transport, typically taxis, which may be very small.

In some cities, for instance, taxis are smaller than your

average Honda Fit.



NOTES When travelling to different locations, ensure you have the

names of the sites, your hotel, etc., in the local language.

Make note of any local customs, religious beliefs, major

holidays, etc. Meals may be hard to come by in certain

places at certain times of the day because of religious

holidays, commercial laws, or other reasons.

Remember to bring the appropriate power adapters. You

may also need to know where you can buy electronic

equipment, in case your equipment breaks down or if the

equipment you brought is unusable for whatever reason.

Be aware that usage habits differ from place to place,

which may complicate investigations. For instance, in

China, many people do not use a company email (such as

[email protected]), but rather external providers (for

instance, 126.com or 163.com), and external social media

(such as sina.weibo) for their communications, business, or

otherwise.

Finally, remember that in an international environment you

must conduct yourself in accordance with local laws and

customs. Any investigator must be able to get around the

location he or she is working in, and in the case of women,

certain locations may pose special concerns because of

safety or other restrictions on their normal movements.

Part Two

Once you get physical access to the data, you then face a

problem of legal access; there are relevant privacy,

intellectual property, and state secrets laws—as well as

objections from overseas counsel, particularly if you are

working for an opposing side in litigation proceedings, all

of which can impact an investigation.

mailto:[email protected]



NOTES Though, as an investigator, you will not be asked to, nor

can you, provide legal opinions with respect to digital

forensics investigations unless you are qualified to do so, it

helps to understand the legal challenges you might face

when conducting an overseas search, imaging, and analysis.

Let’s start with evidence gathering: as you will be

conducting investigations, or at least capturing and imaging

data in a foreign jurisdiction, foreign—not American—

laws apply. In America, courts view discovery as an

instrument to “make a trial less a game of blind man’s bluff

and more a fair contest.”1

But in some other countries, not

only does the concept of American style-discovery not

exist, but some foreign counsel are downright hostile

toward it.

Overseas judges, legal professionals, and laws elsewhere

might not take as broad a view of discoverable information

as their American counterparts.

In Chinese litigation, for example, parties only need to

present sufficient evidence to support their claims; there is

no obligation to offer evidence to support the opponent’s

claims or defenses or any other adverse evidence. Though a

judge or arbitrators can order up a delivery of evidence,

obtaining it from the other side is not easy.

As many overseas counsel are often unfamiliar with

American-style discovery, they are frequently surprised and

unprepared for the breadth of discovery permitted in U.S.

litigation. Foreign management may also regard American-

style discovery as an invasion of the company’s private

operations and thus may be reluctant to comply with

1 United States v. Procter & Gamble Co., 356 U.S. 677, 682-83 (1958).



NOTES requests for internal company emails, digital files,

documents, or information containing confidential and

proprietary company information. They might view such

requests as a “fishing expedition,” asking for all the

evidence available in an attempt to find anything of

potential use.

In addition, overseas companies are often unaware of issues

of spoliation of evidence. For example, they may not

realize that that once the litigation has commenced, or is

even threatened, a company has an obligation to preserve

discoverable evidence.

Many overseas managers might order immediate deletion

of files or destruction of media, not realizing that if

documentary evidence is destroyed or lost after litigation is

threatened or commenced, the other side could use this as

proof that the party destroyed evidence unfavorable to its

case.

Even if management does not order immediate deletion of

electronic evidence, it might forget about, for example,

policies and automated procedures to delete email

messages and other electronic files that are more than one

to two years old, and—unless the company has issued

notice to everyone in the company to preserve electronic

data until the litigation is complete—important digital

evidence may be lost.

Thus, in conducting digital investigations abroad, it is

important that the relevant counsel—and relevant

management—understand the need to comply with

discovery requests and that undue or excessive delay could

have serious negative repercussions. They need to

understand that a company failing to comply with such

requests in a timely manner may face potential civil and



NOTES criminal sanctions and that an American court may draw

unfavorable inferences if, for instance, one side refuses or

is unable to produce a digital document or file that an

opposing side contends is important.

Yet there may be valid reasons for objecting to disclosure.

For example, if the requested information enjoys attorney-

client privilege, a party may object to disclosure on that

basis—nor is any work produced by an attorney in

preparation for trial discoverable. An opposing party would

likely argue, with some justification, that producing

information in violation of local law is unreasonable and

unduly burdensome.

Reconciling various conflicting aims might thus directly

impact your legal ability to collect digital information.

The scope and extent of your investigation might be

affected by which set of discovery rules apply. Under U.S.

law, parties may agree to discovery under either the Federal

Rules or the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of

Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or

Commercial Matters—more commonly known as the

Hague Service Convention—or diplomatic channels. If a

foreign party is within the U.S. court’s jurisdiction,

however, an American court may allow discovery to

proceed under the Federal Rules, which are faster and result

in broader disclosure of information than under the Hague

Service Convention.

However, the problem is that the former may be illegal

under foreign laws. For example, P.R.C. law only permits

U.S. litigants to obtain evidence from within China

pursuant to the Hague Service Convention or diplomatic

channels.2

2 See: Art. 261 of China’s Civil Procedure Law



NOTES On this basis alone, a foreign party would prefer to

discovery under the Hague Service Convention to avoid the

risk of disclosing information in violation of local law. The

practical implication is that the scope of your search may

be more restrictive under the Hague Service Convention.

But there are other laws that impose restrictions on foreign

companies and individuals in disclosing certain types of

information, such as state secrets, trade secrets, and private

personal information.

For example, the P.R.C. Law on Guarding State Secrets

prohibits a company or individual from disclosing

information considered to be a “state secret.” The problem

is that the definition of a “state secret” is subject to wide

interpretation.

Under Chinese law, state secrets are defined as “matters

that have a vital bearing on state security and national

interests and, as specified by legal procedure, are entrusted

to a limited number of people for a given period of time.”

Thus, a state secret could include any information relating

to state security and whose disclosure could harm state

security or interests in policy decisions on state affairs,

national defense, and the armed forces, diplomatic

activities, the economy, social development, foreign affairs,

criminal investigations, science and technology, and other

matters that are classified as state secrets by the relevant

department. Even information relating to internal policies

and procedures of a company may be considered state

secrets under P.R.C. law.

Consequently, many overseas individuals and companies

may be reluctant to grant access to data they perceive as

state secrets. If you recall the 2003 SARS epidemic, one

problem was the reluctance of Mainland officials and



NOTES health professionals to release data on the SARS epidemic

for fear they would release state secrets. Even today,

China’s Environment Ministry recently refused to publish

soil pollution figures on the grounds that they are a state

secret.3

Chinese companies involved in sensitive industries such as

telecommunications, banking, information technology,

energy, and natural resources are particularly at risk of

possessing state secrets, and overseas companies might

need to consult with relevant authorities to determine if any

of the information sought is or should be designated a state

secret.

You also need to consider laws protecting private personal

information.

A growing number of overseas jurisdictions have enacted

laws to restrict collection, use, and retention of personal

data. Most of these laws, such as Hong Kong’s Personal

Data (Privacy) Ordinance4 define personal data as any data

that directly or indirectly relates to a living individual

where one could, without much trouble, ascertain the

individual’s identity and that is in a form where the data

could be processed, again without much problem.

The implications of privacy laws are that:

There may be restrictions on what data you can collect

and how you handle the data.

3 Peter Ford, “Looking back on the SARS outbreak, China's response,”

The Christian Science Monitor, March 13, 2013,

www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20130313/looking-back-sars-

outbreak-chinas-response. 4 CAP. 486

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20130313/looking-back-sars-outbreak-chinas-response/

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20130313/looking-back-sars-outbreak-chinas-response/



NOTES Information that you might want to collect may be

deleted as part of a company’s or an ISP’s data privacy

obligations

There may be restrictions on the export of data. For

instance, Article 5.4.5 of Information Security

Technology, Guidelines for Personal Information

Protection Within Public and Commercial Services

Information Systems, states that:

“Absent express consent of the subject of the

personal information, or explicit legal or regulatory

permission, or absent the consent of the competent

authorities, the administrator of personal

information shall not transfer the personal

information to any overseas receiver of personal

information, including any individuals located

overseas or any organizations and institutions

registered overseas.”

Finally, there might be information relating to trade secrets

that might be owned by a third party, both of which may

not be disclosed without consent.

Trade secrets are defined as any valuable commercial

information that provides a business with an advantage

over competitors who do not have that information.

They can include inventions, ideas, or compilations of data,

such as useful formulae, plans, patterns, processes,

programs, tools, techniques, mechanisms, compounds, or

devices that are not generally known or readily

ascertainable by the public. Whatever type of information

is represented by a trade secret, a business must take

reasonable steps to safeguard it from disclosure.

As investigations become increasingly international,

overseas investigations will become more common. Yet,

such investigations present new set of logistical, legal, and

practical challenges—not to mention cultural norms you



NOTES will need to be aware of that we didn’t have the time to

cover.

When investigating overseas, never forget that you are

operating under a different set of rules and that a breach of

foreign laws can have serious consequences. But the

international opportunities are out there for those willing to

learn new rules, new skills, and new tricks. You need to do

your homework ahead of time, be flexible—and not over-

pack.

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