Due Diligence for Auditors, Compliance Officers and Financial Professionals
Develop a Defensible, Evidence-Based Due Diligence Process
Due diligence is more than completing a checklist, ordering a background report, or confirming that a name does not appear on a sanctions list. It is a structured fact-finding process that helps decision-makers understand what they know, what they do not know, and what additional information must be obtained before accepting a risk.
Due Diligence for Auditors, Compliance Officers and Financial Professionals is an intensive, practical program designed to strengthen the way professionals plan, conduct, document, and communicate due diligence.
Led by international financial investigator and due-diligence authority L. Burke Files, the program teaches participants how to turn statements, representations, and assumptions into testable hypotheses. Participants will learn to locate relevant information, assess its reliability, identify inconsistencies, recognize potentially fatal flaws, and report the facts needed to support informed business decisions.
The program examines due diligence involving:
- Customers and counterparties
- Employees, executives, and professional credentials
- Suppliers, agents, and other third parties
- Investments, acquisitions, and business combinations
- Property, facilities, and physical operations
- Intellectual property and critical information
- Products, services, markets, and advertising claims
- Geographic, cultural, regulatory, and political risks
- Fraud, corruption, money laundering, sanctions, and organized crime
- Environmental obligations and potential liabilities
The International Due Diligence Organization defines due diligence as a situational investigation that applies a standard of care to create a comprehensive picture and support better-informed decisions. Its approach treats due diligence as an action and continuing process—not a static document or isolated event. Learn more about the IDDO approach.
IDDO Certification
This program supports the professional certification process offered by the International Due Diligence Organization. L. Burke Files will coordinate and process the applicable certification paperwork with IDDO.
Participants seeking certification must satisfy all applicable IDDO requirements, which may include membership, coursework, assessment, continuing education, annual renewal, and payment of certification-related fees. Attendance at the CCS program does not, by itself, guarantee that a professional credential will be awarded.
IDDO states that its individual certifications are maintained annually and require continuing education or an approved equivalent to remain in good standing. Review current IDDO certification information.
Who Should Attend?
This program is designed for:
- Internal and external auditors
- Fraud examiners and financial investigators
- Compliance and ethics professionals
- AML and financial crime professionals
- Corporate security and intelligence personnel
- Legal and regulatory professionals
- Bank and financial institution personnel
- Government investigators
- Procurement and third-party risk professionals
Benefits of Attending
After completing this program, participants should be better prepared to:
- Conduct due diligence as a disciplined and repeatable professional process.
- Distinguish due diligence from auditing, monitoring, screening, and regulatory box-checking.
- Apply an appropriate standard of care based on the risk and potential consequences.
- Challenge unsupported representations without making premature accusations.
- Recognize important facts that conventional databases and checklists may miss.
- Identify missing, unreliable, outdated, or contradictory information.
- Design more effective employee, customer, supplier, investment, and transaction reviews.
- Evaluate risks across the complete structure and operations of a business.
- Recognize financial crime, corruption, sanctions, and organized-crime warning signs.
- Determine when enhanced due diligence or outside expertise is required.
- Protect intellectual property and critical organizational information.
- Improve the quality and defensibility of due-diligence documentation.
- Communicate findings more clearly to executives, boards, audit committees, and clients.
- Help their organizations avoid preventable losses, regulatory problems, reputational damage, and unsuitable business relationships.
- Pursue the applicable professional certification offered by IDDO.
Strengthen your ability to investigate claims, recognize hidden risks, and support defensible business decisions. Register for Due Diligence for Auditors, Compliance Officers and Financial Professionals to learn directly from international due-diligence authority L. Burke Files, gain practical tools you can apply immediately, and pursue the applicable IDDO professional certification.
Details on Event Presentation
The sessions will be as follows:
Wednesday – 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Thursday - 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Offered in-person in various cites each month on Wesnesday-Thursday in two sessions.
NASBA Program Disclosure
Program Level of Understanding: Basic to Advanced
Prerequisites: None.
Advance Preparation: A number of documents will be provided in advance.
Delivery Format: On-site Training (Group-Live); Seminar (Seminar (Group Internet Based))
NASBA Field(s) of Study: Auditing
CPE Credits: 16, based on 50 minutes of instruction per hour
CPE Event Highlights
- Learn why due diligence should be treated as a continuing process rather than a checklist, report, or isolated event.
- Distinguish due diligence from financial statement audits, routine compliance reviews, and database screening.
- Convert expressed claims, implied claims, and required conditions into testable hypotheses.
- Apply a standard of care proportionate to the risk, position, transaction, and potential consequences.
- Determine the purpose, scope, budget, timetable, and intended users of a due-diligence engagement.
- Identify relevant information and recognize what important information may be missing.
- Evaluate primary, secondary, tertiary, and human intelligence sources.
- Assess information for reliability, relevance, completeness, age, context, and potential bias.
- Investigate customers, employees, executives, suppliers, agents, and transaction counterparties.
- Examine geographic, cultural, political, legal, regulatory, financial, and reputational risks.
- Recognize connections among due-diligence failures, fraud, corruption, money laundering, sanctions violations, and organized crime.
- Evaluate intellectual property, critical information, products, facilities, property, environmental obligations, and supply-chain vulnerabilities.
- Determine when internal resources are sufficient and when outside specialists are required.
- Develop practical questionnaires, research plans, information-feedback loops, and due-diligence toolkits.
- Communicate confirmations, contradictions, information gaps, and fatal flaws without unsupported accusations.
- Prepare concise, fact-based reports that help decision-makers make informed choices.
- Apply the concepts through practical exercises and case studies.
- Receive assistance with applicable IDDO certification paperwork.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this program, participants should be able to:
- Define due diligence and distinguish it from auditing, screening, and checklist-based reviews.
- Establish a risk-based standard of care and engagement scope.
- Convert representations and assumptions into testable hypotheses.
- Evaluate information and identify missing, conflicting, or unreliable evidence.
- Assess organizational and third-party risks and communicate findings in concise, defensible reports.
Key Issues on the Agenda
Understanding Due Diligence
- Due diligence as a continuing fact-finding process
- Informed decision-making, risk management, and failure prevention
- Why audits and checklists are not substitutes
- Professional skepticism and “trust but verify”
Developing and Testing Hypotheses
- Expressed, implied, and required representations
- Creating clear and testable hypotheses
- Identifying evidence that confirms or contradicts claims
- Documenting incomplete results and conclusions
Establishing the Standard of Care
- Matching scrutiny to risk and potential harm
- Routine, enhanced, and specialized due diligence
- Legal, financial, operational, and reputational considerations
- Identifying high-risk relationships and required expertise
Designing the Engagement
- Defining purpose, users, and scope
- Matching resources and procedures to risk
- Establishing budgets, priorities, and schedules
- Revising the inquiry as new facts emerge
Information Collection and Evaluation
- Public records, databases, documents, and interviews
- Information reliability, limitations, and timeliness
- Missing records, contradictions, and confirmation bias
- Independently testing material information
People and Backgrounds
- Education, employment, credentials, and licenses
- Employee and executive background investigations
- Position-specific scrutiny and potential harm
- Conflicts of interest and undisclosed relationships
Suppliers and Third Parties
- Identity, ownership, reputation, and sanctions risk
- Supplier concentration and supply-chain vulnerabilities
- Product quality, timeliness, and origin
- Agents, intermediaries, and access to critical information
Geography and the Business Environment
- Jurisdictional, political, economic, and regulatory conditions
- Resources, infrastructure, and geographic threats
- Legal domicile and actual location of management
- Backup operations and organizational environment
Property, Facilities, and Operations
- Ownership, title, liens, and restrictions
- Property history, zoning, and condition
- Facility suitability and operational capacity
- Maintenance and environmental risks
Intellectual Property and Critical Information
- Intellectual property ownership and protection
- Sensitive business and competitive information
- Operational security and loss of exclusivity
- Obsolescence, compromise, and valuation
Products, Services, and Markets
- Quality, market position, and customer concentration
- Costs, profitability, and production processes
- Marketing and advertising representations
- Sustainability and competitive risks
Environmental and Regulatory Exposure
- Emissions, waste, and disposal practices
- Permits, monitoring, and reporting
- Environmental responsibility and remediation
- Current and historical liabilities
Internal and External Resources
- Internal capabilities and independence
- Engagement frequency and complexity
- Subject-matter and geographic expertise
- Consultants, investigators, and regulatory requirements
Reporting the Results
- Separating facts from opinions
- Reporting confirmations, contradictions, and information gaps
- Communicating significant and potentially fatal flaws
- Tailoring reports and supporting follow-up questions
Summary of the Subject Matter
Due Diligence for Auditors, Compliance Officers and Financial Professionals provides a structured approach for investigating the people, organizations, assets, operations, and risks behind important decisions.
Participants learn to treat due diligence as an independent fact-finding process—not a checklist, background report, or sanctions search. They will convert expressed and implied representations into testable hypotheses and determine whether available evidence supports or contradicts those claims.
The program addresses risks involving people, suppliers, property, facilities, intellectual property, products, services, marketing, and environmental exposure. Participants also learn to evaluate information for reliability, relevance, completeness, accuracy, and potential bias.
Practical exercises and case studies develop skills for defining scope, coordinating research, identifying information gaps, using specialists, and communicating defensible findings.
Distinguished Instructor
L. Burke Files is an international financial investigator, compliance authority, due-diligence expert, author, and educator. He has conducted or managed matters in more than 130 countries, including complex investigations involving billions of dollars.
Mr. Files heads Financial Examinations & Evaluations, Inc. and serves as President and Co-Founder of the International Due Diligence Organization. His background includes asset recovery, anti-money laundering, fraud, corruption, intellectual property, corporate finance, and international financial markets.
He is the award-winning author of Due Diligence for the Financial Professional. His practical instruction helps participants understand how compliance programs operate—and why they fail. He will also assist participants with the applicable certification paperwork.