Business intelligence is the act of looking beyond a company or an individual’s surface information to uncover real-world reputation, risks, and hidden assets. In the life cycle of a cross-border M&A transaction, this is crucial for spotting red flags, unmasking the real people behind complex corporate structures, and identifying realizable and recoverable assets should unfortunate disputes arise. To guide investors safely, intelligence gathering can be split into two distinct focuses: 

• Background check: Investigates the integrity and track records of key individuals and entities.
• Asset searches: Seeks to track down and verify the target's global asset holdings for recovery if that ends up being required.

Together, they give buyers the information needed to protect their capital before a deal closes or if a deal fails.

How Can Business Intelligence Help in Cross-Border M&A?

Cross-border investment faces unprecedented headwinds arising from information asymmetries, divergent regulatory regimes, and cultural differences.¹ Traditional due diligence often fails to penetrate the risk profiles of founders or key stakeholders, validate the commercial ecosystem, or uncover compliance or reputational risks. Left unaddressed, these blind spots may materially distort valuation.

To bridge these gaps, business intelligence serves as an essential strategic layer within cross-border M&A, delivering critical value across four key pillars:

• Assessment of key stakeholders:
  Due to information barriers in cross-border investments, traditional financial due diligence often fails to verify the reputational and compliance risks. Increasingly, investment failures are linked to the founders or key stakeholders’ reputational and compliance scandals, and undisclosed financial risks at the shareholder level (e.g., misuse of funds driven by personal financial issues). Background checks unmask these hidden vulnerabilities before capital is committed.
• Validation of the commercial ecosystem:
  A company is only as strong as its operational network. A background check enables verification of the authenticity of the target’s claimed partnerships, as well as the qualifications, scale, and financial strength of key customers and suppliers. This can help reduce the risk of investment failures arising from misrepresentation of revenue or systemic fraud.
• Strategic asset searches for post‑M&A dispute resolution:
  If a transaction devolves into litigation or arbitration, post-deal asset tracing becomes an integral part of an investor's enforcement process. A proper asset search not only enables precise identification of the counterparty’s assets and those of its affiliates but also allows for dynamic tracking of fund transfer routes and early anticipation of enforcement obstacles. Armed with such intelligence, parties involved can better assess the feasibility of enforcement and fine‑tune their strategies for litigation, arbitration, or settlement. This, in turn, can materially enhance the asset recovery rate and provide a solid last line of defence for legitimate rights and interests.

Conducting business intelligence during the life cycle of an M&A transaction allows investors to proactively identify reputation and operational risks and perform a systematic “look-through” analysis of the target’s assets and key stakeholders. This enhances the accuracy of valuation, deal structuring, overall decision-making, and risk mitigation.

How Do Organizations Conduct Proper Business Intelligence?

Conducting proper business intelligence requires moving past superficial public records to build a verifiable, multi-layered picture of a cross-border target. A successful investigation balances rigorous planning with careful execution, avoiding the trap of relying solely on automated online databases. To achieve this, the process is split into two distinct, sequential phases: first, establishing a rigorous search plan that accounts for local legal constraints and defines the operational scope; and second, executing that plan through a tactical combination of open-source research and discreet enquiries. Below are key considerations for a proper business intelligence exercise, including background check and asset search:

Planning

Before conducting business intelligence, whether it is for background knowledge or asset recovery, it is critical for parties involved in M&A, such as the acquirer, transaction counsel, and due diligence consultants, to establish a solid foundation, including but not limited to:

• Understanding legal restrictions: Is the search method permitted under local laws? Is the information accessible given privacy regulations?
• Gathering identifiers: What identification details can be collected? The more identifiers available, the greater the likelihood of uncovering information or assets.
• Mapping connections: Identify the relationships and associations of the target.
• Defining scope and resources: What is the budget, geographical scope, timeline, and methodology (open-source vs. discreet enquiries)?

Execution

Business intelligence execution can be broken down into two levels: Level 1 open-source search, and Level 2 discreet enquiries.

1. Open-source

• Corporate and background records: Corporate registry, stock exchange sites, and regulatory filings provide useful information on directorships, ultimate beneficial ownership, and published investments. The level of detail varies by jurisdiction, and some may require physical site visits.
• Key individual background information: Public identification records, education and professional sites, and certain identify verification forms map the target individuals' identities. Professional licensing boards and political exposure (PEP) databases help identify regulatory or sanctions risks.
• Real estate: Property searches can differ greatly from country to country. For example, onshore attorneys must present formal legal filing documents in person to city level bureaus to obtain property ownership information in mainland China², while some jurisdictions offer online databases for property ownership search. Moreover, certain jurisdictions again require physical presence to the relevant office to obtain such records.
• Financial information: Bank/investment/crypto account related information is typically protected by privacy law and often court orders are required for disclosure or an account freeze.
• Legal records, reputation, and social media: Global and local litigation databases, court dockets, news outlets, and social media platforms expose past lawsuits, criminal records, reputational risks, and inadvertent links to asset ownership.
• Tangible assets: Maritime registries, public bidding records, and civil aviation registries offer useful insights into potential holdings of machinery, vessels, and aircraft.
• Intangible assets: Public databases can provide information on trademarks, patents, and other intellectual property which can carry significant asset value.

2. Discreet enquiries

In addition to open-source research, discreet enquiries can provide critical insight into the target’s background and their broader business networks. This human intelligence bridges information gaps by revealing lifestyle indicators, professional reputations, relationships with close associates, and potential asset locations that never appear in public registries. When applied properly, these localized enquiries can help to verify reputation, operational and financial standing, and uncover undisclosed conflicts of interest and potential hidden assets. While this type of intelligence is typically not directly admissible as courtroom evidence, it serves as a powerful investigative tool to reveal hidden information or potential leads for further investigation.

How is AI Used in Business Intelligence?

AI excels at data preparation, rapid target screening, and profile analysis. However, traditional research remains essential. In general, AI models cannot access critical, proprietary databases, or paid channels where high-value background and asset information resides. Furthermore, certain intelligence can only be gathered in person. A well-rounded business intelligence exercise should consider blending modern AI capabilities with time-tested, traditional investigative methods. 

Overcome Business Intelligence Challenges Through Global Expertise

Both background checks and asset searches can present significant structural and operational hurdles. Navigating fragmented jurisdictional databases, balancing strict regional data privacy laws, and reconciling the information asymmetry between onshore operations and offshore havens can severely stall execution. Furthermore, deploying specialized field teams to physically retrieve local records and make discreet enquiries demands significant local operational capacity. 

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors.

Read Past Raising the Bar Issues

1. Chen Huang, Tongbin Xu, Aoran Zhang, and Zhifang Zhang, “Balancing Risk and Reward: The Influence of FAS 123R on Cross-Border M&As,” The British Accounting Review (2026): 101919, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bar.2026.101919.
2. “Notice from the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources on Issuing the Measures for Querying Real Estate Registration Data in Guangzhou”, Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources, February 7, 2024