Navigating the complexities of financial investigations takes a high degree of expertise, 
particularly when illegal activity is suspected. Key to the process of identifying potential fraud is approaching such investigations with the utmost levels of integrity and neutrality, with no agenda but uncovering the truth. Kroll recently announced the appointment of Pamela Parizek as managing director and North American lead for Financial Investigations in its Business Intelligence and Investigations practice. Consulting recently caught up with Parizek to talk about the financial investigations landscape, the consulting opportunities in the current climate, and the biggest regulatory challenges clients are grappling with.
Consulting: How would you characterize the overall state of the financial investigations landscape?
Parizek: The landscape is competitive but there are tremendous opportunities for financial investigations professionals. By all accounts, there will be increased regulatory scrutiny and aggressive enforcement by the SEC, DOJ and other regulatory bodies. We already are seeing financial accounting and disclosure cases associated with COVID-19 and allegations of PPP fraud, and expect an increase in investigations and regulatory enforcement actions relating to alleged bribery and corruption, money laundering, and sanctions violations. With respect to financial fraud, we expect to see increased use of risk-based data analytics to identify anomalies, a continued focus on insider trading and trading practices, and increased scrutiny of financial services industry market participants, especially related to the adequacy of remediation of regulatory findings and compliance with cybersecurity requirements.
