Accelerating EMEA regulatory risk, global trade turmoil, and divergent post-Brexit regulatory policies are driving client demand in Europe. Just for starters, the forthcoming National Security and Investment Act updates the UK’s approach to vetting foreign buyers and will subject broad swaths of companies and assets to unprecedented review. Meanwhile, legislation imposing far-ranging ESG diligence requirements across the value chain for enterprises established or operating in the European Union affects EU and non-EU countries and therefore has risk managers keen to access pressure-tested expertise.
Against this backdrop — and just ahead of the opening of our London office next month — we are delighted to announce the arrival of experienced operational risk, crisis management, investigations, and enhanced due diligence (EDD) executive Duncan Nott to our growing leadership team.
Welcoming Duncan Nott
Duncan has been helping multinational organizations manage risk for three decades. He joins IntegrityRisk from UBS AG, where he served as Global Head of Security. During his 14-year tenure with the Swiss bank, Duncan managed multiple high profile enhanced due diligence (EDD) projects across the capital markets, private wealth, and supply chain arenas, as well as led numerous complex and sensitive corporate investigations and major operational risk events.
Duncan will be spending time initially with the teams in the US and Asia-Pacific before formally opening our new London office in February 2022.
IntegrityRisk CEO Jim McWeeney commented, “I am very excited to welcome someone of Duncan’s caliber, experience and most important, integrity, to our executive team. I, and others on our team have known Duncan for many years and we feel fortunate to have him joining us to lead our EMEA operation based in London. Our clients will find Duncan to be a trusted advisor based on his extensive in-house and overall risk management experience.”
Duncan said, “Coming from the buy side, I’ve interacted with numerous global risk management firms. What always differentiated IntegrityRisk for me was the empathy for the client. They took the time to really listen, to understand the challenges, and to be flexible without compromising the underlying service. That culture of empathy comes from the top and it’s one I admire.”
Speaking about the future, Duncan added: “We have big plans for the region. We’re already looking at near-shoring options for an EMEA research facility and we fully expect to have these crystalized and actioned by the end of the second quarter. That capacity to be ‘always on’ is a key differentiator for us, both regionally and globally. It’s a clear commitment to our clients that we mean business.”
Meeting the Challenge of the Rapidly Shifting EMEA Risk Ecosystem
The breadth of new and forthcoming legislation in Europe — encompassing everything from unprecedented national-security focused transaction scrutiny and heightened investment reviews to mandatory human rights due diligence — is altering the contours of EMEA’s EDD, transaction diligence, investigative, and risk management landscape. We are committed to offering best-in-class support to clients and to stand alongside them as a trusted partner in navigating this unfamiliar terrain.
Feel free to reach out to Duncan and help us to welcome him aboard!