A syndicate of lenders, acting through their US trustee bank, needed an asset picture of an Indian-connected industrial group whose obligations had soured. Before a syndicate decides how hard to press, and in which forum, it needs to know what is actually reachable: which assets exist, where they sit, and how they are held.
“The group's entities and their holdings were worked through corporate and property records, and cross-holdings and transfers followed.”
The engagement, carried out during my tenure at a global investigations firm, ran as a creditor-side trace: the group's entities and their holdings worked through corporate and property records, cross-holdings and transfers followed, and the results reported to the trustee for the syndicate's decision-making.
Creditor instructions have their own requirements. The work has to stand without the debtor’s cooperation, and it has to separate what is documented from what is only asserted, because it may support demands and filings. It also has to leave the client’s options open, since the same trace can support a negotiation or proceedings, depending on what it finds. I do the same kind of recovery due diligence now for creditors, funders and enforcement counsel.