Is China’s Increased Investment Elevating Latin America’s Risk Profile?

Brian Ross, Associate Director, Forensic Risk Alliance, USA

Economic initiatives within the Latin America region over the past two decades have led to a dramatic increase in investment from China, particularly within critical industries such as energy, infrastructure, telecommunications and healthcare. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (’BRI”) and more recently the Covid-19 pandemic response have dramatically increased China’s influence in the region, overtaking that of the United States on a trade value basis. While this investment has helped advance certain economic objectives, the large influx of money has arguably increased an already elevated risk profile for companies operating in the region. Latin American has long struggled containing corruption, as evidenced by having some of largest corruption scandals in history occurring in the region. Add an infusion of business coming from China, a country with its own established record of corruption issues, into the mix, and it is unsurprising that issues are starting to emerge.

Brian Ross is an Associate Director at FRA with over 15 years of experience in professional services and industry roles. Brian specializes in Forensic Accounting and Corporate Compliance and has worked on matters involving bribery and corruption, revenue recognition, fraud and misconduct, regulatory compliance, and risk management. While at FRA, Brian has assisted a publicly traded company respond to an SEC Inquiry Letter and corresponding shareholder lawsuit related to allegations of channel stuffing and improper sales practices, and the corresponding impact to revenue recognition and earnings management. Additionally, Brian has supported an Independent Monitor appointed by the US Department of Justice in evaluating the third line of defense function at a multinational Financial Services company. Brian has assisted a global Medical Device company in remediating observations made by the company’s Independent Monitor which includes reviewing transactions across numerous countries, identifying policy violations and gaps, determining the root cause of each issue, and creating action plans to address the issues and prevent future violations. Brian has provided investigative services for clients for a variety of matters including allegations of FCPA violations, anti-competitive practices, accounting malpractice, and potential violations of the False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Statute, and Stark Law. Prior to joining FRA, Brian worked at Teva Pharmaceuticals in the Compliance Audit Group, where he conducted audits designed to assess compliance and fraud risk related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Anti-Kickback Statute, False Claims Act, antitrust laws, data privacy, and restricted promotional practices. Brian also worked at Vanguard in Internal Audit, where he managed audits in the Institutional Investor Group. Prior to these roles, Brian was a manager in KPMG’s Forensic practice where he coordinated and managed forensic investigations, risk assessments, control evaluations, and third party due diligence engagements. These engagements were completed on behalf of management, outside counsel, and audit committees of Fortune 500 companies in the pharmaceutical, retail, software, manufacturing, financial services, and higher-education industries. Brian is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in Pennsylvania and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). Brian has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy with a minor in Finance from Villanova University.

Forensic Risk Alliance has worked all over the world to solve complex forensic issues for multinational clients, FRA is an internationally recognized as specialists in multi-jurisdictional investigations. FRA prides itself on bringing a high level of confidence to clients facing serious issues by providing clear, robust, and candid advice that is trusted by clients, regulators, courts, and enforcement agencies. FRA frequently works at the direction of counsel on global matters including complex multi-year investigations, collecting data from numerous accounting and electronic sources, analyzing complex transactions and advising clients in response to regulatory inquiries and monitorships. Regulators they have dealt with include the US Department of Justice (DOJ), US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO), US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), as well as many other foreign regulatory authorities. While they possess financial and accounting skills in-house, we do not – unlike many of our competitors – offer traditional audit or accounting advice and are therefore largely conflict-free.