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Asset Tracing
Assets are rarely held where you would expect to find them.
They sit behind holding companies, in the names of family members and associates, and in jurisdictions where the registry cannot be searched by the name of a director.
Maddocks Insight traces assets across borders through corporate records, litigation and insolvency filings, property registers and media archives - working in local languages and from primary sources, including in jurisdictions where records are fragmented or poorly searchable.
A subject who looks asset-light in isolation often looks different once historic directorships, dissolved entities, connected parties and earlier ownership structures are examined.
When asset tracing is used
Asset tracing is relevant at several stages of a dispute, and often before one has begun.
- Before litigation - to assess whether there appears to be anything worth pursuing, map the subject's corporate and financial footprint, and identify the jurisdictions where enforcement may ultimately need to take place.
- During proceedings - where there are concerns that assets have been moved, or where disclosure has produced a new name, address or entity that can serve as a starting point for further research.
- After judgment or award - to identify assets and interests relevant to enforcement, and establish where they are located.
The same research supports fraud and misappropriation matters, insolvencies, and shareholder and commercial disputes where historic ownership, connected entities or outside business interests are in issue. Asset tracing forms part of our wider litigation support and investigations work, and is frequently instructed alongside both.
What we look for
- Corporate interests - current and historic directorships, shareholdings, beneficial ownership, subsidiaries and parent companies, and entities linked through common directors, shareholders, addresses or other identifiers.
- Real estate - property held directly or through corporate entities, including historic ownership. Accessibility varies sharply: specific properties can be checked relatively easily in many US states, the UK and the Netherlands, while Germany restricts access on privacy grounds.
- Litigation and insolvency records - frequently revealing assets, ownership relationships and connected parties that corporate filings alone do not show.
- Other assets - vehicles, yachts, aircraft, intellectual property, and high-value chattels such as jewellery and artwork. A photograph of a painting on a subject's wall is not proof of ownership, but it gives instructing lawyers something to pursue.
How an asset trace works
A trace usually begins with a single identifier: a name, an address, a business partner, a known shareholding. From there the research expands outwards - associated entities, directors and shareholders, ownership structures, historic filings - and often into further jurisdictions.
We do not rely on a single database. Findings are cross-referenced against primary records wherever they exist, and discrepancies between sources are examined rather than smoothed over.
The date of an incorporation, a share transfer or a change of director is sometimes the most significant fact in a trace, particularly where it sits close to a claim, a judgment or an insolvency.
Cross-border asset tracing
Asset tracing becomes multi-jurisdictional quickly. A company in one country may be owned by a shareholder in a second, beneath a holding company registered in a third, with the assets in a fourth and the relevant insolvency proceedings in a fifth.
Record quality varies enormously. Some registries publish detailed ownership information; others hold little, require local-language research, or make historic filings difficult to retrieve. Searchability varies too: Many official databases can be searched only by company name or registration number, but not by name of a director or shareholder.
We work directly with local-language and primary-source material rather than relying on English-language aggregators, across most of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, South and North America, and China.
Where public datasets are difficult to interrogate, our proprietary database services can make otherwise challenging records reverse-searchable (in Luxembourg and Belgium, for example). This allows us to start with the name of an individual and work outwards to the companies, directorships and filings connected to them.
What asset tracing cannot do
Not every asset is publicly discoverable. Private banking information in particular will generally not be available through open sources. An asset trace is not a guaranteed inventory of everything a subject owns. It identifies what can be identified from the sources available.
Knowing when to stop is part of the work. Not every lead justifies further expenditure, and judging which enquiries are likely to produce something useful is as much of the researcher's job as the searching itself.
Frequently asked questions
What is asset tracing?
Asset tracing is research to identify the assets and business interests connected to an individual or company, using corporate records, property registers, litigation and insolvency filings, media archives and other public sources. It establishes what a subject appears to own, how it is held and in which jurisdictions.
When should an asset trace begin?
An asset trace can begin before proceedings are issued, during litigation, or after a judgment or arbitral award has been secured. Starting early helps establish whether a claim is commercially viable and identifies enforcement obstacles before substantial costs are incurred.
Can assets held through companies, nominees or family members be identified?
Often, yes. Value is frequently held through holding companies, associates or family members rather than in the subject's own name. Historic directorships, shareholdings, shared addresses and earlier filings can reveal relationships that current corporate records do not show on their face.
Can you trace assets in jurisdictions with limited public records?
We research in local languages and from primary sources, and maintain proprietary databases that allow certain registries to be searched in ways the original public database does not permit. Some jurisdictions nevertheless publish very little, and we will say so at the outset rather than after the work has been done.
Do you work alongside external counsel and forensic accountants?
Yes. We regularly work alongside in-house teams, external counsel and, where appropriate, forensic accountants. We do not give legal advice. We provide the factual foundation on which legal and commercial decisions can be made.
Why Maddocks Insight?
Founded in 2011, Maddocks Insight is a boutique corporate-intelligence consultancy and being a small team means we can shape the research around the matter rather than forcing it into a standard template.
Our multilingual team combines deep language skills with international-affairs expertise, with particular experience of poorly searchable jurisdictions where earlier ownership structures have to be reconstructed from primary filings.
Our clients include Big Four accountancy firms, international law firms and specialist risk consultancies, many of which we support on a confidential, subcontracted basis. Assignments range from narrow, single-jurisdiction checks to multi-jurisdictional traces.
If you are weighing up an asset trace, we are happy to talk through the likely scope first, including whether the records available in the relevant jurisdictions are likely to repay the work. Please contact us to discuss a matter in confidence.
