Case Study
FTI Technology Supports Multi-Issue Investigation for Large Steel Industry Client in Spain
A large manufacturing company in Spain was under investigation by the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission. FTI Technology was engaged to conduct numerous workstreams that would help the client understand the facts of the matter and respond to the authorities.
Situation
The investigation spanned numerous potential issues and violations, including alleged price fixing, transactions in sanctioned countries and wrongful termination claims.
FTI Technology was appointed to carry out a due diligence exercise and investigate specific activities around each of the areas of concern. During this process, the company and its majority shareholding investment fund identified a series of potential irregularities across the business that could disrupt operations and compliance.
Our Role
FTI Technology’s digital forensics experts first conducted a data preservation and collection exercise to ensure all potentially relevant information was protected from unwanted and intentional deletion. The team’s extensive experience in the forensic acquisition of traditional, emerging and cloud-based data sources — including email, chat and accounting data — was critical in identifying and collecting the relevant documentation and facilitating efficient and timely legal review.
As part of the comprehensive due diligence process, FTI Technology led three concurrent workstreams to accelerate document review for the client’s legal counsel. This helped the client reduce overall costs and prepare responses for the three areas of investigation. The team provided:
- Interrogation of the data to determine whether the alleged price-fixing behaviour had occurred, and present the findings in a defensible manner to the competition authority.
- Determination of facts around the company’s business dealings with individuals and/or organisations in sanctioned countries.
- Investigation of company email and other communications to assess wrongful termination claims based on perceived irregularities in conduct between certain individuals.
- Documentation of workflows to ensure fulfilment of the regulator’s requirements and timelines.
Our Impact
FTI Technology helped the client understand the scope and scale of the issues under investigation, across sensitive, high-risk information, and deliver a complete response to the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission.
The team’s approach reduced costs for the clients by uncovering key evidence in response to wrongful termination claims, justifying the dismissal of employees who were involved in irregular conduct.
Creation and implementation of workflows and tools that reduced the dataset for review by 90%, further saving the client time and money in a complex matter.