Jacqui Record is a senior managing director at Ankura based in Dubai. She is a UK chartered accountant (fellow of the ICAEW) and has more than 30 years of broad forensic investigation and litigation experience mainly within the Big Four across the Middle East, UK, Europe, and Africa. As a forensic accountant, she has led large, high-profile forensic investigations globally and provided expert evidence numerous times in a wide variety of civil and criminal forums around the world.

What do you enjoy most about working as an asset recovery expert?

The main focus of my asset recovery work is detailed investigations. I enjoy piecing together the puzzle and working out what has happened. Often the biggest challenge is getting the information in the first place and using multiple sources and legal options can really make the difference to finding and securing assets.

How have frauds become more sophisticated over the past five years, and how do you think they could evolve in the near future?

Although frauds are aided by technology, most are still not that sophisticated and involve taking assets and then covering it up. The ability to move assets more easily across jurisdictions means that most work is now global.

What new technologies are helping asset recovery specialists?

The increasingly sophisticated data tools allow vast amounts of data to be considered more easily when investigating fraud. There is also an increasing amount of specific asset-tracing data available. However, there still needs to be hands-on experience of just what can be obtained in each jurisdiction and what are the best routes to getting it.

What is the most challenging aspect about working on cross-border asset recovery cases?

Dealing with the intricacies of each system to get the data as well as following the sometimes small clues to piece together the links between companies and individuals. Being able to work in multiple languages is useful. In the Middle East, often some of the most useful information is in Arabic rather than English.

How do you establish a detailed understanding of a client’s business to advise them effectively?

This varies from client to client and the individual situation each client is facing. The most important thing is to work out the facts whether internally or externally as often there is a lot of emotion and conjecture at the beginning of any matter. We need to assist the client to be realistic about what can be achieved, where the fraud is happening and at what level. We may need to deal with political or business realities on the ground to help work out the best approach.

What role do you see third-party funding playing in asset recovery litigation moving forward?

Corporates are more and more looking at having a portfolio of managed litigation. The key point for litigation funders is that there are assets to recover against and therefore asset tracing is often one of the early steps for a litigation funder.

As senior managing director at Ankura, how would you like to see your practice develop over the next five years?

Business is increasingly global and therefore it is necessary for businesses to be able to operate and recover assets globally. Firms and their advisors need to be connected globally to achieve this. Our investigation, technology, dispute and asset-tracing teams are globally connected across our various regions. As we grow, this interconnection is expanding. Deep practical experience is also key to being able to investigate and locate assets in the multiple jurisdictions we operate, it is no longer appropriate to rely on low-level desk-led skills only. Experience can fast-track and provide a much more effective asset-tracing solution. Therefore, our focus in the next five years is to grow a deeply experienced, globally-connected team.

What advice would you give to younger practitioners hoping to one day be in your position?

Gain practical experience with a strong team and ensure that you obtain a broader understanding of what other connected individuals within related practices are doing. Nothing in what we do is standard, but this will give you the best skills possible to deal with every situation as it arises.