Carmen Liu is a Partner in Control Risks' Compliance, Forensics and Intelligence practice. She is based in Shanghai and leads the Greater China and North Asia business intelligence team. Carmen specialises in fraud and IP investigations, strategic intelligence, commercial and reputational due diligence, dispute intelligence and asset tracing.
Recent tasks that Carmen has led include:
- Assisting a mainland China-based fund in its investments across Europe, South-East Asia, and the Middle East, mainly in the technology and new energy sectors. This included reviewing the targets’ track records, founders’ backgrounds, political connections, analysis of local foreign investment regulations and any geopolitical issues that may impact the client’s decision.
- Leading an advisory project for a US-listed oil and gas company to support its business restructuring strategy in Greater China. This included an in-depth understanding of its market strategy, key business partners and business integrity.
- Investigation into alleged conflicts of interest involving a senior manager of a European automotive manufacturer's subsidiary in mainland China, including external information gathering, forensics review and business continuity planning.
- Leading a brand protection exercise for a global food and beverage company. This involved analysing e-commerce data to identify problematic sellers, tracing manufacturers, identifying ultimate controllers and assisting with legal actions. Additional steps included conducting a compliance review to identify internal control vulnerabilities.
- Managing a multi-jurisdictional asset trace for a Singapore-based client who was pursuing debts owed by a business partner in the real estate sector. This was conducted through extensive public-record research and discreet enquiries in the jurisdictions involved to understand the asset profile and financial status of the partner.
- Comprehensive pre-investment due diligence for a client in the financial sector on a Hong Kong-based technology company and eight of its principals across multiple jurisdictions, including mainland China, Hong Kong, the UK and the Netherlands.
Before joining Control Risks in 2012, Carmen worked as an auditor for one of the Big 4 firms in Shanghai. Her primary responsibilities included conducting substantive audit procedures and US Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) control tests. Significant projects included an audit for a Hong Kong pre-IPO project.
Carmen holds a bachelor's degree in biological sciences from Fudan University and is currently pursuing a global EMBA degree at China Europe International Business School. She is a native Mandarin speaker and is fluent in English.