Courtenay is a Principal and leads our business intelligence practice for the Middle East and North Africa from our Dubai office. He has more than 20 years of experience in the public and private sectors focusing on security and intelligence issues. In particular, Courtenay has extensive experience in delivering business intelligence, due diligence and corruption investigations to clients in frontier and emerging markets. 

Examples of Courtenay’s work include:

• Investigating a local company that had allegedly undertaken corrupt and unethical practices to win contracts for its multinational business partner.
• Leading a mergers and acquisitions due diligence and political risk project for a client seeking to acquire a country subsidiary of an international oil company operating in North Africa.
• Advising a national oil company on the development of a robust due diligence programme that would take a risk-based approach to conducting due diligence on all of its third-party relationships.
• Leading intelligence support for a multinational company whose client was seeking to develop a suitable legal strategy in its dispute with a local party.
• Tracing the local assets of a wealthy international businessman who had committed fraud against several global investors.

Prior to joining Control Risks, Courtenay worked for a leading multinational accounting firm, leading  its corporate intelligence practice for the Middle East and North Africa. Prior to this, Courtenay managed the Asia operations of an Australian security advisory firm. Courtenay has had a long career working on Middle East-related political and security issues. Before entering the private sector, he was employed with the Australian government for 13 years, including in a senior diplomatic posting to the Middle East. Courtenay holds an honours degree in engineering and has studied Arabic.