Steve Wilford is the Partner based in Singapore with responsibility for management of special projects and strategic intelligence gathering. Prior to this role Steve ran the Asia-Pacific political and regulatory risk team and also managed the company’s Governance, Ethics and Compliance group in Asia. Until 2014, Steve was the Director of Corporate Investigations for South-East Asia. This remit encompassed joint venture partner/new purchase due diligence, litigation support, discreet enquiries and broader national, provincial and district political and regulatory risk analysis. In his long career with Control Risks Steve also built and managed the company’s India business, focussed for several years as a client facing advisor in the region, and worked as Control Risks’ Senior South-east Asia Analyst.
Recent tasks that Steve has worked on include:
Steve advises both multinationals and SMES in sectors such as oil and gas, telecoms, FMCG, tech, renewables etc. on pre-entry and operational policy for hostile environments in Asia, based on a 30-year track record in this region. His understanding of the specific risks facing businesses and personnel in Asia is broad and deep, as is his operational familiarity with the wide range of methods Control Risks uses to deal with them. He is a regular BBC, CNN, CNBC, radio and print media commentator on trends in conflict risk, political succession, corporate governance and threats to business assets in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as a frequent presenter at regional risk management conferences.
Steve holds a Master of Philosophy in International Relations from the University of Oxford, and a first-class Honours degree in South-East Asian Studies and Language from the University of Hull, where he specialised in Thai military politics and Malaysian corporate governance issues.