Engage
It starts with a discussion
These are genuine areas of work, taken on one matter at a time — not off-the-shelf products. Every engagement begins with a conversation and, where the matter calls for it, an in-person assessment. That is how the scope, the people, and the cost are set around your matter rather than a template.
Book a time
Choose a slot that works for you. The first conversation is free, and the call is held on Proton Meet — end-to-end encrypted.
Book a discussion
Pick a time that suits you. The call is held on Proton Meet — end-to-end encrypted video — or by phone.
Scope & assessment
We talk through the matter, the boundaries, and what a good outcome looks like — with an in-person assessment where it calls for one.
A written proposal
You receive a fixed-fee proposal with a clear scope and timeline. Nothing proceeds until it is agreed.
Areas we work in
Four arenas, each taken on its own terms
Independent internal investigations
Before a matter is handed to a law firm — or as part of the mandate to one — we investigate it properly: evidence gathered from every branch and entity, local or international, through a channel agreed for the matter, organised and analysed, with the work product returned to you. Sometimes that recipient is a government department.
Where investigations meet employment law
Conduct, directors' responsibility, and the right to work in a regulated function often collide. In the UK, a financial institution may need to refer an investigation to the regulator before an individual can take up another financial role. Done properly, it serves the regulator, the former employer, and the employee alike — and an independent specialist can often do it with more focus, and at a more proportionate cost, than a general law firm.
The European regulatory transition
Two shifts, one programme. MiCA is widely discussed; the AMLA framework now entering into force far less so. We help firms move into both without duplicating effort, and reconcile Swiss and EU obligations from a single, coherent operating picture.
Rapid independent review
When something needs looking at — quickly, and independently
An independent review brought together fast — whoever calls for it. The slow part of any cross-border matter is assembling scattered information; handle that differently, and a typically long-winded exercise compresses into something far shorter, at a far smaller cost.
No criminal intent is assumed. The same approach serves a controls review, an employment matter, or support to a law firm under pressure. Like everything here, it begins with a discussion.
Who calls for it — and why
When there is an opportunity
Call for a review to win something
An authorisation window — the FCA gateway, the coming Swiss licences — approached with the file already at standard. First-time approval instead of joining the rejection statistics.
An RFP or counterparty due-diligence answered with evidence, not assertions — the controls pack that shortens procurement and wins the mandate.
An acquisition or market entry verified before close — revenue quality and asset existence tested while there is still negotiating leverage.
A position taken with the assets verified first — the check Greensill's and NMC's backers skipped, done in weeks, before the money moves.
When a risk must be mitigated
Call for a review to stop losing something
A red flag lands — an alert, a whistleblower, a headline. Clarification duties discharged and documented to the Art. 6/7 standard before positions harden.
A counterparty under suspicion — exposure quantified on evidence, so the relationship is exited, ring-fenced or retained deliberately, not reflexively.
An allegation against the firm — an independent picture in weeks at a fraction of litigation cost, and the organisational-adequacy file that is the Art. 102 defence.
A portfolio company wobbles — the independent picture before the next cheque, instead of good money after bad.
Depending on who authorises it, a review may proceed with the support of a regulator, the business, its owners, or its shareholders.
How it works
How it compresses
Funnel
Material from every branch, business and border is routed to one secure place — encrypted, with provenance recorded.
Organise
Everything is categorised under the matter on arrival, so nothing is hunted for twice and the picture builds itself.
Analyse
Entities, timelines and anomalies are surfaced with tooling set up around the specific matter — judgement, not collection, becomes the work.
Return
Clean, decision-ready work product goes back to whoever has to act, with source data returned or deleted on close.
Indicative turnaround
Because the collection bottleneck is handled differently, an independent picture that would ordinarily take many months is returned in weeks — at a fraction of litigation cost. The exact timeframe depends on who requisitions the review and the standard required, and is set out in the written proposal.
If one of these speaks to a problem you are facing, book a time and we will take it from there.
Book a discussionprobative.io is an independent research and investigations practice, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. Engagements are governed by a written agreement, and client data is processed under a Data Processing Agreement and returned or deleted on completion.