News – KCS Group Europe Ltd

KCSGE appoints former counter terrorism leader as Director of Operations

KCS Group Europe News / 02/2023 02/2023

Strategic intelligence and corporate security firm, KCS Group Europe (KCSGE), has appointed a former Metropolitan Police counter terrorism leader as its new Director of Operations. Leon Goldman was more recently Head of Investigations at corporate investigations agency, Comsec, where he led the firm’s investigatory and intelligence strategy including operations into online threats, fraud, discrimination in …

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Exile on Silk Road: The rise of the near abroad

Articles / Afghanistan, Central Asia, China, Due Diligence, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, oil and gas, Russia / 01/2023 01/2023

There is a case to be made among historians that the Silk Road was the eighth wonder of the world: not a monument in stone, but a monument to furthering the cause of humanity, allowing for the transmission of economic, cultural and political exchanges between East and West in a manner previously unthinkable and surviving …

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Russia, Ukraine and Africa: Against the grain

Articles / Africa, China, Due Diligence, Global Threats, grain and wheat, humanitarian, Russia, Ukraine / 01/2023 01/2023

Is Russia’s war in Ukraine a localised conflict, a regional war, or a global disaster? The military action concentrated on one country alone would suggest the first, the various nuclear- and cyber-threats against Europe the second, but global trends are increasingly confirming the third. It is possible to view the Russian invasion, and by extension …

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Creating a Dictator

Articles / Corruption, Democracy, Due Diligence, Kremlin, Putin, Russia, Russian Business / 01/2023 01/2023

The quagmire of a lengthy, painful, and ultimately unsuccessful campaign in Afghanistan in the 1980s is credited with hastening the demise of the Soviet Union. History could well be repeating, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stretches into an eleventh month and domestic discontent with Putin’s war continues to rise. Could this be the trigger that …

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Russia’s second front

Articles / Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Due Diligence, Mexico, oil and gas, Putin, Russia, Venezuela / 01/2023 01/2023

Vladimir Putin’s efforts to change the world’s balance of power requires not just a strong military, but serious influence over the world’s oil & gas markets, and to be really effective, he needs more than just Saudi Arabia and Iran on side – he needs control directly or indirectly of South America’s oil production as …

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Yandex – The Moral Maze

Articles / Due Diligence, Putin, Russian Business, Technology, Yandex / 01/2023 01/2023

Yandex, ‘The Russian Google’, was hit by sanctions after the EU decided it had played an active role in spreading propaganda at the start of Putin’s war in Ukraine. Yandex’s founder, Arkady Volozh, managed to avoid personal sanctions by leaving the board and selling his shares. For Russians, Yandex was more than just another tech-giant. …

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KCS Group Europe wishing you a peaceful New Year!

KCS Group Europe News / 12/2022 12/2022

China: Tiananmen Square 2.0

Articles / China, Democracy, Due Diligence, President Xi, Taiwan / 12/2022 12/2022

The recent unrest in China against the zero-Covid lockdown policy, spanning multiple cities and regions, certainly emulates the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. While no iconic photos of brave individuals standing in front of an army of tanks have surfaced yet, the courage of the Chinese people under authoritarian rule protesting for freedom and liberty needs …

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Cryptocurrency: Step right up for a miracle?

Articles / Anti-Money Laundering, Cryptocurrencies, Due Diligence, Fraud, Organised crime / 12/2022 12/2022

As the pioneers and settlers spread out across the Wild West, a new type of person sprang up in the saloons and squares of the new world: the snake oil salesmen. These charmers would offer tonics promised to cure absolutely any ailment, for an unbelievable price, in a deal that the good townsfolk would be …

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Christmas Greetings from all at KCS Group Europe