Why Cross-Border Matters Stall in Asia, and How TGI Resolves It

Bringing stalled matters back into motion

Once Asia is involved, the process stops.

An estate cannot be distributed because an heir in Japan cannot be found. A defendant has gone back to Korea and there is no address for service. Judgment has been entered, but nothing has been identified in Thailand to enforce it against. A supplier in Vietnam exists on paper and, as far as anyone can tell, nowhere else. A death claim arrives from abroad with documents no one is in a position to check.

None of these stalled on a point of law. They stalled because a necessary fact could not be established, and the matter was declined or closed part-way. TGI fills that gap.

The obstacle

The obstacle is not the cost of enquiry. It is that the facts are in Asia.

Enquiries in your own jurisdiction are well served by the providers you already use. What TGI fills is the area where the work becomes difficult precisely because it lies in Asia.

Public records are closed to outsiders, or open only in the local language
Each country has its own rules on what may be obtained, and by whom
Registry entries alone do not show what is actually there
Someone has to go to the place
The matter runs across more than one country
Local relationships are needed
Names and addresses exist in local scripts, and romanised spellings vary
Working through several agencies makes quality, cost and progress hard to control

TGI does not compete with your existing providers on price or terms. It fills this area only, and takes part in a way that does not overlap with them.

Our answer

How TGI resolves it

We send people to the place

We do not stop at registry extracts and open sources. Local investigators confirm residence, business operations, the present state of assets and identity at the location itself. Being able to check the gap between what is registered and what exists is, in practice, the largest difference.

Multi-country matters, managed as one

In Japan, our own field unit, Trust Japan. In Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, established local teams under its direction. In Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, UIC Associates. You do not need to find, contract and supervise an agency in each country.

Reports separate fact, analysis and assessment

Established facts carry their source and the route by which they were obtained, with source documents attached where that is possible and lawful. Analysis and assessment are kept clearly apart from them. What could not be established is recorded, with the reason.

Pre-engagement enquiries are free

“Can this be done in that country?” “Roughly what will it cost, and how long will it take?” Feasibility is answered, as a rule, within three business days, so that you have a basis for your decision before the client incurs cost.

Roles

You decide what and why. TGI works out how.

When enquiries abroad are handed to an outside provider, what matters most is that control of the matter is not lost. The division of roles below is our starting point.

Your firm

What / Why

The client relationship, the legal issues, the direction of the matter. What needs to be established, and why. The legal evaluation of the results and their use in proceedings.

TGI

How

Feasibility. What the local systems allow and what can be obtained. Design of the enquiry. Fieldwork, information gathering and retrieval of source documents.

TGI does not give legal advice to your client.

That said, TGI is not there simply to take instructions and carry them out. “Can that information really be obtained in that country?” “Will public records be enough, or is fieldwork needed?” “How far does this have to be confirmed to be sufficient for the matter?” Those judgements themselves call for knowledge of each country's systems and practice. For that reason we discuss feasibility, method and priorities from before formal engagement. You frame the legal question; TGI turns it into items that can actually be verified abroad. That is the basis on which we work together.

Reports

Fact, analysis and assessment are written separately

In work carried out abroad, established facts, what an informant said and what the investigator supposes are sometimes mixed together, and the report becomes difficult for counsel to use. As a rule, TGI separates three levels.

Fact
Facts established from public records, source documents and direct observation. The source, the route by which it was obtained and the method of confirmation are stated, and source documents are attached wherever possible. Example: according to the commercial register, the shareholder of Company A is Mr B.
Analysis
Relationships and possibilities drawn from comparing several pieces of information, recorded apart from objective fact. Example: Companies A, B and C share directors and a registered address, which suggests a connection between them.
Assessment
Points set out to help counsel consider the direction of the matter, marked clearly as assessment. Example: there is room to examine whether the entity is beneficially owned by the other party, and whether it is connected with assets not yet identified.

What could not be established is recorded too: why, and under what constraint.

Because fact is kept apart from analysis and assessment, and the limits are stated, you can use the report for decisions on engagement, negotiation, litigation strategy and recovery knowing how far it can be relied on. The actual layout can be seen in the sample reports (eight fictional matters).

View sample reports

Fees

Stated at the outset

The scope is defined for each matter, and a fixed fee or a fee cap is stated in advance
Where the scope cannot be fixed at the start, the work is divided into stages and the first stage is carried out for a fixed fee
No additional cost arises without prior consent

This makes it straightforward to explain to the client what the enquiry will cost.

Privilege

No guarantees, but a proper record

In cross-border matters, whether investigative material attracts legal professional privilege (attorney-client privilege) or work-product protection needs careful thought. TGI does not represent that its reports are privileged as a matter of course. That depends on who engaged the investigator, the purpose of the work, its relationship to legal advice or litigation, who created and who received the material, and the law of each jurisdiction concerned.

On that footing, TGI works under counsel's direction and keeps a proper record of purpose, lines of instruction, information handling and distribution. The arrangements needed for each matter are designed together with your firm.

Verify first. Decide after.

Start with a free enquiry

“Can this be done in that country?” “Roughly what will it cost, and how long will it take?” You can have a basis for your decision before the client incurs cost. An outline is enough; the client's name is not needed. We are glad to meet by video before any engagement.

Free pre-engagement enquiry View services and matter types