FTI Investigate™ Delivers Rapid and Secure Data Discovery on Site, Globally

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- FTI Technology, the e-discovery business segment of global advisory firm FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN), today announced the availability of FTI Investigate, a new discovery offering designed to handle data collection and assessments quickly and defensibly at client sites, regardless of geographic location. FTI experts, equipped with the company's suite of market-leading e-discovery software, can conduct end-to-end investigation -- from collection through analysis and on through document production -- at client sites to ensure a defensible process in compliance with country-specific data privacy requirements. In response to a growing number of multinational matters, FTI Investigate reduces the complexity and risk of discovery, allowing corporate legal and compliance teams, as well as their law firms, to focus on legal strategy.

"Understanding the data in a matter of hours, rather than weeks or months, is critical for many types of regulatory requests, investigations and even certain types of litigation," said Brian Babineau, senior analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group. "FTI Investigate combines the ability to quickly identify important information with secure, on-site control of the client's sensitive data. Plus, FTI's expertise in global matters and local data privacy practices can help deliver real value to clients quickly."

For companies and law firms managing multinational matters, FTI Investigate is a software and services package with three key components:  

• On site: Because of FTI's global footprint, FTI professionals can quickly deploy anywhere in the world to uncover data essential to an investigation. In most cases, the team can be up and running in less than a day. Clients benefit from control over their most sensitive data with the assurance that a defensible process is in place and in compliance with data privacy requirements.
• Technology: With portable implementations of FTI's award-winning discovery technology, the FTI team can collect, process, and review data without transferring the electronically stored information (ESI) off-site to another jurisdiction. The highly scalable software enables the easy handling of data volumes ranging from a few gigabytes (GBs) to multiple terabytes (TBs) of data.  
• Global expertise: Clients benefit from FTI's extensive experience managing global matters, including in-country cultural awareness, multi-lingual capabilities, and discrete execution processes that minimize disruption to clients' regular course of business.  In addition, FTI's forensic teams have the credentials and experience to testify in local courts in support of collections protocols and methods.

"FTI Investigate incorporates FTI's extensive experience managing complex, global matters for corporations and law firms in a single packaged offering," said Joe Looby, senior managing director of FTI Technology. "The ability to deploy quickly anywhere in the world, using the best discovery tools and expert forensic investigators, provides our clients with the information they need and the peace of mind that the matter will be handled in compliance with local data privacy requirements."

FTI Investigate is designed to meet the growing global need in multinational inquiries, litigation events and internal investigations to locate relevant data quickly and discretely, understand it and produce it to third parties.  Evidence of both the growing number and increasing complexity of multinational matters include:

• Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations: In the first quarter of 2010 alone, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated or resolved 37 discrete investigations of individuals and companies, compared to just nine such actions in the first quarter of 2009.(i)  Notably, the average penalties and fines have increased dramatically as well; from 2002 through 2006, the average fine per incident was $5 million, but the average fine from 2007 to 2009 jumped to more than $45 million.(ii)
• M&A "Second Requests": As the global mergers and acquisitions market continues to heat up, the number of Hart-Scott Rodino (HSR) "Second Request" regulatory reviews necessary to satisfy anti-trust regulators is also likely to increase, in addition to other reviews from the DOJ, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Office of Fair Trading in the United Kingdom, and other sovereign governing agencies.
• Pan-EMEA data privacy concerns: In July, the Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship with the European Commission announced plans to develop an umbrella agreement with the United States to ensure all cross-border data transfers meet the EU's standards for data privacy.
• Individual country regulatory requirements: In addition to adhering to the EU Data Privacy Directive, most European countries have developed their own unique data privacy laws that must be followed when collecting their citizens' data. At the same time, new regulations such as the UK's Bribery Act, which go into enforcement in April 2011, will increase the need for the collection and review of electronic data.

"The issue of data privacy and data control is top of mind for many regulators, especially in Europe," said Craig Earnshaw, managing director of FTI Technology's London office. "With FTI Investigate, clients know that the discovery process is defensible and can stand up to scrutiny in the courts or with regulators."

Corporations and law firms have already used FTI Investigate on multiple matters in the United States, Europe and Asia. These projects have ranged from employee fraud investigations to multinational litigations.

"Regulatory and legal matters that require finding and understanding geographically disparate corporate data is a complex process," said Veeral Gosalia, managing director of FTI Technology. "Many clients have already benefitted from our expertise in managing global matters quickly and discretely."

FTI Investigate is available immediately. For more information on FTI Investigate or other FTI Technology software and services, please visit www.ftitechnology.com.

About FTI Consulting

FTI Consulting, Inc. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance enterprise value in an increasingly complex legal, regulatory and economic environment. With more than 3,400 employees located in most major business centers in the world, we work closely with clients every day to anticipate, illuminate, and overcome complex business challenges in areas such as investigations, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory issues, reputation management and restructuring. More information can be found at www.fticonsulting.com.  

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i) Source: Miller Chevalier, FCPA Spring Review 2010.

ii) Source: Miller Chevalier, FCPA Winter Review 2010.

SOURCE FTI Technology