We are glad to announce that Censere is a supporting sponsor for the “3rd Oil and Gas Anti-Corruption & Compliance Exchange” will be held at Houston, USA from 29 to 30 September 2015. Brett Shadbolt (Censere Group's CEO), Peter Coleman (Censere Group's Director of Indonesia Office) and Zaid Sultan (Censere Group's Director of US Offices) will be attending the event. This exchange is designed for people in the oil and gas sector including in-house counsel, compliance and business leaders and practitioners. Attendees can share sector experts’ useful insights and practical solutions through a mix of plenary sessions, breakout groups and roundtable discussions designed.

Details of the Exchange can be found: here

Author: Richard Batten LL.B (Hons), Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria and Director of Censere Group Co., Ltd

Richard is a Director with the Censere Group and for the past 20 years has been assisting clients in the Asia Pacific Region with Due Diligence investigations in a variety of Mergers and Acquisitions across different industries.  His projects have included clients from China, Japan, India, Korea, Australia and the USA.  

One of the significant trends in the Asia Pacific region over the last few decades has been the emergence in a number of countries of new or tightened laws on privacy of personal data or “Data Privacy”.  This trend has created a particular challenge for forensic practitioners providing integrity due diligence services to clients seeking to mitigate their risk(s) before deciding on significant investments in the region.  Not only does a forensic practitioner need to understand where and how to obtain relevant background information on a target company, and key individuals associated with the target, but is also required to have a sound knowledge of all data privacy laws and guidance in the jurisdictions relevant to particular due diligence projects.

Mengniu, Yili and Bright Dairy are Market Leaders

On basis of company sizes, market players in the Chinese dairy market can be categorized into 3 tiers. The 1st tier refers to the national players, namely, Mengniu, Yili, and Bright Dairy. The 2nd tier includes regional players, such as Beijing Sanyuan Dairy, Royal Dairy, and Yantang Dairy. The 3rd tier players focus almost solely on local markets and pose no immediate threat to players in the first two tiers. There are more than 1,500 dairy companies in China, while the number of companies with operational revenues above RMB5 million is more than 400. In 2012 the dairy industry reported sales revenue of RMB246.54 billion, the top 4 dairy companies were all domestic companies and merely accounted for around 39% of market share. Foreign dairy companies, such as Danone, Mead Johnson, and Nestle, made up more than half of the market.

China is the second largest pharmaceutical market in the world

With China’s expanding personal income and the growing medical needs of its aging population, its pharmaceutical market has become the second largest in the world. IMS Health predicts that global spending on medicines will reach around USD1,300 billion by 2018, a 30% increase over the 2013 level. During 2014-18, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) on medicines spending will be 4% to 7%. China had a spending level of USD77.2 billion in 2012, which accounted for 8% of global medicines spending. It is forecasted that China’s spending level will reach USD155-185 billion in 2018, which would be the highest among emerging pharmaceutical markets. The key drivers for growth will be healthcare infrastructure improvements, increased access to medicines, and increases in the number of private hospitals.

Richard Batten the Director of Censere Group's Thailand and Mekong Regional office delivered an Introductory Investigations Skills Workshop at our new Bangkok office Training Centre on 20 March 2015. The workshop was attended by both private sector and the Thai Government National Anti Corruption Commission. The Workshop was also delivered at our Kuala Lumpur office Training Centre on 30 March 2015. 

Censere Group formally opened its Kuala Lumpur office at the newly developed Oval Damansara office tower in Kuala Lumpur on 17 March 2015. The events for the launch included a half day introductory Leveraging Intellectual Property Workshop and a launch party which was attended by friends, clients and associates of Censere as well as staff from various Censere offices including, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Houston, Jakarta, Singapore and Taipei apart from Kuala Lumpur. 

Adie Gupta, Director of Censere Group's Malaysia office and the leader of Intellectual Property (IP)/ Intangible Assets team conducted a half day introductory Leveraging IP Workshop at Censere Training Academy's Kuala Lumpur facility on 16 March 2015. The workshop was attended by participants from government agencies involved in the Malaysian Government's IP Financing Scheme as well as private equity. The Workshop covered a number of areas including, the key characteristics of IP, various approaches used in the valuation of IP including case studies and the common mistakes in valuation of IP assets. Based on the feedback from the Workshop, Censere Training Academy will be conducting more in depth IP workshops in Malaysia over the coming months.

On 26th February 2015, Mr. Brett Shadbolt, CEO of Censere Group, presented a talk on “The Current trends in Mining industry & Mine valuation” in Seoul. In this event, organized by Hangyang University and Korea Ministry of Resources, Mr. Shadbolt presented current trends in mining industry, IPO requirements for mining companies, valuation standards, valuation methods and a mine valuation case study.

Adie Gupta, Director of Censere Group's Malaysia office and the leader of Intellectual Property (IP)/ Intangible Assets team was one of guest speakers at the World IP Forum held at New Delhi, India from 10 to 12 January 2015. Censere Group was one of the sponsors at the Forum. Adie's presentation topic was 'Leveraging IP for Financing and IP Valuation'. The Forum was a global event attended by attorneys, government agencies, early to mid stage companies, valuers and other parties involved in the field of IP from around the world.

Censere is very pleased to announce the establishment of Censere Group, Inc., our new US entity. Initially we have opened offices in Houston and Washington DC, with further announcements to follow in the coming months. Brett Shadbolt, CEO of Censere Group, stated "This is a significant step for Censere and allows us to strengthen the relationships we currently have with US clients in a very tangible way, while also enabling Censere to undertake work in the US for both US clients and Asian clients investing in US businesses." 

Zaid Sultan, Censere's newly appointed Director with responsibility for both Houston and Washington DC offices, commented that "Censere's strong Asian presence will be a major competitive advantage. With ongoing investment into Asia by US corporates and increasing regulatory compliance which requires deep knowledge of Asian cultures, languages and business practices, Censere is ideally placed to assist US firms."

Censere is immediately able to deliver our full range of valuation, due diligence and forensic investigations services through our US offices and we look forward to assisting you in the both the US and in Asia.

Contact details for our US offices are as follows:

Houston Office 2800 Post Oak Boulevard Suite 4100 Houston, TX Tel. 832 924 8670 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The IAIR Awards are one of the world’s leading prizes for excellence in global economy and sustainability. This year’s Awards were held at the Conrad Hotel on the 10th March 2015. We are pleased to announce that Censere has been awarded the “Best Company for Sustainability Strategic Advisory (Asia Pacific) Award 2014. This is the second year that Censere has won this Award.

Rupert Utley, Director, Censere Forensics and Investigations has contributed to the book "Risky Business in China - A Guide to Due Diligence" authored by Jeremy Gordon, and published by Palgrave Macmillan. As one in the series of Palgrave Pocket Consultants, this unique book is an authoritative guide that provides actionable solutions and demonstrates how correctly applied due diligence not only reduces business risk in China, but also provides excellent business intelligence to support negotiations and business relationships. 

Brett Shadbolt, CEO, and Shawn Morvotjoe, Associate Director, at Censere Group have successfully co-authored the chapter “Mergers & Acquisitions in Biotechnology - Valuation Process & Challenges,” published in Biotechnology in Hong Kong Volume II. This book which has been added to the Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data is published by United States-China Intellectual Property Institute Inc in February 2015. 

Online version of the book can be found here.

Why people commit fraud

Financial stress is widely recognized as one of the key reasons why people commit fraud. Some people commit fraud for other, pathological, reasons, but these are small in number and not typically the kind of fraudsters we deal with daily.

However employees and suppliers who have had a long and trusted relationship with you may feel added pressures when there are dark clouds on the horizon. Presently with the price of oil, coal and other minerals at recent record low, many Resources and Energy Sector employers are looking to reduce costs to help mitigate any potential losses. Orders are down, inventories are being reduced, payment cycles are increasing; there is generally a greater level of uncertainty right now.

Your staff and suppliers may feel their position with you is threatened and start to worry about their short to medium term future. At the same time your staff and suppliers are seeking their cost of living and business costs increasing, with little they can do about it.

It is at exactly these times of economic uncertainty that your staff and suppliers will start to feel increased stress about how they will meet their own financial obligations. For many it is a lifestyle issue, for others it really is a matter of survival. Committing fraud is often seen as the only way.

Hot on the heels of the Quamnet Outstanding Enterprise awards, Censere has been awarded the, "Best Financial Valuation & Advisory Services - Asia Pacific." This award is further recognition that our pan-Asian model is working, with our ability to operate seamlessly across Asia and our attention to quality and independence key.

The sixth annual Quamnet award took place on the 15 January 2015 at The Hong Kong Bankers Club. Censere is pleased announce, that it has been awarded the Quamnet Outstanding Enterprise award for, "Outstanding Business Appraisal and Valuation Services".  This is the third consecutive year Censere has won this award.  Censere's CEO, Brett Shadbolt stated, this award is testament to the hard work and growth we have seen in our business over the past 12 years: where we are now visible in 13 locations and have 120 staff.

Australia holds the largest amount of iron ore reserves

According to the U.S.Geological Survey (USGS), world total reserves of iron amount to about 81,000 million tonnes contained within 170,000 million tonnes of crude ore. Australia and Brazil are among the world’s largest iron ore holders and hold a large portion of the world’s iron ore reserves. As of 2013, Australia had reserves of 17,000 million tonnes of iron content and 35,000 million tonnes of crude ore while the figures for Brazil were 16,000 million tonnes and 31,000 million tonnes respectively.

Overview of coal power generation in Asia Pacific countries

Coal is a crucial fuel for the generation of electricity and it is reported that over 40% of electricity generated worldwide in 2013 was fueled by coal. Mongolia and South Africa used coal to generate more than 90% of each country’s total electricity in 2013. Coal is also a major source in some Asia Pacific countries; China, Australia, and India generated more than half of their electricity by coal. In Indonesia and Japan, coal is used to generate 48% and 21% of electricity respectively. 

Forensic Director, Peter Coleman, attended the 9TH Djakarta Mining Club Networking Event on October 30TH 2014 at JiExpo Kemayoran Jakarta. The function was held in conjunction with the Exhibition by Reed Panorama Exhibition, the "Mining and Engineering 2014". It was attended by over 70 attendees of both members and non members.

‘You can only manage what you can measure.’

Since the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the underlying principles of financial reporting have been moving towards the concept of fair value from historical cost.  Advocates believe fair value based reporting can provide more relevant, useful, and comparable information on the value of a company and its assets and liabilities.  Critics counter that earnings and other financial metrics are too vulnerable to short term changes in market expectation and sentiment, which have an impact on fair value.  Regardless whether you agree or disagree with the fair value concept, the best approach is to be proactive when dealing with it, so that there are no surprises.  Instead of passively waiting for, and being adversely affected by valuation results, it is wise to plan and prepare in advance.  In what follows we will examine several critical areas of valuation for financial reporting that should be considered.