Due diligence

Ian is the head of S-RM’s Corporate Intelligence division in EMEA. He leads a large team providing expert coverage of markets in Europe, Russia and the CIS, the Middle East and North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. He has spent most of the last 15 years in intelligence-related roles and has extensive industry experience across several practice areas; these include pre-transactional due diligence, multi-jurisdictional investigations, and supporting clients’ financial crime compliance and third-party due diligence programmes.  

Ian joined S-RM in 2014. Between 2017 and 2020, he established and grew S-RM’s first Asia office in Hong Kong, before returning to the UK as Director of Operations for the Corporate Intelligence division.  

Prior to joining S-RM, Ian held front-office investment banking roles at JP Morgan and Jefferies. He has worked in deal teams on M&A and capital markets transactions in several sectors, including energy, financial services, insurance, healthcare, biotech, retail and consumer services. He spent five years as an officer in the British Army, where he specialised in operational intelligence. Ian speaks fluent French and conversational Arabic and Pashto. He read History at the University of Cambridge. 

Morgan Stark joined the business in 2019.

He leads the delivery of intelligence and diligence work throughout the Asia Pacific region. Before S-RM, Morgan led the Stroz Friedberg due diligence and strategic research practice in Hong Kong, where he worked from 2012.

Morgan has a BA from the University of York, and an MA and PhD in Russian Philosophy from University College London. He speaks Russian, Mandarin, and Cantonese.

Based in New York, Sam lead’s S-RM’s Corporate Intelligence practice in the Americas. He has over 13 years of industry experience leading professional services teams; supporting clients in complex crises; and conducting and managing investigations. Sam specializes in multi-jurisdictional investigations, proxy fights, asset tracing, litigation support, and complex transactional investigative due diligence. He works closely with counsel, compliance units, and deal teams to advise clients on investigative strategy, how to best approach challenging jurisdictions, and answer specific questions.

Sam specializes in the US and Latin America, but has worked on global engagements touching Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Sam spent eight years at Kroll where he led the North American research practice and co-led the monitorship of a bank fined for violating US sanctions law. Prior to joining S-RM, Sam worked for a Big Four accounting firm and later managed investigations at a boutique litigation support firm focusing on cross-border cases in Latin America.

Diana is head of S-RM’s South Africa office and the Director of Operations for our Corporate Intelligence business. She has extensive experience providing clients with intelligence to support decisions relating to market entry, regulatory compliance and business operations in the sub-Saharan Africa region. She joined S-RM in 2014, and during that time has held a number of positions, including as the head of the sub-Saharan Africa Corporate Intelligence team and as an Associate Director co-ordinating the company’s strategy programme.

Prior to S-RM, Diana worked at The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab researching development policies and conducting impact analysis in Southern Africa, and at the University of Cape Town where she led the School of Economics’ undergraduate writing program. She is originally from Uganda, fluent in Swahili and holds a holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Economics.