SEER Financial Group have welcomed a new managing partner and with that have widened their circle of influence to create a division of integrity and compliance.
“I like to find money for our clients – or help them save it,” chuckles Craig Gregory. The newest addition to the SEER Financial Group is looking after the group’s newly minted Integrity & Compliance division.
While Mr Gregory likes to discover savings for his clients, what really gets him out of bed in the morning is the ability to help people and make a difference. It’s the former police officer in him who also loves to uncover something not quite right.
The addition of Integrity & Compliance to the SEER Financial Group provides another level of robustness to the group and the ability to engage with a broader cohort of clients, while offering this widened menu of services to their existing client base.
SEER Integrity & Compliance has four platforms: investigations, risk advisory, forensic data analytics and compliance audits and reviews, which are all available avenues to existing and new clients.
Investigations covers fraud and corruption investigations, workplace misconduct and sexual harassment investigations, forensic accounting and due diligence investigations.
The risk advisory supports clients in undertaking fraud and corruption risk assessments, XERO risk and integrity reviews, fraud and corruption control programs, control testing and payment integrity programs.
Over 90 per cent of SEER’s 2500 clients use XERO for their accounting platform. Mr Gregory says accessing hidden audit tables in the software allow them to track a variety of metrics to identify and assess risks. Is the same person approving invoices, paying them and handling all payroll? They can see that and look into whether it’s sound for the company. Or is the company carrying too much risk with four staff members not having taken any leave, and is the business exposed by that?
This service is perfect if you need to discover who is stealing stock and stationary supplies and selling them online in their own store. Apparently “it happens quite a lot”.
Detecting anomalies, patterns and trends relating to fraud and corruption, transaction monitoring, control testing, data integrity and compliance plus data visualisation will sit within the forensic data analytics arm.
Lastly, the compliance audits and reviews work will cover independent Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing audits and reviews, contract compliance audits and reviews, wage assessments, internal and/or third-party compliance audits and reviews.
“We want to help our clients create a program of risk management and compliance,” says Mr Gregory. “Alongside the financial services we offer clients we can now offer support and services in these other areas, which as a package is a unique service offering.
Leveraging Mr Gregory’s background in preventive security with the Australian Government, SEER Integrity & Compliance are also supporting clients in the preparation of security assessments and critical infrastructure risk management plans where required under the Security of Critical Infrastructure (SOCI) Act, plus undertaking annual SOCI assessments to support the required statements of compliance.
Arguably, SEER now boasts the most experienced team of experts supporting aviation, maritime and offshore oil and gas operators with their compliance requirements under the Aviation Transport Security Act and Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act.
These additional services also bring an established base of blue-ribbon clients from around Australia to SEER.
“Our services are tailored to assess compliance with industry standards, legal requirements and internal policies. We’ll identify gaps, manage risk and provide practical recommendations for improvement.
“No matter what it is, we want to empower organisations to proactively address issues before they become regulatory or reputational risks.”
Mr Gregory brings to his new role experience from an expansive career which started in WA Police and has included working with the Australian Federal Police, UN Civilian Police, in preventative security for the Commonwealth Government, managing fraud and corruption control internally with groups like HBF and Medibank, as well as consulting roles.
He has an MBA from the University of New South Wales, a degree in Social Science in Policing from Edith Cowan University, various qualifications in auditing, risk management, government and policing and is a licenced investigator.
“We don’t want to be one of the big four. We want a close relationship with our clients so they call us anytime, knowing we can support them. We want to keep working with them and grow with them.
“One of the key challenges is supporting SMEs who can’t afford to go to the big four. They also can’t afford to be without those services, particularly in the AML space. You have to be across those requirements and we can offer them those services and leverage the whole SEER network to help them.
“I’m very much on the side of working smarter not harder while still having quality in the deliverables. Our soul is our staff. They are the most important asset we have, otherwise we’d just have an empty office. We give them everything they need to do their jobs and take away any unnecessary risks from them to keep costs low.”
