Kara van de Pol
Consultant | Cape Town
Contact
T: +27 21 480 7906
Overview
Kara is a litigator-turned-investigator with a broad background spanning public and private law, but with her core litigation experience lying in commercial disputes and insolvency. Exposure to matters requiring sleuthing or asset-tracing – such as liquidation enquiries and cases involving unlawful competition – developed her interest in forensic investigation and ultimately resulted in a move into this field.
As an investigator she has a keen eye for details, patterns and anomalies – along with a dogged determination to join the dots. She has a particular interest in the use of tech in investigations – especially robotic process automation (RPA) and natural language processing (NLP) – and is able to deploy these tools for web-scraping and textual analysis.
Experience
Due diligences into corruption and compliance
- Kara has acted for numerous local and foreign acquirers in conducting DDs into the compliance status of target companies and their anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) measures .
- Clients have included listed companies and multi-nationals operating in a range of industries (spanning property development, sport, petroleum products, financial services, and fast-moving consumer goods) with the engagement typically involving:
- advising on the effect of foreign legislation (particularly the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Bribery Act);
- assessing compliance with local legislation such as the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act and the Protected Disclosures Act;
- compliance or “business intelligence” screening (identifying politically exposed persons, sanctioned persons and entities, reputational concerns and negative media);
- synthesising multiple factors in assessing the nature, probability and materiality of ABC risks – which requires drawing on a deep understanding of:
- the deal’s value proposition and the transaction structure;
- the acquirer’s risk appetite and the materiality threshold;
- the nature of the jurisdiction, business and industry;
- the regulatory landscape and points of contact with the state;
- key role-players, their reputations and their critical relationships.
Forensic investigations
- Since November 2022, Kara has been a key member of a Bowmans team involved in a successful, multifaceted and long-running investigation for a global mining group.
- In February 2024 she was given responsibility for a major portion of a wide-ranging investigation into senior executives at a state-owned entity.
AREA OF EXPERTISE
Qualifications
Education
Degrees:
- Bachelor of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand.
- Bachelor of Laws, University of South Africa.
Short courses:
- Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination (West Virginia University)
- Regulatory Compliance specialisation (University of Pennsylvania) comprising four courses:
- What is Compliance
- Effective Compliance Programs
- Privacy Law and Data Protection
- Anti-Corruption and Compliance
- FinTech Law and Policy (Duke University)
- MBA Essentials (University of Stellenbosch Business School)
- Programming for Everybody: Getting Started with Python (University of Michigan).
Professional Memberships
- Admitted Attorney by Legal Practice Council (LPC).
Overview
Kara is a litigator-turned-investigator with a broad background spanning public and private law, but with her core litigation experience lying in commercial disputes and insolvency. Exposure to matters requiring sleuthing or asset-tracing – such as liquidation enquiries and cases involving unlawful competition – developed her interest in forensic investigation and ultimately resulted in a move into this field.
As an investigator she has a keen eye for details, patterns and anomalies – along with a dogged determination to join the dots. She has a particular interest in the use of tech in investigations – especially robotic process automation (RPA) and natural language processing (NLP) – and is able to deploy these tools for web-scraping and textual analysis.
Experience
Due diligences into corruption and compliance
- Kara has acted for numerous local and foreign acquirers in conducting DDs into the compliance status of target companies and their anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) measures .
- Clients have included listed companies and multi-nationals operating in a range of industries (spanning property development, sport, petroleum products, financial services, and fast-moving consumer goods) with the engagement typically involving:
- advising on the effect of foreign legislation (particularly the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Bribery Act);
- assessing compliance with local legislation such as the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act and the Protected Disclosures Act;
- compliance or “business intelligence” screening (identifying politically exposed persons, sanctioned persons and entities, reputational concerns and negative media);
- synthesising multiple factors in assessing the nature, probability and materiality of ABC risks – which requires drawing on a deep understanding of:
- the deal’s value proposition and the transaction structure;
- the acquirer’s risk appetite and the materiality threshold;
- the nature of the jurisdiction, business and industry;
- the regulatory landscape and points of contact with the state;
- key role-players, their reputations and their critical relationships.
Forensic investigations
- Since November 2022, Kara has been a key member of a Bowmans team involved in a successful, multifaceted and long-running investigation for a global mining group.
- In February 2024 she was given responsibility for a major portion of a wide-ranging investigation into senior executives at a state-owned entity.
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