The assessment report will either:
I) Identify no risks of countervailing EU restrictive measures. This assures you and your potential financial institutional partner that the business activity is legitimate under EU legislation. At the same time, it builds trust in the Iranian counterpart, increasing its chances to engage in trade activities with EU companies.
II) Identify and describe risks of countervailing EU restrictive measures. Taking them into consideration will save both the EU company and the Iranian partner from suffering significant legal consequences. On the other hand, the identification of risks by the Helpdesk has no legal consequences, will not be reported to any law enforcing authority, nor to any third party. Risks are solely reported in the output report to the EU SME that requested the due diligence.
How the process works:
Step 1. The EU company informs its Iranian trade partner about its intention to use the Helpdesk's services. The Due Diligence Analysis Tool will require both partners to fill in information that will be used by the Helpdesk solely for the due diligence process, will not be made available to each other, nor to any other party, and will be processed and stored in full compliance with GDPR legislation.
However, if necessary, the EU SME can also choose that the Helpdesk team does not contact the Iranian partner, which might affect the accuracy and speed of the due diligence process.
Step 2. The EU company fills out a basic questionnaire regarding the EU company, the Iranian partner, the proposed business activity, and the eventual third parties involved, if known. Providing as detailed and exhaustive information as possible will increase the accuracy of the due diligence process in identifying the potential risks of non-compliance.
Step 3. If the EU SME does not choose otherwise in its questionnaire, the Helpdesk will contact the Iranian partner. The Helpdesk will request the Iranian partner to fill out a questionnaire designed to retrieve the minimum necessary information that allows proper due diligence.
Step 4. The Helpdesk will conduct the necessary research based on the information provided, open-source checks, professional compliance databases, and on-the-ground expertise. This will take 2-6 weeks to complete, depending on the complexity of each case.
Step 5. The EU SME will receive a detailed risk report, which is not shared with any other party.