Assisting companies to better understand their risks and provide a cost-effective start-up security presence is a cornerstone objective of our firm. It most clearly leverages the rich experience each of us has gained and allows the client to approach its security needs in a more planful way. From the initial risk assessments through consideration of alternative approaches and building a deeper understanding of the need in the management team, we enable the client to meld the security program into its operations on a pace that makes good business sense. This approach also more clearly grounds the development of the security program on improved business processes as opposed to a new security presence.

We have been there in more ways than we like to remember! Maybe that’s the point. We believe we offer three important benefits in this area: first, we hit the ground running. You don’t have to educate us on best practices in security. This saves time ($) and the options we develop will likely be ones we have tried and know will work within your business culture and operational environment. Secondly, we believe our credentials provide strong credibility in the boardroom and with your team. We can be an effective advocate for our recommendations. Finally, objectivity based on experience rather than lack of knowledge.

Each of us has engaged in a variety of benchmarking exercises over the past decade or more. We take pride in having led global security organizations that were found to have best practices in physical security, information security, executive protection, workplace violence prevention, investigations and a host of related safeguards. We have an extensive network of trust-based security colleagues around the globe with whom we may engage in the identification of best practices.

More than ever, the Security Organization needs to be a value center, not just a cost center. The influence and value of the security organization is directly proportionate to its measurable impact on the ability of the enterprise to manage and mitigate risk. Security adds value when its programs enable the business to do what would otherwise be too risky. Having been through similar reviews, we have developed a variety of measures and metrics that may be applied to a variety of security functions.

This is a key competency of our team. Sarbanes is far more than trust in the numbers. We recognize from experience that each client has a unique culture that is at the heart of a personnel integrity program. Several of us have established or served on inter-departmental Corporate Business Conduct committees, done top-down reviews of the related policy infrastructure, conducted literally thousands of internal investigations of suspected wrongdoing and worked for companies where the franchise was based on the maintenance of trust in the marketplace. We have established crime prevention programs consistent with the requirement of the U.S. Sentencing Commission Guidelines for Corporations, possess an strong understanding of the growing inventory of security-related regulations and have worked in multi-cultural environments that test the viability of business conduct policy.

Comprehensive Executive Protection programs for all company employees traveling domestically and internationally are part of our core competencies. As former CSO’s of many of the largest global corporations, we have operated in war zones and other high risk areas formulating and implementing the security policies and programs for expanding offshore operations. Components of these programs included methodologies for the protection of ex-patriot and visiting executives and employees as well as critical business processes.

Corporate and personal due diligence is a business requirement in the emerging countries since many new overseas companies are not familiar with American commercial practices. If these corporations who represent you do not operate in a responsible and ethical manner they could get you in serious difficulty. We have faced these issues many times as CSO’s and have the contacts in these areas and are able to determine the bona fides of existing and new companies in high-risk business areas. Through our network of public and private sources, we are able to get beyond the bureaucracies and red tape to make sure that the companies and people you deal with are legitimate business entities with no hidden agenda.

9/11 was a terrible tragedy that taught us many lessons the hard way. We CSO’s who had business units in high risk areas had Crisis Management and Business Resumption plans we could use as a starting point to extricate our domestic business units from the horrors of this disastrous event. It is absolutely necessary that companies both foreign and domestic have practical and workable Crisis Management and Business Resumption plans in order to maintain some modicum of business continuity. Our team members have developed security recovery plans and programs for almost every type of business in some of the riskiest business environments in the world. We can develop your plans and programs, help you implement them and train your employees.

Many of the CSO’s associated and affiliated with BSAG have government resumes and faced the same issues you are facing when they became heads of their security departments. The public service organizations in which we served (FBI, Secret Service and local law enforcement) gave us the basic tools with which to manage a corporate security organization but not the efficiencies needed to approach security as a business and sell it and the programs to the business units. These are acquired skills which come with experience. BSAG has a cadre of CSOs who can help you formulate strategic and tactical plans for your security group by accomplishing the following:

Due diligence is a core competency of our team. Proper due diligence will establish who you are “really” dealing with – verify their personal background, their business history, their financial history and determine if they or any other business they have in interest in is on any government “watch list”. Completing a proper due diligence is an essential element to insure business continuity and minimizing unnecessary liability exposure.

The IRS Code Section 132 requires an updated executive security analysis on a timely basis (generally defined as every four to five years) or anytime significant changes occur in personnel and/or locations. Section 132 requires that an “independent” qualified third party conduct the executive security analysis. This should include security at the workplace, security at the residence(s) [primary and vacation], security while traveling to the workplace, and security while traveling for business or personal reasons. We remind our clients the purpose of the executive security analysis is to satisfy the requirements of the IRS and should be written as such. A side benefit is gaining a fresh and experienced review of your executive protection program, but this is not the primary objective. The final document will contain a great deal of private and sensitive information and should not be disseminated on a wide basis. Our experience has shown that companies who complete this executive security analysis and comply with Section 132 realize significant costs savings.