Christopher Osborne

FRP Advisory

London www.frpadvisory.com

chris.osborne@frpadvisory.com Tel: 07983 593 259

Biography

Chris leads FRP’s forensic services practice. He has over 20 years’ experience of fraud, bribery and corruption investigations, regulatory inquiries, disputes and compliance and risk advisory assignments, including secondments to the Serious Fraud Office and Financial Services Authority. He has acted as a party-appointed expert, single joint expert, and expert determiner. He has opined on matters including loss of profits, misappropriation of funds, and warranty claims. Chris has given oral evidence in the High Court and international arbitration proceedings.

Forensic accounting ticked a number of boxes for me when I was considering career options, such as; the variety of work, including investigations, utilising my law degree, being able to travel internationally and training to be a chartered accountant.

All of these factors motivated me to become a forensic accountant and have been borne out in the last 20 years or so.

Why do you think there has been noticeable growth in demand for forensic accountants?

The volume of investigation, litigation and arbitration work has grown considerably over the last decade or so, not just in the number of assignments. Most white-collar crime lawyers, litigators, in house counsel and compliance professionals have seen the benefits that forensic accountants (and forensic technologists) can bring to their investigations and disputes where, increasingly, we are being brought in at the start/near the commencement of an assignment.

What is the most challenging part of your job, and why?

Resourcing! There is significant demand for forensic accountants and a very competitive environment for talent, which I anticipate will continue for some time. In my view this has been driven by a number of factors including increased demand for forensic accountants, and less supply coming into the UK from countries such as Australia due to the impact of covid19-related travel restrictions etc.

We are growing our forensic services practice across both investigations and litigation/arbitration but there is very little supply in the forensic accounting market at present.

How is cryptocurrency affecting your role and the needs of your clients more broadly?

Cryptocurrency is becoming more prevalent in investigations and we have had to upskill in this area very quickly. We have had exposure to numerous cases involving cryptocurrency already and anticipate there will be much more investigation work/asset recovery assignments involving crypto in fraud investigation and contentious insolvency cases.

How do you see forensic accounting evolving over 2022–2023? How are you adapting your practice accordingly?

I anticipate there will be an uptick in investigation work as we come out of the pandemic. We have been busy with investigations, however, we have not seen many covid-19-related assignments as yet. Litigation and arbitration work has been busy for us (increasingly so since autumn 2021) and I envisage that investigations will follow suit this year.

Hybrid working is an evolving issue and an ongoing challenge across professional services, and it will be interesting to see, in a year’s time or so, where we are as an industry once this transition period is over. We offer a flexible approach which works well in certain situations but in my opinion, there are particular aspects of our work that are better undertaken in person.

What steps do you take to establish a detailed understanding of your client’s needs in order to practice effectively?

It is imperative to be interested in a client’s business, understand their requirements and how they wish us to deliver. Being inquisitive and listening to their response is also key.

In my opinion, it is important to meet clients in person (if possible) as it assists in building rapport. However, over the pandemic we worked with a number of new clients and lawyers on major projects, some of whom we have never met in person!

How do you coordinate on cases when working alongside experts with other areas of expertise?

We work on many cases where a multidisciplinary team is required. In fraud investigations, forensic accounting and technology skills are key. In contentious insolvency cases we deploy forensic accounting, technology and insolvency expertise sometimes supplemented by an independent expert from another firm. Similarly, our disputes work can involve working alongside non-accounting experts and may involve the reliance on their findings as inputs to our work.

Akin to any project, continual communication is key, especially in fast moving investigations. Everyone understanding their role, and how they fit into wider assignments is also essential.

What is the best piece of advice that you have ever received?

Stop stressing, no one has died! The life of a forensic accountant can be a stressful one (especially in the lead up to trial and when being cross-examined) but try to put things in perspective.

The other piece of advice I received early in my career is that you will learn something from every assignment that you undertake, even if it is not the most exciting piece of work you will do in your career!

Peers and clients say: “Chris is an excellent leader and renowned expert witness in his field” “Chris is an absolute joy to work with and always values opinions we may have regarding the work supplied” “One major strength of his is that he is a well-respected expert witness”