Expert Discusses Overlooked Business Risks with JAIMS Students

02 Feb 2002

Offering an insight into common but overlooked risks of entering into business transactions, Grant Newsham, Executive Director, Morgan Stanley Japan, spoke to JAIMS students and members of the community at a JAIMS-sponsored seminar on "The Overlooked Risks that Companies Learn about the Hard Way."
 
Citing numerous examples of companies in Japan and across the globe, Newsham discussed how organized crime, fraud, money laundering, and related risks pose huge threats to the financial well-being and reputation of companies looking to enter into a business transaction. Newsham also noted that despite the prevalence of such risk, training on how to conduct due diligence is virtually absent at the top business schools. He cautioned the students, when in their leadership positions, to ensure that their companies are diligent in conducting thorough research before engaging in a business deal.
 
Newsham's current work focuses on protecting Morgan Stanley's business operations from overlooked risks. He is a former US diplomat, having served at Embassy's in Tokyo and Islamabad, and having worked in other parts of the world handling a range of duties from commercial matters to counter-insurgency. Newsham is a licensed attorney and previously practiced with an international law firm in Los Angeles. Newsham is also a Colonel in the US Marine Corps Reserve and currently serves with Marine Forces Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.