Recent Engagements
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Field Examination of a Payday Lender
Durkin Group was engaged by a Senior Lender to perform a recurring field examination on a finance company that provides payday loans. The field examiners reviewed the credit policies and procedures of the finance company and noted that there was an internal policy against loan flipping. It was also not permitted in the Senior Lender’s [...]
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Field Examination of a Factoring Company
Durkin Group was engaged by a Bank to perform a recurring field examination of a finance company that factors attorney’ legal fees that have become due and payable through pre-litigation settlements. These settlements are usually for personal injury, workers compensation, and class action litigation cases and are typically due from insurance companies and state insurance [...]
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Securitization Due Diligence
Durkin Group was engaged by a large commercial finance company to perform pre-funding due diligence on a $600 million securitized accounts receivable pool supporting a $300 million credit facility. Durkin was able to mobilize a team of eight professionals under a tight timeframe and provide a due diligence review for the lead lender and its [...]
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Engagement Focus
During the course of a routine collateral examination for one of our client’s existing borrowers, we discovered various discrepancies with the underlying borrowing base. We determined that the borrower was arbitrarily changing invoice dates on the accounts receivable aging in an attempt to misstate the true availability. Further review by the analyst on site as well [...]
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Businessman’s Review
The Loan Workout Group of a large commercial bank had a problem loan transferred in from the Corporate Lending Department. To determine the bank’s position and provide current information for decision making, the bank required an immediate assessment of the company’s liquidity position as well as the collateral performance. In conjunction with the field exam, [...]
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Government Contracts
Durkin Group was engaged by a finance company to complete a survey for a $65 million senior secured credit facility. The credit facility was to provide working capital and fund the acquisition of a company with a concentration in defense contracting. Since the largest exposure of the credit facility centered on federal government accounts receivable, [...]
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Survey Examination of a Physician Practice
A small pediatric medical provider was borrowing from a specialty healthcare lending group and was being overwhelmed with audit time and fees. A lender engaged Durkin Group to perform a due diligence exam on a $2.5 million senior secured credit facility. The Durkin examiner finished the due diligence in significantly less time than the current lender spent [...]
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Agreed Upon Procedures Engagement
A publicly traded real estate management company, specializing in nursing home facilities, had an operator who they suspected was not living up to the contractual obligations regarding the upkeep of their nursing homes. The management company engaged Durkin Group to perform a review of capital spending on the 19 facilities run by the operator. The [...]
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Survey Examination of a Nursing Home Operator with Multiple Locations
Durkin Group was engaged by a private equity group with limited experience in healthcare lending to complete a survey for a $75 million senior secured credit facility. As the group was trying to attract participants into the deal, the report needed to be comprehensive enough to satisfy specialty healthcare lenders while remaining understandable to general [...]
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Pre-funding Due Diligence for Securitization
Durkin Group was engaged by a large commercial finance company to perform pre-funding due diligence on a $600 million securitized accounts receivable pool supporting a $300 million credit facility. Durkin was able to mobilize a team of eight professionals under a tight timeframe and provide a due diligence review for the lead lender and its [...]
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Field Examination for Large Commercial Finance Company
Durkin Group was engaged by a Large Commercial Finance Company to perform a survey field examination on a insurance premium finance company. The company finances both property and casualty insurance premiums for individuals and businesses. The insurance premium finance company had wide fluctuations in their receivable base due to the timing of both payments and [...]
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Field Examination for Senior Lender
Durkin Group was engaged by a Senior Lender to perform a recurring field examination on a finance company that provides payday loans. The field examiners reviewed the credit policies and procedures of the finance company and noted that there was an internal policy against loan flipping. It was also not permitted in the Senior Lender’s [...]
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Field Examination for Bank
Durkin Group was engaged by a Bank to perform a recurring field examination of a finance company that factors attorney’ legal fees that have become due and payable through pre-litigation settlements. These settlements are usually for personal injury, workers compensation, and class action litigation cases and are typically due from insurance companies and state insurance [...]
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Field Examination for National Bank
Durkin Group was engaged by a National Bank to provide a recurring field examination on a finance company that monetized structured settlements. The finance company purchases all or a portion of a Claimant’s rights to receive future Scheduled Payments under Settlement Agreements payments, thereby providing liquidity to Claimants whose Structured Settlements no longer meet their [...]
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Staff Training Solutions
Durkin Group was engaged by a global bank to draft and instruct a financial accounting training course for a group of management trainees. The trainees would eventually go on to financial analysis, underwriting and account management positions. The extensive, four week training course started with basic accounting terms, concepts and principals and culminated in the [...]
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Workout Assistance
Durkin Group was engaged by a lender to monitor a borrower throughout the work-out of their loan. This engagement required Durkin Group to be on-site every business day to monitor receivables, payables, inventory and cash flow. Durkin Group was responsible for securing the inventory and maintained the keys to the offices and vaults. Throughout the [...]
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Field Examination & Investigative Research
While performing a survey field examination on an electrical supply wholesaler, the examiner inquired as to whether or not the company had any affiliated entities. Some of the documentation (purchase orders and invoices) reviewed noted similar names and addresses; however, management denied the existence of related parties or affiliates. After consulting with the Lender, further [...]
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National Bank Engages Durkin Group for a $300 Million Agented Transaction
Durkin Group was engaged by an agent bank to perform an initial field examination of a prospective borrower for a $300 million syndicated transaction. The assignment required five field examiners to perform an examination of 14 divisions with locations throughout the United States. The team was led by a Durkin Group senior manager who was [...]
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Skilled Nursing Home Facilities Acquisition
An investor group was seeking to purchase six, multi-state, skilled nursing facilities. As part of the acquisition, the investor group was seeking a $26 million term loan to finance the acquisition and refinance existing indebtedness, and a $14 million revolving credit facility, to support a letter of credit facility and for working capital. The investor [...]
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Ambulance Service Provider Routine Examination
A lender contacted Durkin Group to perform a routine field examination of an ambulance service provider. The company was requesting an increase in its working capital line. During cash testing, our field examiner discovered that the owner of the company was diverting funds to a troubled exotic car business that he also owned. The lender [...]
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Regional Medical Center New Business Transaction
Durkin Group was engaged by the Field Examination Manager of a large national bank to conduct an initial field examination of a regional medical center for a proposed $250 million facility. The Field Examination Manager did not have field examiners on staff with healthcare expertise. In addition, the Field Examination Manager needed a clear, concise [...]
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Financially Troubled Hospital Liquidation
A healthcare lender called on Durkin Group for an emergency field examination of its customer—a financially troubled hospital. During the engagement, our field examiner uncovered a significant past due payroll tax liability that had not been previously disclosed to the healthcare lender. This discovery, combined with the deteriorating financial condition of the hospital, resulted in [...]
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Pharmaceutical Company Acquisition
Durkin Group was engaged by a private equity sponsor to analyze the revenue recognition policy and procedures of a major pharmaceutical distribution company in advance of its pending acquisition. The private equity firm, a longtime Durkin Group client, was faced with a tight timeline to complete its due diligence. We were able to quickly assemble [...]
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Pre-employment Screening
A potential employer called on Durkin Group to perform a routine pre-employment screening of a prospective employee. The criminal background search of state and local court records noted both a history of criminal activity and outstanding civil litigation against the prospective employee causing the employer to rethink its hiring decision.
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Background Investigation and Forensic Accounting
In conjunction with forensic accounting services being performed for a hedge fund, Durkin Group researched the principals of the subject company. We uncovered evidence of affiliated entities and this led to the discovery of habitual fraudulent practices involving several of the principals. If proper due diligence had been performed up-front, the hedge fund may have [...]
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Background Investigation
Durkin Group was engaged by a hedge fund to perform a background investigation on the principal of a prospect company. The investigation noted a lawsuit involving the individual. Further investigation into the lawsuit uncovered the fact that the principal had co-conspired with a convicted felon who had been charged with defrauding a major bank. The [...]
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Monitoring
Durkin Group completed an engagement where we initially monitored day-to-day operations of a cheese manufacturing facility, including production, shipment, billing, and inventory management. The engagement later became a wind-down where we performed an orderly liquidation of the inventory assets consisting of finished cheese, raw materials, packaging materials, and ultimately, the preparation of a fixed asset [...]
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Collateral Examination & Quality of Earnings
A commercial lender agenting a $100 million facility was concerned about declining revenue, declining EBITDA, and loan covenant violations. Prior to an upcoming bank group meeting, Durkin Group performed a collateral examination and quality of earnings assessment that revealed a curtailment of business from several larger customers as well as issues with revenue recognition.
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Sarbanes-Oxley
Durkin Group provided in-charge level resources for Sarbanes-Oxley and operational audits. We planned and developed an overall audit program, reviewed workpapers and narratives, and managed the audit team. Durkin Group also prepared a draft report for management responses and followed up, as needed, with Quality Assurance prior to final report issuance. Finally, we conducted a [...]
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Financial Analysis
A cash flow lender required assistance in evaluating trailing 12-month EBITDA numbers, and monthly working capital projections, relating to an asset purchase by an equity sponsor. The target firm was a division of an international company that had been purchased and sold twice within the last five years. Durkin Group worked closely with the underwriter [...]
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Collateral Examination
Durkin Group recently completed a due diligence project relating to a $15 million revolving credit facility, and a $5 million cash flow term loan, secured by third party receivables for two hospital campuses. The diligence focused on calculating the net collectable value by payor class for comparison and support of the proposed advance rates by [...]
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Background Investigation
While performing a field examination on a transaction for a leveraged debt fund, Durkin Group’s analyst became concerned about the behavior of the target company’s CFO/ controller. In conversations, he explained how successful and intelligent he was and made a representation that he was a Ph.D. teaching as an adjunct professor at a prestigious university. [...]
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Internal Audit Quality Assurance
Durkin Group managed the Internal Audit Quality Assurance function for a Fortune 500 Company with staff of approximately 30 professionals, and an equal number of external resources, producing approximately 75 audits per year. In addition, we assisted in the establishment and documentation of workpaper standards in accordance with Institute of Internal Auditors (“IIA”) standards. Durkin [...]
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Authenticity Testing
A finance company was concerned with the integrity of a borrower’s collateral reporting and assignments. Durkin Group performed authenticity testing, which supported the lender’s concern—fictitious sales were being assigned as collateral. Subsequent phone verifications of customer receivables also revealed other significant exceptions.
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Monitoring and Financial Oversight
A hedge fund investor provided financing to a growth business that was undercapitalized and strapped for cash. The loan was a working capital facility and was in an overadvance position after the borrower assigned fictitious sales as collateral. Durkin Group performed daily monitoring of the borrower’s collateral and financial oversight of the company’s cash flows. [...]
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Internal Audit
Durkin Group provided ongoing resources for Sarbanes-Oxley and operational audits, including audit test plans, validation of the accuracy and completeness of existing controls, evaluation and documentation of process flows (walk-through), and process narratives.
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Network Security
Durkin Group performed internal and external penetration testing of the network of a major New York City based magazine publisher. Although the client had some security measures in place—firewalls, virtual private networks, encryption—our team was able to gain access and could have controlled most of the machines on the clients network—servers, routers, printers, and desktop [...]
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Forensic Accounting
Durkin Group was engaged by the legal representation for a national equipment finance company to provide forensic accounting and consulting services in relation to litigation between the finance company and its borrower. We investigated the alleged selling of secured assets, the duplicate collateralization of assets with the various lenders, and the misappropriation of funds through [...]