AI to detect cartel risk in agricultural machinery distribution

Summary:

The AI tool allows investigations or compliance reviews to be run 91% faster than conventional review and more cost-effectively than any other options. 

Client: 

A European agricultural machinery distributor

Problem Statement: 

After facing bid rigging allegations by a former employee attempting to blackmail the company, a European agricultural machinery distributor initiated an internal investigation into cartel activities. Management needed to respond promptly to mitigate the risk of fines and negative publicity. The primary goals were to ascertain whether bid rigging was an isolated occurrence involving a single rogue employee or a more widespread problem, and to make a decision regarding a leniency application.

Results: 

• Review of almost 200 documents.
• 91% faster than conventional review. 
• 2,315 documents were selected for analysis by the legal team, which equates to a 98.8% reduction in manual work.
• Reduction of time for verification and provision of strategic legal advice to 55 hours.
• 91% increase in review speed.
• An application for leniency (100% immunity from fines) was submitted and accepted.

AI Solution Overview:

Aiscension, developed in collaboration with eDiscovery and AI experts Reveal Brainspace, is designed to rapidly scan millions of messages using AI, ensuring exceptional compliance monitoring speed and efficiency. Its capability to detect suspicious patterns and identify unusual behavior across millions of data points can significantly impact business anti-corruption policies.

This tool enables proactive and swift scanning of communications for potential risks. Working in over 100 languages, Aiscension can be implemented throughout the supply chain to ensure compliance.

Aiscension is trained to identify various forms of cartel behavior, including price fixing, trade falsification, market division, collective boycotts, and sharing of confidential information.

Operating as a closed-loop system, Aiscension utilizes proprietary AI models trained by lawyers to identify risk factors in large data sets. The results are then evaluated by lawyers who advise companies on the appropriate course of action.

References: 

1. How is AI assisting Authorities in Cartel Investigations?https://www.legaltechinnovations.com/how-is-ai-assisting-authorities-in-cartel-investigations
2.  Can Machine Learning Aide in Cartel Detection? https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3291633
3. Flagging cartel participants with deep learning based on convolutional neural networks. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167718723000280
4. Public procurement cartels: A large-sample testing of screens using machine learning. https://www.govtransparency.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Fazekas-et-al_PP-cartel-detection_GTI-WP_2023.pdf
5. Aiscension: Use AI to detect cartel risk. https://www.dlapiper.com/en/about-us/law-and/aiscension-use-ai-to-detect-cartel-risk
6. Aiscension: AI in the legal sector. https://www.dlapiper.com/en/insights/publications/africa-connected/africa-connected-issue-6/aiscension-ai-in-the-legal-sector

Industry: Legal Services

Vendor: DLA Piper, Reveal

Client: A European agricultural machinery distributor

Publication Date: 2021