Merchant International Group
Encyclopedia
Merchant International Group (MIG) was a privately owned British strategic research and corporate intelligence company with offices in London
and Vienna
.
banker served as the companies Chairman from 2002. The group had an Advisory Board made up of a number of prominent former public servants including Sir Graham Boyce the former Ambassador to Kuwait
, and Baroness Chalker of Wallasey. Sir John Wheeler
, the former Conservative
politician who served as Northern Ireland
Security Minister, served as a Non-Executive Director.
including Cadbury Schweppes
, Legal & General
, and Kingfisher plc
. The company claimed to have worked with over half the FTSE 100 and 150 of the Fortune 500
. MIG also provided global risk research to the World Bank
. MIG developed a framework that identified ten categories of Grey Area Dynamics™. Each refers to a range of events, activities and trends that impact upon business.
It provided data to Transparency International
alongside the Asia Development Bank, World Economic Forum
, and Economist Intelligence Unit
to compile its Corruption Perceptions Index
(CPI).
MIG produced the Marine Piracy Threat Assessment which was modelled piracy
risks in various parts of the world and was featured each month in the shipping journal Lloyd's List
. The reports were some of the first to highlight the statistical increase in global piracy and as a result drew criticism from some parts of the shipping industry for damaging the reputation of some countries and pushing up the cost of insuring vessels entering piracy zones.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
History
Merchant International Group was established in 1982 by Stuart Poole-Robb and Alan Bailey who had both previously served in the UK military. Peter Davies, a former Morgan Grenfell and Deutsche BankDeutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG is a global financial service company with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. It employs more than 100,000 people in over 70 countries, and has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the emerging markets...
banker served as the companies Chairman from 2002. The group had an Advisory Board made up of a number of prominent former public servants including Sir Graham Boyce the former Ambassador to Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, and Baroness Chalker of Wallasey. Sir John Wheeler
John Wheeler
John Wheeler may refer to:* John Wheeler , American Emmy Award-winning audio/video engineer* John Wheeler , Union officer in the Civil War; killed at Gettysburg* John Wheeler John Wheeler may refer to:* John Wheeler (audio/video technologist) (born 1957), American Emmy Award-winning audio/video...
, the former Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician who served as Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
Security Minister, served as a Non-Executive Director.
Services
The company worked for a number of UK based multinationalsMultinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
including Cadbury Schweppes
Cadbury Schweppes
Cadbury is a confectionery company owned by Kraft Foods and is the industry's second-largest globally after Mars, Incorporated. Headquartered in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom, the company operates in more than 50 countries worldwide....
, Legal & General
Legal & General
Legal & General Group Plc , commonly known as Legal & General, is a multinational financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its products include life insurance, general insurance, pensions and investments. It has operations in the United Kingdom, Egypt, France, Germany,...
, and Kingfisher plc
Kingfisher plc
Kingfisher plc is a multinational retailing company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest home improvement retailer in Europe and the third-largest in the world...
. The company claimed to have worked with over half the FTSE 100 and 150 of the Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
. MIG also provided global risk research to the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
. MIG developed a framework that identified ten categories of Grey Area Dynamics™. Each refers to a range of events, activities and trends that impact upon business.
It provided data to Transparency International
Transparency International
Transparency International is a non-governmental organization that monitors and publicizes corporate and political corruption in international development. It publishes an annual Corruption Perceptions Index, a comparative listing of corruption worldwide...
alongside the Asia Development Bank, World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
, and Economist Intelligence Unit
Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit is part of the Economist Group.It is a research and advisory company providing country, industry and management analysis worldwide and incorporates the former Business International Corporation, a U.S. company acquired by the parent organization in 1986...
to compile its Corruption Perceptions Index
Corruption Perceptions Index
Since 1995, Transparency International publishes the Corruption Perceptions Index annually ranking countries "by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys." The CPI generally defines corruption as "the misuse of public power for private...
(CPI).
MIG produced the Marine Piracy Threat Assessment which was modelled piracy
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
risks in various parts of the world and was featured each month in the shipping journal Lloyd's List
Lloyd's List
Lloyd's List is one of the world's oldest continuously-running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. Now published daily, a recent issue was numbered 59,200...
. The reports were some of the first to highlight the statistical increase in global piracy and as a result drew criticism from some parts of the shipping industry for damaging the reputation of some countries and pushing up the cost of insuring vessels entering piracy zones.
Awards
Merchant International Group won the European Service Provider of the Year, 1999-2000 at the European Risk Management Awards magazine International Risk Management. In 2004, the company won an award for Product of the Year from StrategicRiskSimilar companies
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