Due diligence is an investigation of a company that is usually used before concluding an agreement or starting new business co-operation. Due diligence involves a check of good standing of the company, evaluation of planned earnings and cash flows assessing quality of assets, identifying business risks, highlighting any unexpected issues that might affect execution of agreement, identifying hidden costs, commitments and contingencies, verifying and estimating potential tax exposures and other checks based on case-to-case basis. Due diligence helps to evaluate the fact whether you can trust your business partner through reliability check of new or current business partner in the result providing higher level of security.

Certificate of good standing
Certificate of good standing is a public document issued by a competent state authority, approving that the company actually exists and at the moment of the check is in full legal compliance with all state requirements, including corporate and tax legislation, as well as filing annual reports and paying taxes. Above-mentioned certificate is issued if the company has paid all its statutory dues, has met all filing requirements and, therefore, is legally authorized to enter into transactions and run business on the territory of this jurisdiction.

Certificate of good standing, also sometimes called certificate of commonwealth, serves as a proof that all tax liabilities have been met in order to obtain financing, sell company’s business, renew licenses or enter into other business transactions. Such certificate generally might be requested by governmental institution, if you're applying for foreign qualification, private persons when considering granting a loan, banks for certain transactions, potential business partners as well as investors and partners. A good standing certificate is needed for expansion, financing and realization of business transactions.

Acquisition of the certificate of good standing
Certificate of good standing can be issued upon request. This procedure slightly differs in each jurisdiction: in European Union the certificate will be issued by Central register and it usually takes a few days. In other countries, such as the United States and offshore jurisdictions, where such certificates are issued by Company Secretary, it would take up to few weeks. In addition, it might be required to attach apostille, which will take few extra days to acquire