Experience
Mantid was hired by a company that holds a large U.S. government funded program in a foreign country to help it re-establish and strengthen its communication lines with the foreign government and redesign its compliance posture. As a direct result of Mantid efforts, the company saved millions in unnecessary compliance costs, secured key exemptions from costly local requirements, successfully overcame politically motivated legal attacks, streamlined its operations and built up its reputation with key foreign decision makers, winning the full support of the host government, and being re-awarded the forward year contract.
Mantid was hired by a large firm that occupies a strategic role in support of the US Government in a foreign country. The company had unsuccessfully tried for years to meet the foreign government compliance regulations which were being unfairly applied. Prior advisors had been unable to address the huge disparity between foreign official demands related to host country regulations and laws, and actual financial and technical realities dictated by the regulations of the U.S. government contract under which they operated. The solution required more than understanding the compliance requirements, but rather building a tailored strategy to navigate the finest nuances of local laws and regulations, enlist the support of U.S. government diplomats, work with foreign government accounting experts and mentors to engage and educate local technocrats on international standards and pursue an outcome that will not only help the client, but create a precedent for more fair application of compliance costs for all U.S. companies. The resulting outcomes reduced costs by more than 70% for our clients.
Mantid was retained by a US company to support its operations in the Middle East. The company changed ownership, and in the process, was required to settle outstanding tax and labor fees accumulated from a legacy business registration which involved payments and penalties going back five years. One of the Big 4 accounting firms reviewed their case and informed the company that they owed $10 million in back-taxes but were unable to advise how to settle and achieve compliance with local authorities. Mantid brought a team including the top certified auditors of the foreign country to work through all of the issues and within months, and correctly structured the compliance strategy and settled all prior outstanding taxes due for under $300,000. Not only did the company save millions and settle all outstanding compliance shortfalls, but they had also established a solid regime that correctly reported earnings and operations under the foreign country's complex regulatory environment meaning that the company had a much more reasonable compliance burden moving forward.
Mantid was retained by a mid-sized US engineering services company that had provided support to a foreign military branch under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. The company had fallen out of favor with the host government due to a lack of liaison with the end user and a targeted campaign against them by a competitor. They also lost the follow-on contract. Mantid worked for two years to repair the relationship with the host government's Ministry of Defense, correct the records that had been planted by the less scrupulous competitor, and identified a strong, credible local partner. As a result of the strategy employed by Mantid, the company received its first new high profile FMS contract from the same host government.
Mantid was retained by a US company that won an FMS contract to provide sophisticated training services to a foreign military. Due to US contractual considerations the company was not allowed to interface with the foreign government until after award. This created start-up challenges including securing of extraordinary approvals in order for the team to begin work. Mantid provided a full suite of support delivering Ministerial level exceptions to allow the team to begin operations immediately and then helping the company to understand and implement the complex compliance requirements necessary for them to operate.
Mantid won a $10 million annual contract to support a provincial government in the Middle East to help them execute and improve engineering management, project management, procurement and oversight, and produce a strategic plan for the province. As part of the contract, Mantid set up a fully functioning headquarters and brought in foreign engineering, planning and procurement experts who both assisted the province in executing ongoing projects (schools, hospitals, roads, power plants, equipment, sewer systems, municipal buildings, etc.) and trained provincial engineering staff in international standards. In the process, Mantid experts identified key shortfalls in critical public infrastructure including a school building that was unsafe for children. Mantid’s actions resulted in immediate actions to ensure safety and adherence to standards. Mantid also provided tailored templates for engineering and contracting processes that the province used as a basis for building its internal capabilities.
Mantid supported an international company seeking to submit a proposal for a U.S. Defense Department project spanning multiple countries. Our connections with government leadership, private sector management and regulatory officials throughout the region and our ability to gather high quality information in record time informed their business development strategy and provided a wide range of potential solutions to the client.
Multiple recommendations made by Mantid consultants have been adopted in various forms as part of government orders and regulations that have resulted in beneficial changes to public policy and improved efficiencies for companies doing business in those regions.
