Market intelligence

CbI Research can help you with your reputational due diligence, sector, country or people-focused monitoring, political risk and market entry requirements.

CbI Research has carried out dozens of market entry reports for clients. We help our clients understand who the relevant decision-makers and power holders are in the country of interest.

Market entry reports cover:

• How decisions are made in the client’s sector of interest (for example energy, banking or defence)
• Profiles of people and bodies (for example relevant councils, ministries and organisations) who make decisions on foreign investment in the relevant sector
• A detailed analysis of the political system, threats to its stability and how this may impact on foreign investment in the country
• The local competitive environment – we provide information on the largest local competitors and their connections to decision-makers
• Corruption and local business issues in the sector of interest

Foreign businesses considering or actually working in the Gulf need to understand its major business families. This is because one or more of a these family’s businesses will very likely be either a competitor, or maybe even a business partner.

GSN's parent company Cross-border Information (CbI) has published both off-the-shelf and bespoke reports on the region's merchant families to provide insights to investors interested in understanding the Gulf business environment

These reports explain what assets the family controls, where it is going, its key personalities and its political connections.

GSN's regular coverage includes monitoring  and reporting on the public engagements of the region's ruling families – see Royals Watch –  including succession issues.

To complement its reporting, GSN has produced succinct but detailed trees on all 13 Gulf ruling families. Typically each tree is published as a PDF  with a central diagram and notes on the family's history, succession issues and key personalities.

If you require a more detailed analysis, GSN's parent company Cross-border Information (CbI) can produce tailored reports to help you better undertand the family relationships that underpin business and politics

On Saudi Arabia, for instance, CbI maintains an detailed and extensive record of key members of the Al-Saud to help produce better informed reports for clients who want to understand the intricacies of Al-Saud family politics.

CbI has also previously released this resource as an off-the-shelf PDF report – Anatomy of the Al Saud: Descendants of King Abdelaziz.