We check what the paper says against what is on the ground.
Stormglass is an independent verification practice for capital entering frontier markets and for frontier-market assets entering global capital. We are instructed before a commitment is made. We report what the record shows, and — separately — what we think it means.
把纸上写的，和地上有的，对一遍。
溪云咨询是一家独立核实机构，服务于进入前沿市场的资本，以及走向全球资本市场的前沿市场资产。我们在承诺作出之前受托，把记录显示的写出来——再另起一段，写我们认为它意味着什么。
| Claim | 对方说法 | Source checked | 核查来源 | Status | 结论 | Note | 备注 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mining title current, all fees paid矿权有效，费用已缴清 | Cadastre office ledger, in person矿业局台账，现场查阅 | Contradicted与记录相悖 | Three years of annual service fees outstanding; title liable to revocation三年年费未缴；矿权处于可被撤销状态 | ||||
| Operating licence covers the proposed business现有牌照覆盖拟开展的业务 | Regulator's licence register; licence conditions监管机构牌照登记；牌照附加条件 | Not verified未能核实 | Licence category covers wholesale only; retail requires a separate class牌照类别仅覆盖批发；零售需另一类别 | ||||
| Counterparty is a wholly owned subsidiary of the group named对手方为所称集团的全资子公司 | Company registry; group filings公司注册处；集团公告 | Verified已核实 | Held through an intermediate holding company; no encumbrance on shares经一家中间控股公司持有；股权无负担 |
Every report we issue contains this table. Every claim the client was given gets a row. The status column holds one of three words; our opinion, where we give one, is kept on a separate page.
我们出的每一份报告都有这张表。客户听到的每一个说法占一行；结论一栏只有三个词。我们的判断——如果给的话——写在另一页。
- We are instructed by one side and take no fee from the other.
- A registered fact, a written confirmation, the counterparty's own account, and our inference are four different things and are labelled as such.
- We do not give legal, tax or accounting opinions; where one is needed we brief counsel and coordinate the answer.
- 只受一方委托，不收另一方的费用。
- 登记事实、书面确认、对方自述、我们的推断，是四种东西，各自标明。
- 不出具法律、税务、会计意见；需要时，我们向律师交代问题并协调答复。
What we verify
我们核实什么
Assets
资产
Mining titles, land, plant and equipment, inventory and stockpiles. Whether the title exists, who holds it, what is owed on it, and whether what is on the ground matches what is on paper.
矿权、土地、厂房设备、库存与堆存。产权是否存在、在谁名下、欠着什么、地上的东西和纸上的是否一致。
Counterparties
对手方
Who the person or company actually is: shareholding chain, beneficial ownership, litigation and enforcement history, prior dealings, and whether the relationships they claim — with a ministry, a group, a family — can be evidenced.
对手方到底是谁：股权链、实际控制人、诉讼与执行记录、过往交易，以及他们所称的关系——与某部委、某集团、某家族——是否能被证实。
Licences and approvals
牌照与许可
Whether a licence, permit, quota or approval is valid, what it actually permits, what conditions attach to it, and whether the business proposed falls inside it.
牌照、许可、配额、批文是否有效，实际允许做什么，附带什么条件，拟做的业务是否在范围之内。
Numbers
数字
The assumptions behind a valuation, a feasibility study or an offtake price: which are supported by the record, which by the counterparty's word, and which by nothing.
估值、可研、包销价格背后的假设：哪些有记录支撑，哪些只有对方一句话，哪些什么都没有。
What we have seen
典型情形
1 · Annual fees
1 · 矿权年费
The cadastre portal showed a valid exploration licence with no flags. The ledger at the mining office showed three years of unpaid annual service fees. Under the applicable act the title was liable to revocation on notice; the vendor was selling something the state could take back.
矿业局网上系统显示探矿权有效、无异常。到矿业局办公室查台账，三年年费未缴。按矿业法，该矿权已处于可被通知撤销的状态——卖方在卖一样国家随时可以收回的东西。
2 · Coordinates
2 · 坐标
The licence coordinates and the pit the vendor showed us were four kilometres apart. The pit sat inside a neighbour's title. Nothing in the documents was false; they simply described a different piece of ground.
证载坐标和卖方带我们看的采坑相距四公里。采坑在邻家矿权范围内。文件没有一份是假的，只是它们描述的是另一块地。
3 · Licence class
3 · 牌照类别
A gas supply licence was presented as authority to sell to end users. The licence class covered wholesale supply only; retail distribution required a separate class the applicant had not obtained. The business plan was built on a licence that did not permit the business.
一张天然气供应牌照被当作向终端用户售气的依据。该牌照类别只覆盖批发；零售配送需要另一类别，申请人从未取得。整个商业计划建立在一张不允许这门生意的牌照上。
4 · Group affiliation
4 · 集团背景
The counterparty described itself as a subsidiary of a state-owned group. The registry showed a private company with two individual shareholders and no connection to the group named. The "group" was a former employer of one director.
对手方自称某国企集团的子公司。注册处显示是一家两个自然人持股的私人公司，与所称集团没有任何股权关系。所谓"集团"，是其中一位董事的前雇主。
5 · Port facility
5 · 港口设施
A terminal was offered as a bonded facility for a specified cargo class. The customs approval on file covered a different cargo class and had lapsed. The facility was real; the status was not.
一处码头被作为某类货物的保税设施提供。海关批文覆盖的是另一类货物，且已过期。设施是真的，资质不是。
6 · Resource figure
6 · 资源量
A listed company's presentation cited a resource figure. The figure came from an exploration target, not a compliant resource estimate, and the company's own filings said so in a footnote. The number was not wrong; it was a different kind of number.
一家上市公司的推介材料引用了一个资源量数字。该数字来自勘探目标，不是合规的资源量估算，公司自己的公告在脚注里写得很清楚。数字没错，只是不是那种数字。
7 · Mainland counterparty
7 · 中国主体
A mainland Chinese partner presented a clean corporate profile. The court enforcement register showed an active judgment debt and a restriction order against the legal representative. Neither appeared in the materials provided.
一家中国大陆合作方提供了干净的公司简介。执行信息公开网显示一笔在执行的判决债务，法定代表人被限制高消费。提供的材料里两样都没有。
8 · Community agreement
8 · 社区
A community development agreement had been signed and stamped. The traditional ruler whose signature appeared on it had died two years earlier; his successor had not seen the document. The agreement was valid on paper and unenforceable on the ground.
一份社区发展协议已签署盖章。协议上签名的传统领袖两年前已去世，继任者从未见过这份文件。协议在纸上有效，在地上执行不了。
Details in every case above have been changed. The pattern in each has not.
以上每一条的细节都做了改动，模式一个也没有。
Where we work
覆盖范围
- Field and desk
- Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana, Egypt. Our own people, our own logistics. Each engagement letter states which areas we will and will not enter.
- Record verification
- Mainland China, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, the United States. Counterparty, listed-company and licence verification for parties on either side of a China–Africa or China–Western transaction.
- 现场与记录
- 尼日利亚、加纳、坦桑尼亚、肯尼亚、博茨瓦纳、埃及。我们自己的人，自己的行程。每份委托书写明我们去与不去的区域。
- 记录核实
- 中国大陆、香港、澳大利亚、加拿大、美国。为中非、中西交易任一方核实对手方、上市公司与牌照。
Engagement
委托方式
Quick check
快筛
Who the counterparty is, whether the entity and the title exist, and what the public record already says. Fixed fee, paid in advance.
对手方是谁、主体和产权是否存在、公开记录已经说了什么。固定费用，预付。
Verification report
核实报告
The full table on a title, a licence, a project, a counterparty or a set of numbers, with our opinion on a separate page.
对一项产权、一张牌照、一个项目、一个对手方或一组数字出具完整核实表，判断另页。
Retained
年度顾问
A standing instruction: quick checks included, reports at a reduced rate, and a phone that is answered.
常设委托：包含快筛，报告优惠，电话随时有人接。
Fees on request. Field work quoted separately, by the day.
费用按需报价，现场工作单独按天计。
Contact
联系
Write to us with the counterparty's name and what you have been told. We reply within one working day with whether we can help and what it would cost.
来信写明对手方名称和你被告知的内容。一个工作日内回复能否承接及费用。
desk@stormglass.hk