Lawyer-led asset & property tracing
Finding the assets the law needs found, discreetly and on the record
A legal right is only worth what you can recover on it. A spouse who under-discloses, a judgment that cannot be enforced because the assets cannot be found, a counterparty whose ownership has to be verified before you sign: in each case the obstacle is not the law, it is the asset position. I coordinate a regulated asset-tracing and forensic-enquiry service that establishes that position and produces evidence a court will accept.
I act as your single point of contact. I assess the legal position, select the remedy, instruct and supervise a vetted investigations partner, and turn what is found into the affidavit, application or order your matter requires, with the care of a litigation-trained lawyer.
Legally framed
The search is built around the remedy you need, a freezing order, disclosure, a set-aside or enforcement, not around data-gathering for its own sake.
On the record
Findings are documented so they stand as evidence that withstands judicial scrutiny, the search itself becoming part of the proof.
Proportionate and discreet
Enquiries are scoped to the matter and run within the limits of banking secrecy, never as harassment or self-help.
Where it matters
When the assets, not the law, are what stands in your way
Most matters fall into two areas, financial proceedings on divorce and the enforcement of judgments, with verification before a transaction and the administration of an estate arising alongside. Each begins with the same question: what does the other side actually own, and can we prove how we found it.
Hidden assets in a divorce
A fair financial outcome depends on knowing what each spouse holds. Where one party under-discloses, moves assets into companies, or transfers them to relatives, the claim to a share of the increase in their property can be defeated before it is heard.
An independent asset profile, built from the registers and proper enquiry, lets counsel test the disclosure, support an application for an asset-disclosure order, and ask the court to draw adverse inferences where the picture does not add up.
A judgment you cannot enforce
A judgment is only as valuable as the assets you can find. Debtors restructure their holdings, place property behind intermediary companies, and move value across borders, so that an award on paper never becomes a recovery.
Forensic asset tracing identifies the property, the corporate vehicles that hold it, and the route by which it was moved, providing the factual backbone for a freezing order, a charging order, a garnishee order, or an application to set a transfer aside.
Verification before a transaction
Confirming that a counterparty owns what it claims, free of encumbrances, before an acquisition, partnership or investment.
Estate assets and beneficiaries
Identifying accounts, investments, policies and overseas property before an estate is distributed, with the record an indemnity insurer will want.
Beneficial ownership and structures
Mapping the relationships between holding companies and the people who ultimately control them, including layered and offshore vehicles.
Cross-border tracing and recovery
Following assets across jurisdictions and coordinating the instruments, such as the EAPO, that make a foreign recovery possible.
Vessels and high-value movables
Tracing ships, aircraft and other registrable assets, and confirming the ownership and charges recorded against them.
Source of wealth and funds
Establishing the origin of wealth and of the specific funds in a transaction, to the standard enhanced due diligence requires.
How do you reach a fair settlement when a spouse under-discloses?
Cyprus does not apply a community-property regime. Each spouse keeps what is in their own name, but a spouse who contributed to the increase of the other's property during the marriage is entitled to a share of that increase, presumed under Article 14 of the Regulating the Property Rights of Spouses Law 232/1991 to be one-third unless a different share is proved. The whole claim turns on quantifying the increase, which is exactly what fails when assets are concealed.
The court is not powerless here. It can order a spouse to disclose their assets, and giving false or misleading information is contempt; where disclosure is selective, the court may draw adverse inferences and assign a value to what was hidden; and it can make an interim prohibitory order to stop a spouse disposing of property pending trial. In the English authorities that Cyprus courts find persuasive, the duty of full and frank disclosure is a continuing one, and fraudulent non-disclosure can set a final order aside (Sharland v Sharland [2015] UKSC 60). What a party cannot do is help themselves to the other side's confidential documents (Tchenguiz v Imerman [2010] EWCA Civ 908); the proper route is court-ordered disclosure tested against an independent asset profile.
- Asset-disclosure orders and the discovery of property held in a spouse's own name or behind a company
- An independent asset profile to test the disclosure and support adverse-inference submissions
- Interim prohibitory orders to prevent the disposal of assets pending the outcome
- Quantifying the increase in the other spouse's property, the figure the whole claim depends on
A judgment is only as good as the assets you can find
A Cyprus judgment is enforceable for fifteen years, but enforcement is real only where the assets are. The starting point is the examination of the judgment debtor, who can be ordered to file an affidavit listing all movable and immovable property; from there the toolkit runs to a charging order registered against land, a garnishee order against third-party debts, a writ of execution, and the insolvency route where ordinary enforcement fails.
Cyprus is recognised as a strong freezing-order jurisdiction. A freezing injunction, the Mareva injunction, restrains a party from dissipating assets and, in the right case, reaches worldwide; it rests on Section 32 of the Courts of Justice Law 14/1960 and the equity jurisdiction under Section 29, on the preconditions set out in Odysseos v Pieris Estates Ltd (1982), and on the worldwide reach recognised by the Supreme Court in Seamark Consultancy Services Ltd v Lasala (2007). Where the assets sit behind an innocent third party, a Norwich Pharmacal order can compel a bank or corporate service provider to disclose what is needed to trace them, banking secrecy yielding to the public interest in exposing fraud, and a Cyprus Court of Appeal decision of November 2025 confirms that the information may be used only for the purpose for which it was given. Where the debtor has already moved value away, a transfer made to defeat creditors can be unwound: the actio pauliana, in Cyprus the Fraudulent Transfers Avoidance Law, Cap. 62, lets a creditor set aside such a transfer, and one made to a close relative or at an undervalue is presumed fraudulent (Supreme Court, 2 July 2019).
- Examination of the judgment debtor and the affidavit of all assets that follows it
- Freezing (Mareva) injunctions, including worldwide orders, and the disclosure orders that support them
- Norwich Pharmacal disclosure against banks and corporate service providers
- Setting aside transfers made to defeat creditors under Cap. 62, and cross-border preservation through the EAPO
Grounded in authority
The remedies the research is built to support
A documented asset profile is worth what it unlocks. These are the principal instruments the work feeds, with the leading Cyprus and English authorities behind them. Whether any of them is open in a given matter depends on the facts and the governing law.
Freezing injunction (Mareva)
Restrains a party from dissipating assets pending the outcome, and in the right case reaches assets held worldwide.
Disclosure against third parties (Norwich Pharmacal)
Compels an innocent third party, such as a bank or corporate service provider, to disclose what is needed to trace assets or identify a wrongdoer.
Setting aside fraudulent transfers (actio pauliana)
Unwinds a transfer made to hinder or delay creditors; a transfer to a close relative or at an undervalue is presumed fraudulent.
Examination of the judgment debtor
Compels a debtor to file an affidavit listing all movable and immovable assets, the principal judicial asset-discovery tool after judgment.
Full and frank disclosure
The continuing duty to disclose assets in financial proceedings; non-disclosure permits adverse inferences and can set an order aside.
Cross-border account preservation (EAPO)
Freezes a debtor's bank account in another Member State, with a mechanism to obtain account information as well.
Authorities are cited to show the substance behind the service, not as advice on any particular matter. The availability of any remedy, and the conditions attached to it, are confirmed in consultation on the facts of your case.
How it works
From a missing asset to a usable legal outcome
A clear sequence, so you know what each stage produces and where it leads.
Confidential consultation and legal assessment
We establish the asset position you need to prove, why the law requires it, and the remedy it will support. This defines the search and keeps it proportionate.
Defined purpose and instruction of the investigations partner
I confirm and record the purpose of the enquiry, and instruct a vetted, regulated tracing partner under my supervision.
Documented search across the records and registers
Land, company and beneficial-ownership records, corporate structures, vessels and third-party holdings are searched and corroborated, each step recorded.
Court-admissible report
I turn the findings into an evidenced report, built to withstand judicial scrutiny and ready to support an affidavit, an application or a contractual warranty.
The legal step it unlocks
A freezing order, a disclosure order, a Cap. 62 set-aside, enforcement, or a fairer settlement: the asset profile clears the path and I take the matter forward.
The difference
Why this runs through a lawyer, not a tracing agency alone
A located asset is only useful if you can act on it. Working through a law office means the search is built for the legal step that follows it.
Built for admissibility
Evidence gathered without litigation discipline can be challenged or excluded. The enquiry is shaped from the start to meet the court's requirements.
The proper route, not self-help
A party cannot help themselves to the other side's documents. Court-ordered disclosure, freezing and search orders are the proper substitutes, and they run through counsel.
One matter, one hand
The search and the legal application are managed together, so nothing is lost in translation between an investigator and a lawyer.
Ethical gatekeeping
A defined purpose is required before any search begins, which keeps the work proportionate and above reproach.
The intelligence partner
In partnership with Bakun Intelligence
The asset-tracing and forensic-enquiry work is carried out by a specialist intelligence firm I instruct and supervise. The legal framing, the choice of remedy and the court work remain with my office.
Bakun Intelligence
The intelligence, investigations and tracing division of Bakun Group Ltd
Bakun Intelligence is the intelligence and investigations division of Bakun Group Ltd, a Cyprus company working across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. For the matters on this page, its role is to establish the asset position and to record how the search was carried out, using official records and trusted cross-border contacts.
Its asset work covers the analysis of corporate ownership structures, the identification of companies connected to the people involved in a dispute, the tracing of relationships between holding companies and their beneficial owners, the identification and analysis of assets potentially linked to specific entities, and the contextual intelligence relevant to a recovery strategy. Throughout, the firm works to my instruction and under my supervision, so the result reaches the court in a form it will accept.
The same firm also supports people tracing and locating, and enhanced due diligence before a transaction. In one matter it located a debtor's interests held behind intermediary companies; in another, it verified a prospective partner and its connected companies before a client committed. Those areas have their own pages, and are noted here only to show the range behind the asset work.
Sebastian Bakun
Founder & Chief Executive, Bakun Group Ltd
Sebastian Bakun has worked in intelligence and investigations internationally since 2012. His career began in Belgium and developed through Poland and assignments across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, before he moved the group's headquarters to Cyprus in 2024. His work spans tracing and locating, cross-border enquiries, due diligence and intelligence support, and, by the nature of the matters, it is conducted discreetly and without disclosing clients or details.
Asset tracing & ownership analysis
Locating property, corporate holdings, vessels and other assets, and the structures that hold them, through official records and proper enquiry.
Beneficial ownership & corporate intelligence
Mapping the connections between companies and the people who ultimately control them, including layered and offshore vehicles.
Evidential reporting
Documented search trails and reports prepared to support affidavits, applications, warranties and insurance.
Selected matters
Matters Bakun Intelligence has handled
A few of the firm's own enquiries, anonymised so that no client or person can be identified. Past matters are not a guarantee of any future result.
Assets behind companies in a cross-border dispute
In a commercial dispute spanning several jurisdictions, Bakun Intelligence analysed the corporate structures and the assets connected to the people involved, including offshore and intermediary companies. The work gave the legal team a clear asset map to support enforcement and a recovery strategy.
Background intelligence before an international transaction
Before a client committed to a transaction, Bakun Intelligence carried out enhanced background intelligence on a prospective partner and its connected companies, and assessed the reputational and commercial risk. The client went into the deal with a far clearer view of the other side.
Verifying relationships in a cross-border dispute
In another cross-border matter, Bakun Intelligence verified commercial and operational relationships and mapped the connections between a set of companies and the individuals behind them. The legal team used that to test the other side's account and shape its case.
What the search draws on
The registers and records we search
Tracing begins with official sources and then corroborates them. Access to each register is regulated, and the work stays within those limits.
Land Registry
Ownership, charges, mortgages, encumbrances and memos, through a Form N.50 search certificate. Access is restricted to interested parties under Cap. 224, s. 51A.
Registrar of Companies
Shareholders, directors, charges, accounts and filings, obtainable through the electronic filing system, including before judgment.
Beneficial-ownership register
Searchable by obliged entities on approval and for a fee. Access narrowed after the CJEU privacy ruling, and the data is corroborated rather than taken at face value.
Register of Cyprus Ships
Ownership and mortgages of vessels under Law 45/63; registry transactions are handled by a practising Cyprus advocate.
EU register interconnection
Company (BRIS), insolvency (IRI) and beneficial-ownership (BORIS) registers, searched through the e-Justice Portal.
Foreign registers by correspondent
Land, company and asset records in other jurisdictions, through vetted local contacts and, where needed, local counsel.
No register is complete or reliable on its own. Several restrict access to interested parties, and the beneficial-ownership register records what has been filed rather than what has been verified. For that reason, findings are cross-checked across sources before they are relied on.
Trust, ethics & discretion
Where the line is, and what this will never be
The most important thing an asset-tracing service can tell you is what it refuses to do. These are the boundaries the enquiry is held to.
A recorded purpose
Every enquiry rests on a defined purpose, such as pending proceedings or the enforcement of a judgment, assessed and recorded before the work begins, so the scope is fixed from the outset.
Proportionate and minimal
Only the information the matter requires is sought, kept securely, and used for that purpose alone. The search is scoped to the matter, not open-ended.
Sources that hold up
Findings come from official records and proper methods, within the limits of banking secrecy, so the evidence holds up rather than being excluded for how it was obtained.
Used only for its purpose
Information obtained through a disclosure order carries an undertaking to use it only for the stated purpose, confirmed by a Cyprus Court of Appeal decision of November 2025. That same discipline is applied to every search.
The line we do not cross
This service is not used to harass or pressure anyone, to circumvent the disclosure a court would order, or to gather material a party could not properly obtain for itself. It is not available to the public for looking into a spouse, a relative or a rival out of curiosity. Enquiries are accepted only through a lawyer, for a defined purpose.
Provider and legal notice
Asset-tracing and forensic-enquiry services are provided by Bakun Group Ltd (HE 462089), through its Bakun Intelligence division, instructed and supervised by my Law Office. This page is informational and does not constitute legal advice on any specific matter. The availability of any remedy, including a freezing or disclosure order, the setting aside of a transfer, or cross-border preservation, depends on the facts and the governing jurisdiction, and is confirmed in consultation. Every enquiry is accepted only for a defined purpose and is carried out under my instruction and supervision.
Where I can help
Cyprus-qualified, with international matters by referral
I am admitted in Cyprus and handle Cyprus matters directly. For matters governed by another legal system, I work alongside qualified local counsel and coordinate the tracing and evidence centrally.
Cyprus
Freezing and disclosure orders, debtor examination, Cap. 62 set-aside, Land Registry and company searches, and the vessel register.
England & Wales
Financial-remedy disclosure, freezing and search orders, and the established body of authority Cyprus courts find persuasive.
EU member states
Account preservation through the EAPO, enforcement under the Brussels I Recast, and register interconnection; coordinated with local counsel.
International by referral
The wider Eastern Mediterranean and beyond, through the partner's correspondents and local attorneys.
Questions
Common questions
Can I trace a spouse's hidden assets in a divorce?
Yes, through the court's disclosure powers and an independent asset profile, not by self-help. Where a spouse under-discloses, the court can order disclosure, draw adverse inferences, and value what was concealed, and serious non-disclosure can set a settlement aside.
What is a freezing (Mareva) injunction?
It is a court order that stops a party disposing of assets pending the outcome of a case. In Cyprus it rests on Section 32 of the Courts of Justice Law, and in the right case it can reach assets held worldwide.
Can a court make a bank disclose information?
It can. A Norwich Pharmacal order compels an innocent third party, such as a bank or corporate service provider, to disclose what is needed to trace assets, with banking secrecy yielding to the public interest in exposing fraud. The information may then be used only for the purpose for which it was given.
Can a transfer made to defeat creditors be undone?
Often, yes. Under the Fraudulent Transfers Avoidance Law, Cap. 62, the Cyprus equivalent of the actio pauliana, a creditor can apply to set aside a transfer made to hinder them, and a transfer to a close relative or at an undervalue is presumed to be fraudulent.
What will I actually receive at the end?
An evidenced report: a documented account of where the search looked and what it found, prepared to support the affidavit, application or warranty your matter needs, and built to withstand scrutiny if it is challenged.
What if the assets have moved abroad?
Cross-border tracing draws on the interconnection of EU registers and on instruments such as the European Account Preservation Order, and it is coordinated with local counsel where another legal system governs the assets.
Speak to me in confidence
Tell me what needs to be found, and why
A short, confidential consultation is enough for me to tell you whether an asset search is the right step, what it would involve, and the legal outcome it could support. There is no obligation to proceed.