METHODS OF MONITORING BEHAVIOR/ACTIVITY OF AN INDIVIDUAL ASSOCIATED WITH AN ORGANIZATION

• US 20080015978A1
• Filed: 08/10/2006
• Published: 01/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Edith L. Curry
• Original Assignee: Edith L. Curry
• Inventors: Curry, Edith L., Holtz, Laurie S., Dement, Michael A., Hailstones, Frank
• Granted Patent: US 8,285,636 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0635 Risk analysis of enterprise or organisation activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

A cooperative arrangement and method to monitor behaviors and other activities by an individual in an organization are disclosed. A personal financial disclosure statement, personal financial records, and other relevant financial data associated with an individual who is associated with, or to be associated with, the organization are obtained. Information is extracted from the personal financial disclosure statement, the personal financial records, and the other relevant financial data and input into a risk assessment algorithm. The risk assessment algorithm operates on the input information and generates risk assessment data. The risk assessment data is evaluated to make a determination of certification with respect to the individual. A decision to certify means that the risk associated with the individual, with respect to committing fraud or some other improper act with respect to the organization, is acceptable. Risk assessment data on a plurality of key individuals within the organization may be generated and evaluated to make a determination of certification with respect to the organization as a whole.

Claims

1. A method to monitor the behavior/activity of an individual associated with an organization, said method comprising:

(a) obtaining a personal financial disclosure statement of an individual person associated with or potentially to be associated with said organization;

(b) obtaining personal financial records and other relevant financial data of said individual person;

(c) inputting first information from said personal financial disclosure statement, said personal financial records, and said other relevant financial data into a risk assessment algorithm;

(d) said risk assessment algorithm operating on said first input information and thereby generating first risk assessment data; and

(e) evaluating said first risk assessment data and thereby making a first determination of certification with respect to said individual person.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising certifying said individual person if said determination of certification is to certify.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising underwriting said individual person if said determination of certification is to certify.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising documenting reasons for not certifying said individual person if said determination of certification is not to certify.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising investigating said reasons for not certifying said individual person and thereby generating investigative results.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising inputting second information from said investigative results, said personal financial disclosure statement, said personal financial records, and said other relevant financial data into said risk assessment algorithm.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

said risk assessment algorithm operating on said second input information and thereby generating second risk assessment data; and

evaluating said second risk assessment data and thereby making an updated determination of certification with respect to said individual person.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said individual person comprises an agent of said organization.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said organization comprises a publicly held corporation.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein said organization comprises a non-publicly held corporation.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said organization comprises a government entity.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein said personal financial records include at least one of tax return records, treasury records, real estate records, banking records, a credit report, and a FICO score.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein said personal financial disclosure statement includes information related to financial assets, liabilities, and income of said individual person.

14. The method of claim 3 wherein said underwriting includes insuring said organization by accepting liability for designated losses suffered by said organization arising from improper behavior by said individual person.

15. The method of claim 2 wherein said method is conducted by a first entity which is independent of said organization and said individual person.

16. The method of claim 4 wherein said method is conducted by a first entity which is independent of said organization and said individual person.

17. The method of claim 3 wherein said underwriting is conducted by a second entity which is independent of said organization, said individual person, and a first entity conducting the steps (a) through (e) of claim 1.

18. The method of claim 5 wherein said investigating is conducted by a third entity which is independent of said organization, said individual person, and a first entity conducting the steps (a) through (e) of claim 1.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of said risk assessment algorithm operating on said first input information and thereby generating first risk assessment data comprises said risk assessment algorithm comparing information from said financial disclosure statement with information from said personal financial records and other relevant financial data and thereby detecting any discrepancies.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of said risk assessment algorithm operating on said first input information and thereby generating first risk assessment data comprises said risk assessment algorithm detecting evidence of irresponsible behavior on the part of said individual person.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of said risk assessment algorithm operating on said first input information and thereby generating first risk assessment data comprises said risk assessment algorithm generating an assessment of financial stability of said individual person.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of obtaining personal financial records and other relevant financial data of said individual person is only performed if said individual person gives permission to perform said step.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of evaluating said first risk assessment data and thereby making a first determination of certification with respect to said individual person comprises:

generating a composite risk factor in response to said first risk assessment data; and

comparing said composite risk factor to a threshold value.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein said determination of certification is to certify, if said composite risk factor is below said threshold value.

25. The method of claim 23 wherein said determination of certification is to not certify, if said composite risk factor is above said threshold value.

26. The method of claim 24 further comprising underwriting said individual person if said determination is to certify, said underwriting comprising adding said individual person to an insurance or bonding policy for said organization and possibly adjusting a premium and/or terms of said policy in response to at least said composite risk factor.

27. A method to the monitor behavior/activity of individuals associated with an organization, said method comprising:

(a) obtaining a personal financial disclosure statement of each of a plurality of individual persons associated with said organization;

(b) obtaining personal financial records and other relevant financial data of each of said individual persons;

(c) inputting first information from each of said personal financial disclosure statements, each of said personal financial records, and each of said other relevant financial data into a risk assessment algorithm;

(d) said risk assessment algorithm operating on said first input information and thereby generating first risk assessment data; and

(e) evaluating said first risk assessment data and thereby making a first determination of certification with respect to said organization.

29. The method of claim 27 further comprising underwriting said organization if said determination of certification is to certify.

30. The method of claim 27 further comprising documenting reasons for not certifying said organization if said determination of certification is not to certify.

31. The method of claim 30 further comprising investigating said reasons for not certifying said organization and thereby generating investigative results.

32. The method of claim 31 further comprising inputting second information from said investigative results, said personal financial disclosure statements, said personal financial records, and said other relevant financial data into said risk assessment algorithm.

33. The method of claim 32 further comprising:

said risk assessment algorithm operating on said second input information and thereby generating second risk assessment data; and

evaluating said second risk assessment data and thereby making an updated determination of certification with respect to said organization.

34. The method of claim 27 wherein said individual persons comprise agents of said organization.

35. The method of claim 27 wherein said organization comprises a publicly held corporation.

36. The method of claim 27 wherein said organization comprises a non-publicly held corporation.

37. The method of claim 27 wherein said organization comprises a government entity.

38. The method of claim 27 wherein said personal financial records include at least one of tax return records, treasury records, real estate records, banking records, a credit report, and a FICO score for each of said individual persons.

39. The method of claim 27 wherein said personal financial disclosure statements include information related to financial assets, liabilities, and income of each of said individual persons.

40. The method of claim 29 wherein said underwriting includes insuring said organization by accepting liability for designated losses suffered by said organization arising from improper behavior by any of said individual persons.

42. The method of claim 30 wherein said method is conducted by a first entity which is independent of said organization and said individual persons.

43. The method of claim 29 wherein said underwriting is conducted by a second entity which is independent of said organization, said individual persons, and a first entity conducting the steps (a) through (e) of claim 27.

44. The method of claim 31 wherein said investigating is conducted by a third entity which is independent of said organization, said individual persons, and a first entity conducting the steps (a) through (e) of claim 27.

45. The method of claim 27 wherein the step of said risk assessment algorithm operating on said first input information and thereby generating first risk assessment data comprises said risk assessment algorithm comparing information from said financial disclosure statements with information from said corresponding personal financial records and said other relevant financial data and thereby detecting any discrepancies.

46. The method of claim 27 wherein the step of said risk assessment algorithm operating on said first input information and thereby generating first risk assessment data comprises said risk assessment algorithm detecting evidence of irresponsible behavior on the part of any of said individual persons.

47. The method of claim 27 wherein the step of said risk assessment algorithm operating on said first input information and thereby generating first risk assessment data comprises said risk assessment algorithm generating an assessment of financial stability of each of said individual persons.

48. The method of claim 27 wherein the step of obtaining personal financial records and other relevant financial data of any of said individual persons is only performed if said any individual persons give permission to perform said step.

49. The method of claim 27 wherein the step of evaluating said first risk assessment data and thereby making a first determination of certification with respect to said organization comprises:

generating a composite risk factor in response to said first risk assessment data; and

comparing said composite risk factor to a threshold value.

50. The method of claim 49 wherein said determination of certification is to certify, if said composite risk factor is below said threshold value.

51. The method of claim 49 wherein said determination of certification is to not certify, if said composite risk factor is above said threshold value.

52. The method of claim 50 further comprising underwriting said organization if said determination is to certify, said underwriting comprising adding said individual persons to an insurance or bonding policy for said organization and calculating a premium and terms of insurance in response to at least said composite risk factor.

28. The method of claim 28 further comprising certifying said organization if said determination of certification is to certify.

41. The method of claim 28 wherein said method is conducted by a first entity which is independent of said organization and said individual persons.

53. A method to monitor an individual person of an organization for behavioral risk, said method comprising:

(a) periodically obtaining updated personal financial records and other updated relevant financial data of an individual person that is currently certified for risk with respect to said organization;

(b) inputting, into a risk assessment algorithm, updated information from said updated personal financial records and other updated relevant financial data along with previous information from a previously obtained personal financial disclosure statement from said individual person;

(c) said risk assessment algorithm operating on said input information and thereby generating updated risk assessment data; and

(d) evaluating said updated risk assessment data and thereby making an updated determination of certification with respect to said individual person.

54. The method of claim 53 further comprising maintaining said certification of said individual person if said determination of certification is to maintain certification.

55. The method of claim 54 further comprising maintaining an underwriting of said individual person if said determination of certification is to maintain certification.

56. The method of claim 53 further comprising documenting reasons for not maintaining certification of said individual person if said determination of certification is not to maintain certification.

57. The method of claim 56 further comprising investigating said reasons for not maintaining certification of said individual person and thereby generating investigative results.

58. The method of claim 57 further comprising inputting second information from said investigative results, said personal financial disclosure statement, said updated personal financial records, and said updated other relevant financial data into said risk assessment algorithm.

59. The method of claim 58 further comprising:

said risk assessment algorithm operating on said second input information and thereby generating investigation-based risk assessment data; and

evaluating said investigation-based risk assessment data and thereby making an investigated determination of certification with respect to said individual person.

60. The method of claim 53 wherein said organization comprises a publicly held corporation.

61. The method of claim 53 wherein said organization comprises a non-publicly held corporation.

62. The method of claim 53 wherein said organization comprises a government entity.

63. The method of claim 53 wherein said updated personal financial records include at least one of most-recent tax return records, most-recent treasury records, most-recent real estate records, most-recent banking records, a most-recent credit report, and a current FICO score.

64. The method of claim 53 wherein said personal financial disclosure statement includes information related to financial assets, liabilities, and income of said individual person at the time of obtaining said personal financial disclosure statement.

65. The method of claim 55 wherein said underwriting includes insuring said organization by accepting liability for designated losses suffered by said organization arising from improper behavior by said individual person.

66. The method of claim 54 wherein said method is conducted by a first entity which is independent of said organization and said individual person.

67. The method of claim 56 wherein said method is conducted by a first entity which is independent of said organization and said individual person.

68. The method of claim 55 wherein said underwriting is maintained by a second entity which is independent of said organization, said individual person, and a first entity conducting the steps (a) through (d) of claim 53.

69. The method of claim 57 wherein said investigating is conducted by a third entity which is independent of said organization, said individual person, and a first entity conducting the steps (a) through (e) of claim 53.

70. The method of claim 53 wherein the step of said risk assessment algorithm operating on said input information and thereby generating updated risk assessment data comprises said risk assessment algorithm comparing information from said financial disclosure statement with information from said updated personal financial records and said updated other relevant financial data, and thereby detecting any discrepancies.

71. The method of claim 53 wherein the step of said risk assessment algorithm operating on said input information and thereby generating updated risk assessment data comprises said risk assessment algorithm detecting evidence of irresponsible behavior on the part of said individual person.

72. The method of claim 53 wherein the step of said risk assessment algorithm operating on said input information and thereby generating updated risk assessment data comprises said risk assessment algorithm generating data related to a financial stability of said individual person.

73. The method of claim 53 wherein the step of periodically obtaining updated personal financial records and other relevant financial data of said individual person is only performed if said individual person gives permission to perform said step.

74. The method of claim 53 wherein the step of evaluating said updated risk assessment data and thereby making an updated determination of certification with respect to said individual person comprises:

generating an updated composite risk factor in response to said updated risk assessment data; and

comparing said updated composite risk factor to a threshold value.

75. The method of claim 74 wherein said determination of certification is to maintain certification if said updated composite risk factor is below said threshold value.

76. The method of claim 74 wherein said determination of certification is to not maintain certification if said composite risk factor is above said threshold value.

77. The method of claim 75 further comprising updating an underwriting of said organization if said determination is to maintain certification and said updated composite risk factor is closer to said threshold value than a previously calculated composite risk factor for said individual person.

78. The method of claim 77 wherein said updating said underwriting comprises re-calculating a premium and updating terms of insurance in response to at least said updated composite risk factor.