How to Verify a Placement Agent

Placement agents sit between issuers and capital. That position makes the good ones valuable and the fake ones dangerous: a fraudster claiming to be a placement agent can harvest documents, credentials and fees from founders who never think to check the register. The defence is boring and fast.

The three registers that matter

Every real advisory firm leaves a paper trail that independent registries maintain - not the firm itself. For an Irish firm, three checks cover it:

Companies Registration Office (CRO). The Irish company register at core.cro.ie confirms the company exists, its number, its registered office and its filing status. Free to search.

Legal Entity Identifier (GLEIF). An LEI is a 20-character identifier issued to legal entities that participate in financial transactions. Search the global index at search.gleif.org. An LEI with status ACTIVE means the entity passed issuance checks and keeps its record renewed.

D-U-N-S (Dun & Bradstreet). A D-U-N-S number anchors the firm in the D&B commercial data cloud, the same registry banks and procurement teams use.

A firm that cannot produce all three numbers - or whose numbers do not resolve - has failed the first test.

The red flags no legitimate firm trips

Registry checks tell you the firm exists. Behaviour tells you whether you are actually dealing with it. Walk away from any approach that involves:

Fees from candidates or early-stage counterparties. Training fees, verification fees, equipment fees, release fees. Placement agents are paid by issuers under mandate, not by candidates.

Passwords or account access. No legitimate firm asks for your LinkedIn password, email login, one-time codes or remote device access. This single test kills most recruiting fraud.

Unofficial channels. Free webmail addresses, lookalike domains, encrypted-app-only contact, pressure to keep things secret or sign within days.

A worked example, with disclosure

The Brief is published by Artane Partners, so use us as the worked example - and check every claim independently:

Artane Partners Limited is registered in Ireland, CRO number 795432, registered office 13 Adelaide Road, Dublin 2. Its LEI, 254900NULT3LTDELUK76, shows ACTIVE on the GLEIF index. Its D-U-N-S number is 768857829. The firm publishes the same identifiers, with direct registry links, at artanepartners.com/verify, along with the longer walkthrough at is Artane Partners legitimate.

Because the name has been misused by impersonators in fake job and internship offers, the firm also maintains a standing fraud and impersonation notice: it runs no internship programme, never charges candidates, and never requests credentials. Genuine email comes only from @artanepartners.com addresses.

When an approach fails the check

Do not sign, pay or share access. Change any password you disclosed, report the approach to the platform that carried it and to your national fraud authority, and tell the real firm - impersonation is prosecuted by the impersonated. Verification is five minutes; unwinding a bad signature is months.