A Chief Compliance Officer faces many challenges in designing and implementing an effective ethics and compliance program. If a CCO conducts appropriate due diligence before joining the company, he will know the challenges he...more
Let’s start with some basics – a public company is required to implement a set of internal controls. A compliance program is a critical part of a company’s internal controls.
A company’s compliance program is only as...more
Those who regularly read my blog have heard me often cite the need for the compliance profession to adopt professional standards. With the rise of the profession, and the expectations placed on the shoulders of compliance...more
As the compliance function has matured, Chief Compliance Officers have built important relationships with related functions that are critical to the compliance function. Over the last few years, we have seen the Justice...more
As a chief compliance officer, it is important to consider the mindset of a criminal. Not to complete tasks and accomplish your objectives. Instead, it is important to understand the criminal mind, what makes them tick and...more
Like any other profession, the compliance profession is not immune to bad apples. Lawyers know the law but have been criminally prosecuted for breaking the law. The same goes for compliance professionals....more
Compliance professionals are riding high. They are the darlings of the corporate governance world, commanding higher salaries, C-Suite positions with access to senior leadership and the board, and an empowered position within...more
We all know the scenario. A corporate scandal breaks, heads will roll and criminal investigators have invaded a company to investigate and prosecute the CEO, senior executives and others. It is a toxic environment when this...more
A CCO never feels like he or she has caught up on compliance program requirements. As soon as one new best practice is identified, a CCO blinks for a moment and then there is a new best practice for them to consider....more
Chief compliance officers know the importance of trust, not just as a foundation of a global company’s compliance program, but in the context of knowing what company employees are doing out in the field. CCOs will always say...more
In the compliance arena, like in many others in life, we value simplicity. I have repeatedly stressed the importance of compliance initiatives that are relatively simple. Too often, lawyers and compliance professionals...more
The rise of the compliance profession has had a number of positive impacts on the corporate governance landscape. One of the most important results has been increased focus on corporate culture....more
Here is a profound grasp of the obvious – Lawyers can be difficult people. Some like to condemn the profession in its entirety (and carry with them a collection of lawyer jokes). As an attorney, I beg to differ. Many...more
A Chief Compliance Officer has a number of important relationships to attend to in the corporate governance landscape. A critical relationship needed to “operationalize” a compliance program is a partnership between a CCO and...more
An effective compliance program is built on internal coordination and relationships. Applying the Justice Department’s terminology, an effective compliance program is one that is operationalized. At first glance, you may...more
In the wake of ever-constant business scandals (e.g. ZTE, VW, Takata, Odebrecht), chief compliance officers have to refresh their approach and strategy. Everyone agrees, or at least I think they should agree, that a company’s...more
DOJ’s Compliance Evaluation highlights important trends in the role and independence of the Chief Compliance Officer. DOJ has stopped short of requiring direct reporting of a CCO to a CEO or other senior officer but it is...more
In an unusual move, the Justice Department issued an important document in the dead of night – Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs.
We have no explanation from the Justice Department for the issuance of this...more
Returning to the FCPA Pilot Project requirements for timely and appropriate remediation, the Justice Department added three new elements, one of which reinforces the CCO “independence” requirement. The two other elements for...more
The Justice Department has a lot to be proud about when it comes to its FCPA enforcement program. In one area in particular – promoting effective ethics and compliance strategies – DOJ’s FCPA prosecutors have played a...more
When unraveling a major corporate scandal, especially multi-year schemes involving senior executives, the blame game or lessons learned approach can easily turn into a fruitless exercise.
The VA and Takata scandals are...more
1/23/2017
/ Airbags ,
Automobile Recall ,
Automotive Industry ,
C-Suite Executives ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Design Defects ,
Ethics ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Obstruction of Justice ,
Product Recalls ,
Risk Assessment ,
Safety Standards ,
Self-Reporting ,
Takata ,
Volkswagen ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud ,
Yates Memorandum
All the FCPA prognosticators, predictors and paparazzi have missed the boat on understanding what happened this year – 2016, to make this a record year in FCPA enforcement. As a former public servant for over 20 years, I am...more
1/16/2017
/ Bribery ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethics ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Risk Management ,
Risk Mitigation ,
White Collar Crimes
The past year was another great success for the compliance profession and related technologies. Compliance continues to grow as the “professionalization” of compliance continues to skyrocket. As my good friend Donna Boehme...more
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made. Groucho Marx -
We are all taught the importance of honesty. But there are very different aspects to this otherwise simple...more
It is hard to imagine how prosecutors were able to bring cases before there was email communications. When I was a prosecutor, we looked for evidence in a lot of other sources, internal memos, calendars and other places where...more
12/21/2016
/ Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electronic Communications ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Email ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Evidence ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
Internal Investigations ,
Medical Devices ,
Pfizer ,
Securities Traders ,
Technology