A due diligence infrastructure is designed to demonstrate a company’s good faith commitment to compliance with anti-corruption laws by: identifying corruption risks; and mitigating such risks to ensure that the company does...more
10/29/2015
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corruption ,
Due Diligence ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Audit Functions ,
Internal Controls ,
Risk Assessment ,
Third-Party Risk ,
White Collar Crimes
Believe it or not, life principles can be used in compliance, especially in due diligence. I always tell my kids that life has a way of setting priorities. As you get older, life becomes simpler and your priorities become...more
He that can have patience can have what he will. – Benjamin Franklin
Putting together an effective due diligence system requires patience. I freely admit that I am not a patient person, especially when it comes to...more
This week I am posting a series on due diligence.
There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded. – Mark Twain...more
As a federal prosecutor with lots of trial experience, I generally know what questions to ask a witness or a defendant. In the compliance arena, there is much more leeway in how and what questions you ask....more
In the wreckage of a corporate FCPA enforcement action, a company has to answer two important questions.
First, how did the conduct occur without senior executives and the Board learning or suspecting that such conduct...more
10/20/2015
/ Board of Directors ,
Bribery ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Executives ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Kickbacks ,
Risk Assessment ,
White Collar Crimes
Compliance always boils down to people and interpersonal relationships. No man is an island, and no one can go it alone in compliance. One essential requirement for effective compliance is the ability to engage colleagues and...more
A Chief Compliance Officer has a number of important relationships to maintain in an organization. Aside from the support of senior level executives, the CCO has to build an effective working relationship with the board and...more
I have a lot of pet peeves, especially when it comes to lawyers and compliance professionals. Do not worry this is a not a column about all of my pet peeves; I would never bore you with all those issues....more
You have just been hired as the new Chief Compliance Officer of a global company operating in over 80 countries, including numerous high-risk corruption countries. You have no staff and have been given a budget to hire 5...more
It was like a bolt out of the blue – United Airlines’ CEO and two senior executives hastily announced their resignation as a result of their involvement in a bribery scandal with the New York Port Authority....more
9/15/2015
/ Bribery ,
C-Suite Executives ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Fraud ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Ethics ,
Internal Investigations ,
KPMG ,
Port Authority ,
Resignation ,
Risk Assessment ,
United Airlines ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Willful Misconduct
We always bandy the phrase around of “people skills,” or the old trendy phrase of “emotional intelligence.” Hopefully, this posting can create some ideas around new approaches to these old concepts and trendy terminology....more
Government prosecutors spend time promoting enforcement programs and encouraging companies to design and implement effective ethics and compliance programs. The blogosphere is filled with articles, surveys, studies, warnings,...more
Talk is cheap, especially when it comes to ethics and compliance programs. Words are easy but action and commitment is even harder. The compliance industry needs to put more meat on the bones of compliance. It is not enough...more
Talk is cheap, especially when it comes to ethics and compliance programs. Words are easy but action and commitment is even harder. The compliance industry needs to put more meat on the bones of compliance. It is not enough...more
Anti-money laundering compliance is a very difficult task. The number of risks is exponential. AML compliance officers have an innovative and rich history of compliance techniques and strategies.
In the end, AML compliance...more
8/13/2015
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Due Diligence ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Institutions ,
Money Laundering ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Sanctions ,
SAR ,
Software ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
We all know the importance of the sentencing guidelines and the impact the revisions, especially the 2010 amendments, have had on corporate governance and compliance. The history behind the sentencing guidelines tracks the...more
Many companies, depending on the industry, have implemented anti-corruption compliance programs. Some of the programs meet the standard for an “effective” anti-corruption compliance program. There is a vast difference between...more
A compliance program without CEO support is almost doomed to be ineffective. We all live by the standard of an “effective” ethics and compliance program. I am always reluctant to embrace a dogmatic expression but the support,...more
AML compliance reminds me of a classic Three Stooges scene from A Plumbing We Will Go – Curly, as one of the plumbers, continues to add pipes to a leaking bathtub, only to be surprised when the water continues to come out of...more
One thing about maintaining a blog – you have nightmares (alright something a little less than that) about consistency in writing. All of us can be accused of having “evolving” positions, so maybe that is my rationalization....more
Multinational companies cannot employ and maintain a sufficient number of dedicated compliance staff to ensure the effectiveness of an ethics and compliance program. That is a reality and we all know that is true....more
You can observe a lot by just watching – Yogi Berra
There is way too much time being spent on esoteric arguments about corporate board reporting responsibilities for Chief Compliance Officers. Let’s agree and move on to...more
We all know the importance of promoting a culture of compliance and ethics. The benefits of an ethical culture are substantial and worth every penny of investment in creating and promoting such a culture. We do not need to...more
As the compliance profession continues to develop and increase its influence in the corporate governance landscape, there are no hard and fast rules. We all quickly repeat the compliance profession mantra: there are “no...more