A Chief Compliance Officer who lacks working relationships with the business side of a company is like a day without sunshine. No matter how strong or finely tuned a compliance program is on paper – in practice, the success...more
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
Contrary to the opinion of many in the FCPA space, the BNY Mellon settlement and the looming actions against six major financial institutions for hiring practices is not a big shock or surprise. The SEC is not raising a new...more
9/3/2015
/ Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Due Diligence ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Today I am beginning a three-part series on reputational damage. The first part tries to define the term “reputational damage;” the second part focuses on managing threats to a company’s reputation and the final posting...more
8/31/2015
/ Apple ,
Board of Directors ,
CEOs ,
Child Labor ,
China ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Reputation Management ,
Subway ,
Supply Chain ,
Willful Misconduct
When DOJ acts, they like to make a splash. While the FCPA Paparazzi have been lamenting the “slow down” in FCPA enforcement actions and the increase in case closings, DOJ still makes its mark when it acts, and I expect more...more
8/25/2015
/ Avon ,
Bribery ,
Cisco ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
Ethics ,
Federal Contractors ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Hewlett-Packard ,
IBM ,
Microsoft ,
Oracle ,
Panama ,
Popular ,
Risk Assessment ,
SAP America Inc. ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Startups ,
State Contracts
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
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
The headline on Medicare last week was astounding — $60 billion (not million) was lost each year to Medicare fraud, large numbers of fraudulent providers were providing fake or bad addresses – meaning locations including...more
FCPA enforcement will likely take a turn into the private equity industry. I know this is a regular claim by FCPA practitioners but we already can see the beginning of the trend.
The “princeling” investigations are...more
7/29/2015
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Halliburton ,
Internal Controls ,
Private Equity ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK Bribery Act
It is often hard to convince people that receiving money can be a problem. Everyone likes to receive money, especially when they are being paid for something they did.
In the area of compliance priorities, companies do not...more
FCPA enforcement efforts are not so hard to follow and predict – the government likes to provide advance warnings as an effective means of deterrence. Justice Department and SEC officials will often tell the public their...more
7/13/2015
/ Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Libya ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Registration Requirement ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sovereign Wealth Funds
Financial institutions have a lengthy list of Anti-Money Laundering compliance requirements. They face a mountain of risks from a large number of financial transactions, each of which can carry significant risks.
AML...more
Consider yourself lucky if you work at a company that does not fall within the Title 31 of the US Code definition of a “financial institution.” I am being somewhat dramatic but it is important for every company to have an...more
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has been flexing its muscles lately to remind everyone of its important role in money laundering enforcement. Jennifer Shasky, the current Director, a former...more
There is something in a name. More people in the compliance industry, when referring to third-party due diligence, are labeling it “Third Party Risk Management.” I like it because it is more accurate....more
It is one thing to screen a third-party at the on boarding process; it is quite another to build out an entire due diligence system that screens at renewal of a third-party relationship, monitors third-party activity and...more
Third Party questionnaires are a standard part of any due diligence process. They are emailed to the potential third-party business partner, filled out and sent back, or the third-party enters the information through an...more
The compliance profession continues to rise in importance. Companies are paying more attention to corporate culture and devoting resources to enhance existing compliance operations. This approach is reinforced with each week...more
FCPA settlements carry with them a basket of compliance and enforcement lessons. The recent Goodyear settlement with the SEC for $16 million carries some important compliance and strategic reminders for ethics and compliance...more
3/9/2015
/ Best Practices ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethics ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Goodyear ,
Integration ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
Whistleblower Hotlines
Compliance professionals love to bandy about the term “red flag.” It is a term with infinite meanings depending on the context. A red flag in a money-laundering context is different than a red flag in a corruption context....more