Chief compliance officers have devoted significant efforts to conducting pre-acquisition due diligence of a proposed target companies. I do not intend to diminish the importance of pre-acquisition due diligence, but I have...more
For some reason, I have always believed that picking successful stocks should not be very difficult. Unfortunately, my record in the stock market does not back up my self-assessment.
On the other hand, when it comes to...more
On July 5, 2017, Bureau Van Dijk, a sponsor of my blog, conducted a webinar on the importance of beneficial ownership information to corporate compliance functions....more
If you give a Chief Compliance Officer truth serum and ask him/her whether they believe a risk assessment is valuable, what do you think the CCO say?
Let’s start with the cynical side – not that I am a pessimist. Many CCOs...more
Global companies face a daunting array of risks – anti-corruption, trade compliance, antitrust, and money laundering are just a few. The European Union, however, has escalated the data privacy issue right into the corporate...more
Tom Fox frequently reminds every one of the importance of documentation to the integrity of a compliance program. A compliance program is only as good as the documents show. This principle is especially critical when a...more
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
With an increasing focus on the value of an ethical culture, I have been reading more about chief ethics officers, the separation of ethics and compliance, and the traveling ethics officer who meets with employees to discuss...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
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
Anti-money laundering professionals are in for a rude awakening. Know Your Customer or KYC requirements are currently kicking up a notch, and will be even more dramatic when the new FinCEN beneficial ownership regulations...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 a scathing report, the independent directors at Wells Fargo released their findings and actions based on a comprehensive internal investigation of Wells Fargo’s sales abuses.
Based on its findings, Wells Fargo’s...more
4/11/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Code of Conduct ,
Compliance ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Structures ,
Cross-Selling ,
Internal Investigations ,
Performance Incentives ,
Risk Management ,
Wells Fargo
The problem of human trafficking and smuggling is staggering when you consider the human impact behind the numbers. Human trafficking is a $30 billion industry annually. There are more people in slavery today than at any time...more
Law enforcement focus on anti-money laundering appears to be increasing. While the last ten years has seen a marked increase in AML regulatory obligations, the new administration is likely to return to some of the more...more
4/3/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Risk Management ,
Shell Corporations ,
White Collar Crimes
We all know that a compliance program without business buy-in is, by definition, an ineffective compliance program. The level of business support ranges from “mouthing” support to full-fledged embrace and ownership of...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
Assuming you made it through Part I of this two-part posting about internal controls, we need to consider a new approach to the design and implementation of internal controls....more
DOJ’s Compliance Evaluation questions provide important indications of “new” trends and approaches to compliance functions and issues.
Training -
In the area of training, DOJ’s Compliance Evaluation reiterates DOJ’s...more
To design and implement an effective ethics and compliance program, companies have to conduct a risk assessment and tailor its policies and programs to its risk profile. DOJ’s Compliance Evaluation reinforces this framework...more
The drug and medical device industries have been taking it on the FCPA chin for years. The risk factors in the international marketplace are significant – healthcare professionals are normally government employees; government...more
1/26/2017
/ Books & Records ,
Brazil ,
Bribery ,
C-Suite Executives ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Customs ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Healthcare ,
Internal Controls ,
Medical Devices ,
Mexico ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Third-Party Risk ,
White Collar Crimes
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