Tagged: Company culture

24 May, 2023

DOJ’s Enforcement and Compliance Changes: Weighing the Pros and Cons of Voluntary Disclosures

The Justice Department certainly has altered the landscape of enforcement, compliance priorities, and ultimately corporate decisions surrounding voluntary disclosure. It has become a little bit more complicated to sort out all the carrots and sticks. One thing is clear – DOJ wants more companies to voluntarily disclose misconduct. And that is understandable. DOJ does not want companies to wait until they receive a grand jury...

General

17 May, 2023

Refreshing and Elevating Your Sanctions Compliance Program (Part II of III)

Let’s move beyond the headline – trade compliance is the new FCPA. We get it. The next step is to do something about it. The Justice Department has repeated this refrain – it is one of its greatest hits. In addition, DOJ, OFAC and the Bureau of Industry and Security have sent a loud message — $629 million from British American Tobacco and $300 million...

Podcasts

15 May, 2023

Episode 274 — Cryptocurrency and Sanctions Risks Featuring Matt Stankiewicz

The cryptocurrency industry has a target on its back – and perhaps justifiably so. The SEC, CFTC and OFAC have been bringing a number of regulatory enforcement actions, including against Bittrex, Inc. ($24,280,829.20 in settlements with OFAC and FinCEN) and Payward, Inc. d/b/a Kraken ($362,158 settlement with OFAC). Yet, the cryptocurrency has lots to worry about when it comes to compliance – fraud, cybersecurity, and...

General

9 May, 2023

Corporate Governance Challenges in an Evolving Risk Era

We are living in a rapidly changing economic landscape. Companies are under the gun to navigate “traditional issues,” such as challenging economic conditions ranging from inflation, and a predicted recession, to supply chain disruptions. It has been a long and difficult path in responding to two significant crises – first the pandemic in 2020 and then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting global sanctions...

General

20 Apr, 2023

Making Corporate Culture a Reality: Define and Embed (Part I of III)

Everyone has jumped on the corporate culture bandwagon. For some new converts, they like to espouse corporate culture as a recent discovery, or a new-fangled approach for compliance programs. The story of corporate culture as a talismanic tool for ethics and compliance is really nothing new. Chief compliance officers knew the importance of corporate culture from the beginning. A number of companies separately called out...

General

14 Feb, 2023

LRN 2023 Compliance Program Report Underscores Importance of Compliance Program Vigilance

LRN continues to provide important insights and trends on the importance of ethics and compliance programs. LRN’s annual report is an important resource and needs to be reviewed by the board, senior management and all compliance-related functions. LRN’s 2023 report emphasizes the importance of commitment, investment and promotion of corporate ethics and compliance, particularly during these difficult economic and geopolitical disturbances. LRN’s report is based...

General

10 Jan, 2023

2022: The FCPA Year in Review

The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission bounced back in 2022 to restore their records for aggressive FCPA enforcement. At the same time, DOJ announced significant new compliance program expectations, and appeared ready to press forward with a number of FCPA resolutions. The Numbers For the year, DOJ totaled five corporate resolutions, two separate declinations under its Corporate Enforcement Policy, and approximately 24...

General

7 Dec, 2022

Lessons Learned and the Big Picture: ABB – the Three-Time Loser – Settles Yet Another FCPA Case (Part III of III)

The ABB case, like most significant FCPA enforcement actions, sets important precedent and policy reminders. With time, and looking back, ABB gives companies with a prior criminal history a way forward to seek a fair resolution notwithstanding huge obstacles based on past performance. If you are ABB, you dodged a significant bullet – the appointment of an independent compliance monitor, which DOJ has been regularly...

General

17 Aug, 2022

LRN and Tapestry Networks Issue Important Guidance for Corporate Boards and CEOs to Build and Manage Ethical Cultures

You can always count on LRN. No ifs, ands or buts, LRN continues to issue the highest-quality and most meaningful research and guidance on ethics and compliance programs. LRN digs in to ask the hard questions, measures important trends and consistently provides importance support and guidance for corporate governance. LRN is a must read in these areas. Now that I finished by promotional rant, let’s...

General

10 Aug, 2022

Wells Fargo’s Woes Continue — A Rotten Culture that Continues to Stink

It is hard to write yet another posting about Wells Fargo’s misconduct. Wells Fargo’s troubles continue unabated. I am not exaggerating — I promise. Every few months, we hear about another problem, another enforcement action, another uncovering of misconduct. I do not intend to attempt to even recount all of Wells Fargo’s horrible history. We all know it, and like a rotten fish, we all...