Tagged: compliance controls

11 Aug, 2022

The Growing Tension Between Compliance and Financial Controls

Compliance professionals are used to internal struggles for influence and resources. Chief compliance officers have devoted years and years to justifying the need to elevate and empower the compliance function. For years, compliance professionals were relegated to back-room positions where they were cabined by structural and political restrictions. One of the early struggles was between the chief legal officer and the CCO. Eventually, CCOs were...

General

14 Oct, 2021

CCOs: Expert Problem Solvers

If you follow my blog, you know that I am passionate about the compliance profession. Chief compliance officers have unique talents, expertise and leadership qualities. CCOs are committed ethics warriors. No one else can claim that same mission. CCOs are the natural stewards of a company’s ethical culture. Of course, a company can appoint a separate chief ethics officer to distinguish between the ethics and...

General

28 Jan, 2019

Touting Corporate Culture to Excuse a Commitment to Compliance

There is no question that corporate leaders, senior executives, legal and compliance staff, and internal auditors recognize the value of an ethical corporate culture. It is the latest “fad” in corporate governance, and it is a welcome development. I have written extensively on this important trend and the value of a company’s culture of ethics and compliance. CEOs and corporate executives, however, have embraced this...

General

30 May, 2018

The Vital Role of Internal Audit to Compliance

A chief compliance officer can only succeed with the support of other important compliance partners. Another way to put it – in the words of Blanche Dubois from A Streetcar Named Desire, “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” This observation, while dramatic in license, applies to the place of the compliance officer in the corporate governance world. A key partner for compliance...

General

30 Jul, 2017

The Perfect Compliance Combo: Culture and Controls

Compliance practitioners divide their commentary and insights into two general categories – ethical culture and compliance controls. It is easy to divide compliance issues into these two categories. Ethical culture articles are a little less concrete; compliance controls are practical and focused on policies and procedures. A compliance program cannot be deemed effective, however, unless there is a combination of these two important functions. An...

General

1 Jun, 2017

Ensuring Compliance with Controls

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 effective as its board, executives, managers and employees adhere to the compliance policies and procedures. If a company’s constituents do not comply with the compliance program and policies,...

General

5 Dec, 2016

Doing the Two-Step: Prioritizing Risks and Allocating Resources

Chief compliance officers face imposing tasks on a daily basis. The tasks often look insurmountable and it is easy for CCOs to just turn away and find a more manageable set of tasks. Compliance requires resources and those resources are not limitless. In other words, a CCO has to decide how to allocate limited resources. A CCO has to be an efficiency expert, especially when...