Author: Michael Volkov

LRN Report Highlights (Again) the Importance of Ethical Culture (Part I of II)

LRN Report Highlights (Again) the Importance of Ethical Culture (Part I of II)

in its latest report, The 2024 Benchmark of Ethical Culture Report, LRN has focused on the critical issue of corporate culture.  LRN is a pacesetter and the leader in reliable studies on complex ethics and compliance issues.  If not properly promoted or maintained, a defective culture can lead to serious misconduct, government investigation, reputational damage and collateral harm.  on the other hand, a positive and...

AI Compliance Programs: Filling in the Gaps and Mitigating Risks (Part II of II)

AI Compliance Programs: Filling in the Gaps and Mitigating Risks (Part II of II)

We are at an important inflection point — AI technologies are rapidly developing; we are witnessing a historic metamorphosis in the technology, the impact on businesses and society and important steps being taken to regulate AI and develop appropriate risk management strategies.  We have experienced important inflection points throughout our history — however, AI technology is evolving at such a rapid pace, it is difficult...

Emerging AI Risk and Compliance Frameworks (Part I of II)

Emerging AI Risk and Compliance Frameworks (Part I of II)

The new compliance cottage industry surrounds artificial intelligence.  We are at such an early stage of AI development — companies are still figuring out how they can employ the technology.  Some industries, such as financial institutions, however, have been using AI for fraud detection and other issues.  I expect financial institutions will set the tone for much of compliance practices around AI. There is no...

Episode 323 — Carlos Villagran Discusses Rebuilding a Corporate Culture After a Crisis

Episode 323 — Carlos Villagran Discusses Rebuilding a Corporate Culture After a Crisis

Carlos Villagrán is the Director of Compliance at CMPC, a 100 years’ old Chilean-based holding company, one of the worldwide leading manufacturers of pulp, paper, packaging, personal care and other forest products. Carlos discusses the challenges he faced in joining CMPC after a significant crisis — CMPC’s prosecution for antitrust cartel violations in Chile and Peru. With more than 20,000 employees, CMPC has industrial operations...

Congress Extends Sanctions Statute of Limitations And Addresses Other National Security Issues

Congress Extends Sanctions Statute of Limitations And Addresses Other National Security Issues

On April 24, 2024, President Biden signed into law a sweeping national security legislative package that included the 21st Century Peace Through Strength Act, which includes measures to promote sanctions and export controls enforcement and focuses on China trade. The Act: The Act amends the statute of limitations for International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) to ten...

Aravo Webinar: Where Your Nth Party Liabilities Start and End

Aravo Webinar: Where Your Nth Party Liabilities Start and End

Where Your Nth Party Liabilities Start and End June 19, 2024, 11 am EST Sign Up Here Among the many challenges risk professionals face is understanding the true depth and breadth of their third-party risks. The scope and scale of assessing, managing, and mitigating third-party risk is constantly evolving, with increasing regulatory, shareholder, and market scrutiny, as well as increasing demands for transparency, auditability, and...

Life Sciences Company Escapes Criminal Charges for Employee’s Illegal Export Scheme

Life Sciences Company Escapes Criminal Charges for Employee’s Illegal Export Scheme

Sigma-Aldrich, Inc., d/b/a MilliporeSigma (“MilliporeSigma”), a U.S. life sciences company based in Massachusetts, escaped criminal charges for export control violations, despite a former sales person’s scheme to illegally export products to China.  DOJ cited the favorable resolution as proof of the National Security Division’s commitment to its voluntary disclosure program.  MilliporeSigma was the first company to resolve an investigation for export control violations under DOJ/NSD’s...

Episode 322 — Checking in on the Caremark Cases

Episode 322 — Checking in on the Caremark Cases

Over the last ten years, we have seen a marked shift from the Delaware Chancery Court chipping away at corporate board member liability claims. In a number of seminal cases involving Boeing airplane crashes (In re the Boeing Co. Derivative Litig., No. 2019-0907 (Del. Ch. Sept 7, 2021)), and deadly listeria outbreaks from tainted ice cream (Marchand v. Barnhill, 212 A.3d 805 (Del. 2019)), Delaware...

The Magnificent Seven: Important Ways to Mitigate Your Third-Party Sanctions Risks (Part IV of IV)

The Magnificent Seven: Important Ways to Mitigate Your Third-Party Sanctions Risks (Part IV of IV)

It may seem like a Herculean task — but it can be done.  I regularly opine that mitigating sanctions risks for your third-party population is an easier task than doing so for your anti-corruption risks.  One big reason — geography is an important limiter on sanctions risks.  The ability to evade sanctions has to be financially practicable — for example, it makes no sense to...

Supply Chain and Sanctions Compliance (Part III of IV)

Supply Chain and Sanctions Compliance (Part III of IV)

While OFAC’s enforcement actions and guidance points to important steps exporters must take when relying on third-party distributors and other intermediaries, the “reason to know” and affirmative obligations to monitor resale and distribution of products to ultimate users does not appear to be unreasonable or impractical.  In terms of best practices, these are issues that need to be addressed. The supply chain and third-party risk...