Chief compliance officers and human relations leaders are facing enormous challenges in this COVID-19 pandemic.  The shut-down of offices and orders to employees to work from home or “tele-work” creates a unique set of risks. Many companies already permit employees to work from home.  But we have never experienced a requirement that employees work from home.  Some jobs cannot be done from home, while others...

Elizabeth Slim, Senior Consultant at The Volkov Law Group, joins us for a posting on AML and BSA compliance during the current pandemic crisis. Elizabeth can be reached at [email protected]. The COVID-19 outbreak has affected all of us and we now face the new normal of self-quarantine and social distancing.  As Anti-Money Laundering (AML) professionals, we are still required to ensure that financial institutions maintain...

Companies dedicate time and resources to enterprise risk management.  This is a much broader focus than legal and compliance risks – instead, enterprise risks identifies some of the major catastrophes  — e.g. one company had serious weather event risks and disruption of manufacturing activities or another faced supply chain risks when relying on a single source of supply.  These are the kind of global enterprise...

These are scary times.  We have not experienced such a crisis in our lifetimes.  9-11 was a traumatic event with a tragic impact on our country.  The COVID-19 crisis is presenting all of us with enormous challenges.  Health and safety is our primary concern while the COVD-19 virus spreads.  Our economy is being devastated by the need to ensure health and safety of our country. ...

The future doesn’t belong to the faint-hearted; it belongs to the brave. – President Ronald Reagan Confidence… thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live. – President Franklin D. Roosevelt There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.  — President...

Many global companies are behind the eight-ball (translation, slow to implement) effective antitrust compliance programs.  A small number of companies, some of which have suffered antitrust enforcement actions or operate in high-risk industries, have implemented innovative antitrust compliance programs.  These programs stand out in the compliance landscape. An effective antitrust compliance program typically includes robust training programs, well beyond dry in-person or webinar-based recitations of...

Like all compliance programs, a company lives or dies based on its ethical culture.  A company with a poor culture that operates in a concentrated competitive market has significantly higher antitrust risks than companies with a strong ethical culture.  This basic and well understood premise has to be considered in designing an antitrust compliance program.  If senior management does not walk the walk, antitrust risks...

In July 2019, the U.S. Justice of Department’s Antitrust Division ended a long-running controversy surrounding compliance program credit by issuing its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs in Criminal Antitrust Investigations (“Antitrust Guidance”).  The Antitrust Guidance is a terrific resource, filled with excellent ideas and innovative suggestions.  Companies need to review and enhance their antitrust compliance programs, especially those companies with tangible antitrust risks.  In designing...

We all are familiar with the “horror” stories circling numerous infamous corporate scandals – Wells Fargo, Boeing, General Motors, Airbus, Ericsson, HSBC and on and on.  When you read about each of these scandals, layer by layer, the corporation is infected with a culture of wrongdoing.  In these situations, senior management, middle management and employees embrace differing levels of commitment to wrongdoing, ranging from intentional...

I have to admit that it is hard to maintain this blog under the current circumstances.  It is hard to ignore the “elephant in the room.”  The coronavirus crisis is having a serious impact on our country, society, communities and families.  I am deeply troubled by the current handling of this crisis at the federal level and the coming tsunami for our healthcare system.  In...