The compliance profession cannot rest on its achievements and become complacent.  There are two significant events that are on the horizon and inevitably will occur. Compliance professionals have grown in number and in influence.  At the same time, compliance professionals are enjoying unprecedented independence and authority.  As the compliance profession rises, however, so will accountability – fair or unfair, it is soon about to hit....

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...

The fundamental principle of SEC’s market regulation is the power of sunshine, transparency and disclosure.  In other words, the SEC seeks to ensure that companies disclose important information to the public so that securities markets operate efficiently.  Whether the SEC has appropriately applied this principle in regulating the securities industry is a debate for another day.  The SEC, however, has used this policy goal to...

Tom Fox has been called the “Compliance Evangelist.”  Whatever title may be given to Tom, one thing is for sure – Tom is a steady force, providing practical advice to advance the compliance function. To that end, Tom’s latest contribution is a new tome – The Complete Compliance Handbook: A Guide to Operationalizing Your Compliance Program.  I recently received my autographed copy of Tom’s new...

Michael Volkov Quoted by ABC News:  Michael Avenatti casts himself as anti-Trump avenger, May 16, 2018 HERE The inspector general of the Treasury Department is now investigating possible leaks of Suspicious Activity Reports, or SARs, from Cohen’s financial institutions. “Suspicious activity reports are confidential. They’re not allowed to be leaked,” said Michael Volkov, a white-collar defense lawyer who spent seventeen years as a federal prosecutor...

Corporate commitment to speak up cultures is suffering.  The Ethics and Compliance Initiative’s recent Global National Business Ethics Survey (available HERE) contained a critical finding – corporate instances of retaliation against employee for raising concerns doubled in the last five years. In the 2013 survey, 22 percent of respondents reported instances of retaliation against employees.  This number increased to an astounding 44 percent of respondents...

As parents we all have been through the following scenario – we encourage our children to communicate and voice their concerns and to learn to articulate, reason and understand perspectives.  So, our kids start to speak up and we listen, patiently, but at some point, our patience wears thin, and we are not as interested or willing to listen.  Our children begin to question our...

We all know the saying – A fish rots from the head.  Sometimes a clear and simple statement says it all.  The Volkswagen diesel emissions cheating scandal is yet another example of C-Suite, even CEO, misconduct. The Justice Department recently announced the criminal indictment for former Volkswagen CEO, Martin Winterkorn, age 70, for conspiracy and wire fraud for Volkswagen’s scheme to defeat U.S. diesel vehicle...

The Trump Administration Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control activity has been interesting to watch.  On the one hand, OFAC has been implementing aggressive sanctions against Russia in reaction to Russia’s global misconduct.  On the other hand, OFAC has brought  — no, none, zip — enforcement actions this year.  That is unprecedented and inexplicable. I doubt that all staff has been dedicated to drafting...