A chief compliance officer needs to be independent and have adequate authority within the organization.  But do not get confused by the concept of independence.  Compliance depends on collaborative relationships with other corporate functions. Most importantly, a compliance program’s success depends on its ability to embrace the company’s business.  To do so, the compliance staff has to learn and understand the company’s business inside and...

As more countries enter into the anti-corruption enforcement world, companies face exponential risks of detection and enforcement. Recently, Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein has commented on the need to avoid unfair enforcement actions by multiple jurisdiction based on a single course of conduct.  This approach has been reflected in FCPA enforcement actions involving multiple countries and resulting in division of fines and penalties. The United States...

I am always amazed at how “business” entrepreneurs ignore enforcement risks in the face of specific warnings from regulators.    The SEC and the CFTC have made it clear to the emerging initial coin offering (ICO) and cryptocurrency markets that they intend to vigorously monitor and enforce securities and commodities regulations against the burgeoning industry. Yet, the latest vehicle for scams continue unabated, driven by greed...

Let’s face it – corporate boards are not adept at overseeing a company’s compliance program.  In the absence of a board member who has prior compliance expertise, corporate boards either ignore or struggle to fulfill their compliance oversight responsibilities. Corporate governance performance is suffering from this serious gap between compliance responsibilities and compliance capabilities.  Corporate boards are under increasing pressure to improve their performance, including...

Matt Stankiewicz, an Associate at The Volkov Law Group, joins us to discuss global regulation of cryptocurrencies.  Matt can be reached at [email protected]. The world is abuzz about cryptocurrency.  By this point, most everyone has heard of Bitcoin, and may even know about some of the other big players in the world such as Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, and countless others.  The technical specifics may be...

Companies have to embrace a holistic management approach to their internal controls.  In the corporate governance world, a new approach is needed to develop a more rational and consistent method for managing your company’s internal controls. This is not a radical proposal but a rational response to the enforcement risks and the need for consistency across an organization. Let’s start with a basic set up. ...

Laws control the lesser man — right conduct controls the greater one – Mark Twain A company’s internal controls define the backbone of its operations, encompassing financial, operational and compliance functions. The FCPA defines requirements for publicly-traded companies to implement internal controls, including compliance controls.  Under the internal controls requirements, issuers must devise and maintain a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to assure management’s...

Companies do not operate in a vacuum.  As we know, companies are part of our social fabric and are subject to the same influences as our communities, politics and families. To say that the MeToo movement has had an impact on corporate cultures, is to offer yet another profound grasp of the obvious.  The MeToo movement’s impact is much more than raising awareness of sexual...

In the business world, answering questions is not the same as the game show Jeopardy.  Nor does it require an answer in the form of a question (thank goodness, although that is not a bad strategy).  CEOs are used to being put on the spot and doing the CEO-shuffle.  They are good at it – they have to answer questions from key stakeholders, the media,...

If you want to learn and read about managing third-party risks, you will have no trouble finding articles, white papers, webinars and more available to you on the Internet.  And for good reason. Third-parties create significant risks, and these risks are not just limited to bribery but extend into sanctions, money laundering, privacy and cybersecurity, human trafficking, child labor and reputational damage.  The compliance marketplace...