Companies are correctly focused on cybersecurity risks.  Notwithstanding this focus, companies are struggling with how to respond to threats and risks.  Cybersecurity threats are quickly evolving – akin to the time when countries engaged in military arms races.  As they evolve, companies have to embrace proactive strategies and cannot rely on a compliance strategy that reacts to events and threats. Cyber criminals are quickly embracing...

Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success — Pablo Picasso The chief compliance officer is at an important professional juncture – 2018 is an important year for the profession.  In this era of growth, and after corporate tax relief, companies...

It is rare these days for Republicans and Democrats to agree on political priorities – another profound grasp of the obvious.  Recently, on Capitol Hill there appears to be some common ground on the issue of reforming AML laws and regulations. The motivation is to make financial AML regulations “smarter” and increase focus on beneficial ownership, terrorist financing and proactive detection of money laundering.  Some...

Compliance officers are a much more collaborative group of professionals than lawyers.  Compliance officers share information with colleagues about compliance experiences, best practices and strategies.  The compliance industry benefits from this sharing of information. On occasion, however, this sharing of a company’s performance in one area can lead to unfair judgments by a recipient of the information.  For example, one company may conduct an in-depth...

Regulators and enforcement agencies continue to pursue aggressive regulations and requirements for financial institutions (a very broad definition under Title 31 of the US Code and regulations).  The new administration does not show any signs of altering the course of agency priorities.  Money laundering, sanctions and securities enforcement has continued at a straight-forward pace from the Obama Administration. The most significant upcoming development is FinCEN’s...

Financial institutions face enormous pressures with respect to anti-money laundering compliance.  These burdens are about to grow with implementation of customer due diligence rules.  In 2017, federal and state regulators stepped up AML enforcement.  Here is a quick rundown of some of the enforcement actions: Citibank paid a $70 million penalty  to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (here) for violating its 2012...

Lauren Connell, Managing Associate at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us and provides a posting on corporate culture.  Lauren can be reached at [email protected]. What exactly does “corporate culture” mean?  Compliance professionals often talk about how important “tone from the top” or the “mood in the middle” is, but what does that really mean? Improving corporate culture has been directly tied to higher profits and...

We all enjoy citing government sources for guidance on an effective ethics and compliance program.  Whether it is the United States Sentencing Guidelines, the Justice Department’s and SEC’s FCPA Guidance, Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, or the many other sources for guidance, companies have to test and audit their compliance programs to ensure that the program reflects the company’s changing constellation...

When you look back on the rise of the ethics and compliance profession, you cannot ignore the history of accomplishments.  It is easy to minimize these accomplishments as a reaction to the government’s aggressive FCPA enforcement program. Companies are starting to embrace ethics and compliance as a positive force to build sustainable financial growth – which is the true calling of a robust ethics and...

The Department of Justice finished 2017 with two significant FCPA enforcement actions, and fittingly, one was a corporate settlement and another was an individual criminal guilty plea.  The Justice Department’s final FCPA enforcement actions for 2017 included an interesting settlement with Keppel Offshore and Marine Ltd. (KOM), a Singapore based, global shipyard and repair company, and a criminal guilty plea from a sales executive involved...