Category: General

Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You — Business Buy-In to Compliance Functions (Part III of IV)

We all know that a compliance program without business buy-in is, by definition, an ineffective compliance program. The level of business support ranges from “mouthing” support to full-fledged embrace and ownership of compliance program controls. By “mouthing” support, I am referring to business staff who say they understand compliance, use the right words reflecting an understanding of compliance issues, but they fail to attend to,...

Bridging the Gap: Uniting Compliance and Financial Controls (Part II of IV)

A Chief Compliance Officer has a number of important relationships to attend to in the corporate governance landscape. A critical relationship needed to “operationalize” a compliance program is a partnership between a CCO and the Chief Financial Officer and its key constituents, including the Internal Auditor and Comptroller. Unfortunately, a recent survey (Here) revealed that only 37 percent of CFOs actively participate in their company’s...

Operationalizing Compliance – Natural Partners and Breaking Down Walls (Part I of IV)

An effective compliance program is built on internal coordination and relationships. Applying the Justice Department’s terminology, an effective compliance program is one that is operationalized. At first glance, you may think this is something new. It is not. The Justice Department’s adoption of the term “operationalized” is meant to distinguish between a compliance program that exists on paper versus a compliance program that is implemented...

DOJ’s Compliance Program Evaluation Guidance

The Justice Department’s recent guidance on compliance programs, consisting of 110 separate questions, organized around specific compliance topics, has raised a number of interesting procedural and substantive issues. From an enforcement standpoint, how will DOJ prosecutors use the questions in negotiating FCPA enforcement settlements? The possible weight given to the factors will vary depending on a number of factors, including the nature and scope of...

Managing Your Ethical Culture: Measure, Intervene and Remediate

In the wake of ever-constant business scandals (e.g. ZTE, VW, Takata, Odebrecht), chief compliance officers have to refresh their approach and strategy. Everyone agrees, or at least I think they should agree, that a company’s most effective control is its culture. For CCOs, selling the board and senior executives on this point should not be very hard. The research and common sense often come together...

Welcome to New Sponsor: Exiger, a Global Governance, Risk and Compliance Leader

I am proud to announce a new sponsor, Exiger, a well-known leader in governance, risk management and compliance services. Exiger assists organizations worldwide with practical advice and technology solutions to prevent compliance breaches, respond to risk, remediate major issues and monitor ongoing business activities. Exiger’s unique blend of industry expertise in financial crime compliance, diligence, and investigations uniquely positions Exiger to help organizations with actionable...

ZTE Pays the Price for Circumventing Sanctions and Export Controls

Here is a real zinger – clients sometimes do not tell their lawyers the truth. I will wait a minute while you get off the floor because I know everyone is shocked and amazed that this happens. But in the recent ZTE case, which we will discuss, the client company lied several times to its in-house and outside counsel resulting in false representations to the...

FCPA Pilot Program Motors On

No one was really surprised when Kenneth Blanco, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, US Department of Justice, announced last week that DOJ was planning to continue the FCPA Pilot Program past April 5, 2017, the scheduled expiration date. Blanco stated in a speech given at the annual White Collar Crime Conference: Before I conclude, I would be remiss if I did not...

Compliance and Private Equity: An Oxymoron?

We all enjoy an oxymoron, e.g., army intelligence, compassionate conservative. Some words go together and some do not. When it comes to compliance and private equity companies, you can predict with usual success that private equity and compliance do not fit. Sometimes simple statements turn out to be good explanations for a trend. When a private equity firm acquires a company, the focus is on...

The Two Most important Words in a Compliance Dictionary: Trust and Integrity

Humans have an innate desire to complicate things. When it comes to ideas, professionals are no different – compliance consultants, lawyers, financial advisers and others enjoy solving complicated problems. Such an approach, however, does a disservice to clients and other professionals. Creating complications is not a sign of professional talent; rather, an effective consultant, attorney or financial adviser should be able to take complex issues,...