Those who regularly read my blog have heard me often cite the need for the compliance profession to adopt professional standards. With the rise of the profession, and the expectations placed on the shoulders of compliance officers, the compliance profession has to develop and promote its own set of ethical standards. We have the benefit of many extraordinary and talented leaders in the compliance profession....
We all value transparency as a general concept, especially when it comes to the government. In a real macro perspective, we fund the government and we demand that our government operate efficiently, effectively and ethically. Transparency is a fundamental requirement for all citizens to monitor and regulate our government. When it comes to our criminal justice system, or the enforcement of our laws, we expect...
Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein’s appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller last week was a blockbuster development in the investigation of the administration. A copy of the DAG’s Order is here. Independent and Special Counsels A Special Counsel is different from Independent Counsels who investigated high-profile matters in the past. In the Watergate investigation, the Justice Department appointed Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox who was eventually dismissed...
Workplace Answers, a sponsor of Corruption, Crime & Compliance, is offering an online FCPA Quiz. It is fun to take and test your knowledge of the FCPA. The link to the test is here. While at the site, please take time to register with Workplace Answers, order a white paper, and consider your training program needs. Thank you again and have fun taking the quiz.
Our political discourse these days has been focused on three key words – obstruction of justice. Whatever your politics may be, these words and the law surrounding obstruction of justice are important to understand. We do not know if the country will have to endure another impeachment process, but obstruction of justice will be a critical part of the investigation. After all, the impeachment proceedings...
As the compliance function has matured, Chief Compliance Officers have built important relationships with related functions that are critical to the compliance function. Over the last few years, we have seen the Justice Department and the SEC focus on company invoice to payment functions as a key area of concern when assessing the effectiveness of a compliance program. Last week, I had the honor of...
As a chief compliance officer, it is important to consider the mindset of a criminal. Not to complete tasks and accomplish your objectives. Instead, it is important to understand the criminal mind, what makes them tick and why they engage in criminal behavior. More specifically, when putting together a compliance program, a CCO should consider why an employee would steal, commit bribery or engage in...
Lauren Connell, Managing Associate at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us for a posting on data privacy and security. Lauren can be reached at [email protected]. The terms “Data Privacy and Security” are being thrown around a lot lately. Just recently, England’s health services and medical facilities were shut-down and the target of a ransom note (demanding, of course, payment in bitcoin) to access blocked files....
Like any other profession, the compliance profession is not immune to bad apples. Lawyers know the law but have been criminally prosecuted for breaking the law. The same goes for compliance professionals. If the compliance profession wants to build credibility, it has to adopt professional standards and it has to accept when a bad apple is appropriately punished. Instead of claiming that prosecuting CCOs will cause...
Compliance professionals are riding high. They are the darlings of the corporate governance world, commanding higher salaries, C-Suite positions with access to senior leadership and the board, and an empowered position within major, multinational companies. But there are storm clouds on the horizon. In fact, these storm clouds are inevitable – it is just a matter of when and where they will arrive. What do...
