Compliance professionals are familiar with the phrase “tone at the top,” but what exactly does it mean? Unlike other compliance program components, it cannot be easily formalized and implemented in a policy or procedure. Yet tone at the top is critical to building a culture of compliance – employees and managers do not live in a vacuum, they will reflect the importance of ethical business...
We always hear about the macroeconomic impact of corruption. Using large figures in the billions and even trillions (5 percent of global GDP) and painting catastrophic pictures of societal harm, anti-corruption advocates paint a terrifying picture of global, regional and specific country harm. These figures are fairly well established between world and regional development banks and provide ample motivation to join the fight against corruption....
Sometimes it takes a scandal to advance a policy or law enforcement cause. The Panama Papers scandal has given new life to financial regulators around the world who seek to impose customer due diligence requirements on banks and other key players in the financial industry. Knowing Your Customer is not only a basic requirement but is fast becoming a potential enforcement nightmare. In this era,...
Last week, the SEC added another pharmaceutical company to its list of FCPA violators when AstraZeneca agreed to a $5.5 million settlement with the SEC. AZ is now the 25th drug or medical device company to pay an FCPA penalty for violating the FCPA. AZ’s violations were not limited to China as a number of recent FCPA enforcement actions against drug/medical device companies, but included...
Joanna Belbey, who maintains a regular column on Forbes Magazine, interviewed me on the subject of social media, criminal activity and law enforcement. Here is the link to the article: Crime and Social Media: Law Enforcement is Watching. Joanna is the Social Media and Compliance Specialist at Actiance, Inc. Follow her @belbey. She is a leading expert on the intersection of social media and...
If you ask members of a corporate board or senior executives about the cost of an FCPA enforcement action, they will candidly acknowledge all of the costs – fines, penalties, and professional costs (e.g. legal, accounting, forensic). These are significant costs and nothing to sneeze or laugh at (however the expression goes). In a moment of candor the board members and C-Suite executives will confess...
Healthcare organizations – ranging from physician practice groups to large, multi-state hospital systems – face a variety of risks, including fraud and abuse, as well as HIPAA privacy issues. Starting from a baseline risk assessment, healthcare organizations are often juggling among competing risks and responding to enforcement threats. The design and implementation of an effective healthcare compliance program is extremely difficult and requires dedication, resources,...
We all know the scene but choose to ignore it – a senior employee or manager is taking an online training course and is talking on the phone, writing emails and basically ignoring the training session. Why? Because it has no importance to the employee’s job. It is irrelevant but something he or she has to complete. A check the box task if ever there...
I respect prosecutors, most of them at least. I had the fortunate opportunity to work with a number of terrific prosecutors. Most are intelligent, hard working and committed to doing the right thing. I recognize that there are times when a prosecutor crosses the line, and for those prosecutors, I have no sympathy. Whatever punishment they receive is usually well deserved. But a very high...
The SEC, last week, announced its $5 million settlement with Key Energy. As always, FCPA settlements contain important examples of enforcement priorities and policies. Key Energy’s recent settlement is an example of the benefits of cooperation, especially when a company, like Key Energy, did not initiate the investigation by disclosing the matter to the government. Key Energy agreed to a books and records and internal...
