I am not one to beg but I have decided I have nothing to lose here – please, when it comes to compliance, everyone has to adopt a new mantra. The purpose of compliance is not to prevent legal and code of conduct violations. Such a purpose is way too limited in scope and almost guarantees failure, because at one time or another, company employees...

Anti-corruption compliance programs are the rage now – is that a young person’s expression? Antitrust has been a forgotten stepchild, partly because of DOJ’s unwillingness to credit companies that maintain effective compliance programs. That is not a legitimate excuse since every company should be addressing antitrust compliance as part of an overall compliance program. Antitrust compliance, however, has been around for many years, and usually fell...

If you ask any Chief Compliance Officer whether their compliance program includes antitrust laws, they will respond quickly and tell you – “Of course we do.” If you follow up you initial question and ask how do you ensure compliance you will hear a single response – “We conduct training.” When you scratch the surface on antitrust compliance at major companies, you will usually hear...

Last week, the Justice Department (here) and the SEC (here) announced parallel FCPA settlements totaling $22 million in fines, penalties and disgorgement against LAN Airlines, a Chile-based airline, for conduct in resolving a labor dispute in Argentina. In March 2016, the SEC settled a case with LAN’s CEO for approving payments to a consultant, an advisor to the Secretary of Argentina’s Ministry of Transportation, to...

The legal profession is transforming itself, especially in the area of compliance. Lawyers are an invaluable part of a compliance program. They provide important perspective and understanding of risk, they help a company to assess and navigate legal risks and they interface with regulators and enforcement agencies. The most effective compliance programs usually are built around a strong partnership between a chief compliance officer and...

The messaging behind the need for companies to implement robust compliance programs continues to suffer from a narrow conception of the overall compliance function. It is easy to get lost in the weeds on compliance programs and focus on compliance tasks, policies, resources, assessments and audits. I have promoted a different messaging approach – one that gives full credit and priority to a robust compliance...

We all face a number of risks every day. Yet, we do not respond to each and every risk. We engage in risk-ranking our responses. Some are more risk than others and some are more catastrophic than others. So, we engage in risk ranking each day and allocate our time and attention accordingly. The same applies, or should apply, when managing a compliance program. Resources...

Chief compliance officers face an overwhelming level of risk in the healthcare sector. I do not mean to belittle the risks of corruption, AML, sanctions and other risks typically associated with global companies. Healthcare companies face an extraordinary mix of risks, including fraud, data security, bribery/anti-kickback, and Stark Law violations. The False Claims Act statute is a prosecutor’s dream, and organizations and individuals face extraordinary...

The New York DFS finalized its new AML and Sanctions screening regulations. Interestingly, the NYDFS backed off its original proposal to require a Chief Compliance Officer to certify to a compliance “finding” that the bank or other covered entities maintain an adequate AML and sanctions compliance program. In its place, the NYDFS regulations require an annual certification from senior management, i.e. those responsible for “management,...