Category: General

The Dangerous “Cult” of CEO Rock Stars

Everyone needs a hero, someone they can look up to and admire, and project feelings of positive personality. The world’s history is replete with “great” leaders who instilled in people a feeling of connection, commitment and admiration. History also tells us that the “leadership dynamic” can also be used for negative purposes. We all have our list of horrible and evil “leaders” who led countries...

Antitrust Update: The Aggressive Global Enforcement Network

Companies face lots of risks – the soup du jour has been anti-corruption enforcement and compliance. Like any consistent restaurant you might visit regularly, one risk continues to grow, quietly and significantly – antitrust criminal enforcement. Sure, I could have written a posting about the recent foreign exchange current price-fixing conspiracy among many of the large financial institutions, and trumpeted the $3.2 billion settlements recently...

Good People Do Bad Things

It is good to be an optimist. I am sure that optimistic people are happier, more loving and tend to live longer. All of this rings true. But not everyone is an angel, and not everyone at your company is a “good person.” When we refer to someone as a “good person,” that is our gut instinct speaking about our specific interactions with a person....

Crossing a New Bridge: Compliance Officers and Financial Controls

Compliance officers face plenty of challenges. The list of close allies always includes the General Counsel, Internal Audit, Human Resources and Procurement officials. In two recent surveys (here and here), CCOs reported that they do not have a strong working relationship with the CFO and typically do not get involved in the design and implementation of financial controls. That is a real significant problem. Lets start...

Warning: Keeping Compliance Simple

If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself. — Albert Einstein Compliance professionals are in a heady state these days. Their stock is rising; they are gaining influence and authority, and even some additional resources. When given the time, compliance professionals can come up with new and innovative strategies for compliance programs. But I see a danger lurking in the...

Whistleblowers – Tracking Ups and Downs

One of many things about life – just when you think you know something, it turns out you do not. Or another trite way to say the same thing – Life is full of surprises. The evolution in the treatment and legal protection of whistleblowers over the last five years has been remarkable. Just when you think there is one trend, out comes another. What...

A New Era of Sanctions Enforcement

I recently posted an article on International Trade Matters — International businesses beware, the United States has entered a new era of sanctions enforcement –– the article is located here. Check out the site — TradeReady — located here. Thanks.  

Announcing Volkov Law TV — Webinars On-Demand

Watch What You Want and When You Want It!! Check Out Site Here The Volkov Law Group is pleased to announce the launch of Volkov Law TV, a subscription-based service that provides immediate access to 50 webinars on a variety of enforcement and compliance topics.  New webinars will be added each month — at least 20 new webinars each year. Monthly subscription fee for unlimited...

Encouraging Employees to Break the “Rules” to Do the Right Thing

Lauren Connell of The Volkov Law Group joins us again for a posting about corruption and gifts and hospitality.  Her profile is here and she can be reached at [email protected]. Laws and regulations draw black lines in often-gray areas. That is their purpose; they exist to make it easier to tell what is “wrong” and what is “right” (as defined by whoever made the law)....