Category: General

2 Sep, 2015

Taking Charge of a Company’s Reputation: Assign a Single Person to Manage Reputational Risks (Part III of III)

One person who does not have a conflict in evaluating a company’s reputational risks should manage a company’s reputation. This approach starts with one basic requirement – the board and the CEO have to agree that a company’s reputational risks should be managed and mitigated. As an initial step, the company has to assign responsibility for reputational risk to a senior executive responsible for risk...

General

31 Aug, 2015

Managing Threats to Corporate Reputations (Part II of III)

Most companies do not adequately manage their reputations and the risks to their reputations. Too many companies are focused on “crisis” management, which is just another way to respond to a reputational risk that has already occurred. Such a focus is not reputational risk management but is more accurately labeled as crisis management, a reactive strategy. Companies have to change their perspectives and focus proactively...

General

30 Aug, 2015

Calculating the Incalculable: Reputational Damage (Part I of III)

Today I begin a three-part series on reputational damage. The first part tries to define the term “reputational damage;” the second part focuses on managing threats to a company’s reputation; and the final posting proposes creation of a senior risk manager in a corporate leadership team. If you ask CEOs and board members about the threats to a company resulting from a DOJ enforcement action,...

General

30 Aug, 2015

Reminders: Volkov Law TV, E-Mail Subscriptions, Books and Volkov Law for Ethics and Compliance

Here at Corruption, Crime and Compliance, we aim to please our readers, subscribers, clients, associates and friends. We are committed to promoting the importance of ethics and compliance strategies, to supporting corporate governance improvements, and to implementing effective ethics and compliance functions. At the same time, we offer clients representation in response to government inquiries, subpoenas, investigations, as well as civil litigation. Our legal services...

General

26 Aug, 2015

The Necessary Ingredient to Compliance Success: Interpersonal Skills

We always bandy the phrase around of “people skills,” or the old trendy phrase of “emotional intelligence.” Hopefully, this posting can create some ideas around new approaches to these old concepts and trendy terminology. Compliance professionals need to develop strong interpersonal skills. It is one of several important personal skills and talents that are needed for a compliance officer to succeed. Maybe the point is...

General

25 Aug, 2015

Promoting Your Culture: Communications and Measurement

As everyone knows, I am an advocate for promoting and maintaining a company’s culture of ethics and compliance (not compliance and ethics). The best investment a company can make is to create and maintain a positive commitment to an ethical culture. I often repeat myself (just ask my wife and kids), but a culture of ethics is far more important than well-designed and effective policies...

General

24 Aug, 2015

DOJ’s Warning to High-Tech Companies: SAP Official Pleads Guilty To FCPA Violation

When DOJ acts, they like to make a splash. While the FCPA Paparazzi have been lamenting the “slow down” in FCPA enforcement actions and the increase in case closings, DOJ still makes its mark when it acts, and I expect more DOJ actions in the last quarter of 2015. DOJ’s latest salvo was the criminal plea of a former SAP official, a US citizen, for...

General

23 Aug, 2015

SEC Unveils First FCPA Enforcement Action Focused On Hiring Practices: BNY Mellon

The SEC is having a good year in the FCPA enforcement arena. As a former prosecutor, my eyes would sometimes glaze over when discussing civil enforcement actions. The SEC, however, has turned its FCPA enforcement program into a productive and important component of its overall mission. BNY Mellon agreed to pay $14.8 million for the hiring of three interns in order to curry favor with...

General

20 Aug, 2015

SEC Promotes Value of Cooperating Witnesses

Change does not occur overnight. The SEC, as much as any other government agency, has touted its hiring of former prosecutors and use of aggressive investigation tactics. I always took those statements with a grain of salt – after all, the SEC is enforcing civil laws and regulations. A prosecutor can only do so much in the civil enforcement arena. In a recent Wall Street...

General

19 Aug, 2015

The Danger of Compliance Overkill

Government prosecutors spend time promoting enforcement programs and encouraging companies to design and implement effective ethics and compliance programs. The blogosphere is filled with articles, surveys, studies, warnings, and marketing efforts all directed to encourage companies to increase compliance programs and resources. Companies have responded by increasing attention and resources to ethics and compliance programs. In particular, regulated industries are spending vast sums to enhance,...