Ethics and compliance had a terrific year in 2014. The profession is growing in response to increased demand from businesses that are “slowly” embracing the importance of ethics and compliance. Whether or not there is a real commitment to ethics and compliance will depend on the old saying – “Put your money where your mouth is.” Compliance budgets are increasing – additional staff is being...

The most important opportunity for a company to communicate an ethics and compliance message is training. The Board, senior executives, managers and employees are required to watch and hopefully interact with a training presentation. It is an important time to communicate a message and reinforce the message to  the audience. A Chief Compliance Officer has to recognize the importance of this opportunity and seize the...

To label the current enforcement environment as “tough” is a dramatic understatement.   I never understand why lawyers spend so much time touting the new, aggressive enforcement era as part of their marketing pitches – everyone knows we are in a tough environment, there is no need to remind everyone. Prosecutors have put together criminal and civil enforcement partnerships that are proactive and extremely successful. From...

If there is one industry that needs an ethics overhaul, it has to be the financial industry. The list of transgressions continues to grow – AML/sanctions, LIBOR, Foreign Exchange Currency Cartels and Market Manipulations, Mortgage-Backed Securities, Foreign Bribery – when will it stop? Look at a quick (and not exhaustive) list of bank settlements: Bank of America $16 billion (mortgage-back securities); JP Morgan $13 billion...

Traditionally, performing third party due diligence has been primarily a data gathering activity. Now, with access to abundant information sources, the activity—and the challenges—have evolved. How do you manage and efficiently analyze relevant information related to third party vendors? This will require a paradigm shift in how compliance professionals approach due diligence. Fortunately, technology is stepping in to help. Third party due diligence compliance solution...

The old expression goes – “Do not break your arm patting yourself on the back” – but maybe I might just extend my arm a little with the Alstom settlement. Last year I predicted that the Alstom case would eclipse Siemens as the most significant FCPA enforcement action (at least until Wal-Mart). I was close. The Alstom case settled “quickly” in FCPA terms because of...

The Internet-Age has certainly brought us all “closer” together. Sometimes I long for the old days of rotary telephones, four television channels, and vinyl record players. We never knew how good we had it in those days. It is all too easy to send someone or everyone a message – tweets and posts are flying and everyone wants to be heard or read in one...

To bring some continuity to my blog, I try to start the New Year off by acknowledging the significant person for the past year. Over the last three years, I recognized the Chief Compliance Officer, the Whistleblower and the Prosecutor, respectively, as the person of the year. This year I am recognizing the Chief Ethics Officer as the Person of Year. Many companies have embraced...

The key to being a successful (FCPA) prognosticator is never to keep score. If you do, you are likely to be disappointed. Instead, I follow the strategy of calculated distraction – for example, I predicted last year that the Avon case would be settled.   Never mind the fact that some of my other predictions did not come true. I expect 2015 to be another big...

We all like annual reviews and predictions for the upcoming year – it is a New Year’s rite of passage and one that brings perspective and a sense of order to our otherwise chaotic lives. Call it what you want – 2014 was another big year for FCPA enforcement. That is the headline everyone will see and probably remember. Underneath the headline, there is much...