Chief compliance officers rely on several important sources for feedback — internal data and communications (reviews with board, senior managers, employees); and benchmarking against comparable organizations.  An internal compliance dashboard is an important part of this feedback loop and brings consistency to measurement and trend analysis. Policies and Procedures: Assuming that the organization has adopted a policy management program (often using an automated program), for...

This is a topic that every compliance professional has to address in one form or another.  Chief compliance officers are so busy that they often cannot even take the time to tackle this difficult issue.  This is a real practical issue of importance.  Just to define terms and the focus of this blog posting — we have to define the issues and purposes of the...

The New York Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) has proposed rule changes to increase cyber compliance requirements. DFS has been the leading regulatory force in the cybersecurity industry.  DFS first issued comprehensive cybersecurity rules in March 2017.  Many other regulators and international organizations have adopted many of these regulations as best practices for cybersecurity requirements. The proposed rules would impose some significant requirements, including: Expansion...

You can always count on LRN.  No ifs, ands or buts, LRN continues to issue the highest-quality and most meaningful research and guidance on ethics and compliance programs.  LRN digs in to ask the hard questions, measures important trends and consistently provides importance support and guidance for corporate governance.  LRN is a must read in these areas. Now that I finished by promotional rant, let’s...

The Commerce Department has adjusted its export control enforcement program.  The Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) announced the new administrative policies and gave notice to the industry and public.  BIS is now bringing enforcement actions under this new regime. Luis Fernando Garcia BIS entered into a settlement agreement with Luis Fernando Garcia, the owner of GE Equipos de Seguridad, who sought to illegally export...

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district judge’s post-conviction dismissal of FCPA counts against Lawrence Hoskins, a former Alston executive, for his involvement in bribery scheme to secure a $118 million energy contract in Indonesia.  The Hoskins FCPA case has had a long and tortious path through the court system, and the Second Circuit’s decision, which was decided by a 2 to 1...

A basic truism — you do not want to become the subject of a Justice Department investigation.  The wheels of justice — prosecutors and law enforcement — can cause real harm to organizations and individuals that violate the law. DOJ is aligning resources to investigate and prosecute cryptocurrency criminal activity.  This should not come as a surprise to anyone. The Justice Department announced with much...

Compliance professionals are used to internal struggles for influence and resources.  Chief compliance officers have devoted years and years to justifying the need to elevate and empower the compliance function.  For years, compliance professionals were relegated to back-room positions where they were cabined by structural and political restrictions.  One of the early struggles was between the chief legal officer and the CCO.  Eventually, CCOs were...

It is hard to write yet another posting about Wells Fargo’s misconduct.  Wells Fargo’s troubles continue unabated.  I am not exaggerating — I promise.  Every few months, we hear about another problem, another enforcement action, another uncovering of misconduct.  I do not intend to attempt to even recount all of Wells Fargo’s horrible history.  We all know it, and like a rotten fish, we all...

I have a pet peeve in the compliance world.  It may be symbolic; it may be petty at the same time; and it may just be a function of my old(er) age.  I apologize in advance for this posting, i.e. this rant.  Call it my moment on the front lawn yelling at passing cars in the neighborhood.  My moment of frustration. Let’s start with two...