Tom Fox and I recorded a recent discussion on blockchain technology and compliance. Here is a link to the recording. Tom and I share the belief that blockchain technology could have a significant impact on compliance strategies.
The business headlines are filled with the latest corporate scandal – Uber’s defective culture, CEO misconduct and reprehensible comments by supervising board members. Uber is just one of several significant companies caught in the headlines. Wells Fargo has been caught in another scandal just when it was thought to be dealing with the sales incentives scandal. Many high-profile companies are facing difficulties, usually self-inflicted from...
The compliance profession is enjoying its moment of triumph. Chief compliance officers are earning substantial salaries and rewarded with high-level positions in the C-Suite and significant influence. CCOs are the hot commodities in the in the corporate governance world. It is an intoxicating time for compliance professionals. In this environment, CCOs have to be wary. CEOs and other corporate leaders know how to talk the...
If you give a Chief Compliance Officer truth serum and ask him/her whether they believe a risk assessment is valuable, what do you think the CCO say? Let’s start with the cynical side – not that I am a pessimist. Many CCOs will candidly tell you that a risk assessment provides them with a colorful and expensive report on the company’s risks that contains no...
We all know it when we see it – a company with a weak corporate culture of ethics and compliance. Many companies claim they have an ethical culture but few really do. With increasing emphasis and understanding of the tangible benefits of an ethical culture, companies are striving to achieve such a goal. Unfortunately, there is no single solution to companies that want to establish...
Companies are embracing the value of compliance and ethics. Interestingly, companies are implementing robust compliance programs, and enhancing such programs with a focus on ethical business values and decision-making. These are welcome signs of improvement and underscore the continued growth of compliance and ethics strategies as a basic part of corporate governance frameworks. A recent survey conducted by Ethisphere and Convercent, 2017 Ethics and Compliance...
Whether you are in the high-tech industry and managing your channel partners (i.e. third-party distribution network), the pharmaceutical and medical device industry managing a complex network of distributors and sub-distributors, or any other industry relying on third-party distributors, chief compliance officers face a number of challenges managing and mitigating risks. To state the obvious, a company relying on distributors, by definition, has less control over...
At a recent conference of the high-tech industry, an IBM representative provided a fascinating presentation on blockchain technology and the application to compliance programs. It was a fascinating presentation. Maybe I cam coming to the party relatively late, but blockchain technology, as it gain acceptance in the marketplace, could have a real significant impact on compliance functions. Aside from compliance applications, blockchain could have significant...
Global companies face a daunting array of risks – anti-corruption, trade compliance, antitrust, and money laundering are just a few. The European Union, however, has escalated the data privacy issue right into the corporate boardroom. Global companies will have to devote significant time and resources to building appropriate data privacy compliance programs. The EU’s new General Data Privacy Regulation (or GDPR), which is effective May...
Tom Fox (here) frequently reminds every one of the importance of documentation to the integrity of a compliance program. A compliance program is only as good as the documents show. This principle is especially critical when a company has to respond to a regulatory inquiry or to an enforcement action. As we anticipate the testimony of former FBI Director James Comey in our current national...
