Compliance officers are a much more collaborative group of professionals than lawyers.  Compliance officers share information with colleagues about compliance experiences, best practices and strategies.  The compliance industry benefits from this sharing of information. On occasion, however, this sharing of a company’s performance in one area can lead to unfair judgments by a recipient of the information.  For example, one company may conduct an in-depth...

Webinar: How to Implement an Effective Internal Investigation Program Tuesday, February 6, 2018, 12 noon EST SIGN UP HERE An effective ethics and compliance program depends on an efficient internal investigation function. Corporations have to design and implement an internal investigation system that is fair, timely and reliable. To do so, companies need to identify risks, assign resources, monitor investigations and mete out disciplinary actions....

Regulators and enforcement agencies continue to pursue aggressive regulations and requirements for financial institutions (a very broad definition under Title 31 of the US Code and regulations).  The new administration does not show any signs of altering the course of agency priorities.  Money laundering, sanctions and securities enforcement has continued at a straight-forward pace from the Obama Administration. The most significant upcoming development is FinCEN’s...

Financial institutions face enormous pressures with respect to anti-money laundering compliance.  These burdens are about to grow with implementation of customer due diligence rules.  In 2017, federal and state regulators stepped up AML enforcement.  Here is a quick rundown of some of the enforcement actions: Citibank paid a $70 million penalty  to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (here) for violating its 2012...

Jean-Michel Ferat, a leading FCPA Forensic Accountant, and Senior Managing Director at Ankura Consulting, joins Michael Volkov, in Episode 21 of the Podcast, Corruption Crime & Compliance. Jean-Michel Ferat is a leading forensic accountant and has vast experience in uncovering complex bribery schemes and financial crimes.  Jean-Michel also works with large, mid-size and small companies to design and implement effective financial accounting controls and remediate...

Lauren Connell, Managing Associate at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us and provides a posting on corporate culture.  Lauren can be reached at [email protected]. What exactly does “corporate culture” mean?  Compliance professionals often talk about how important “tone from the top” or the “mood in the middle” is, but what does that really mean? Improving corporate culture has been directly tied to higher profits and...

Webinar: 2018 Ethics and Compliance Trends and Expectations Tuesday, January 16, 2018, 12 noon EST SIGN UP HERE The compliance profession continues to increase its influence in the corporate governance landscape.  The Justice Department’s aggressive prosecution of global companies for anti-corruption violations, as well as international enforcement and compliance developments, has created a comprehensive set of compliance trends and government expectations as to compliance functions....

We all enjoy citing government sources for guidance on an effective ethics and compliance program.  Whether it is the United States Sentencing Guidelines, the Justice Department’s and SEC’s FCPA Guidance, Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, or the many other sources for guidance, companies have to test and audit their compliance programs to ensure that the program reflects the company’s changing constellation...

When you look back on the rise of the ethics and compliance profession, you cannot ignore the history of accomplishments.  It is easy to minimize these accomplishments as a reaction to the government’s aggressive FCPA enforcement program. Companies are starting to embrace ethics and compliance as a positive force to build sustainable financial growth – which is the true calling of a robust ethics and...

Companies face increasing challenges from management and protection of data from hackers and breaches of sensitive commercial and personal data.  Recent headlines have underscored the threats to companies from such breaches.  The risk of reputational harm to companies is serious.  Complaince departments are starting to play an increased role in mitigating these serious risks. In this episode, Michael Volkov and Lauren Connell, Managing Associate from...