We all remember our childhood when we believed in the power of superheroes. Superman was someone I always admired. (I was a DC Comics fan, not a Marvel Comics fan). Chief Compliance Officers have to be careful to avoid a trap – they are not superheroes and most importantly, CCOs cannot single-handedly prevent a company from violating its code of conduct or the law. In...
“Honesty: the best of all the lost arts.” – Mark Twain 1902 I may be getting cynical in my old age but honesty is a rare thing these days. It seems to be getting more difficult to find honest people, especially when it comes to business. Each day we read about another scandal involving another fraudster, corrupt politician or criminal motivated by greed. Corporate ethics...
I had the privilege to testify last week before the House Judiciary Committee’s Over-Criminalization Task Force on Federal Criminal Code Reform. It was an honor to appear before Members of Congress with whom I had worked in the past. The hearing focused on an important effort to reform the federal criminal code. A link to the hearing video is here. A link to the hearing...
It is easy to tie FCPA violations to corporate governance performance. Sometimes the tie is strong – sometimes a little more attenuated. The BIzJet case from last year underscored the importance of proper board oversight and monitoring. The bribery scheme in the BizJet case was specifically presented to the BizJet board. You would have expected the board to rise up, demand an explanation and immediately...
Sometimes we gloss over complex issues using shorthand phrases. Part of that reflects our continuing ADHD society where 140 characters is the most any person can read and understand at one time. The US Sentencing Guidelines are always cited for its definition of an “effective” ethics and compliance program (Section 8B2.1). Under Section 8C2.5(f)(1), a company can earn a three-point reduction in the base offense...
A compliance program built on a “check-the-box” approach is doomed because it isolates program elements that need to be integrated. Compliance is akin to holistic ideologies (yes, you can quote me on that one). The whole of a compliance program cannot be stitched together. Each piece is interconnected in a greater whole. Each piece of a compliance program is interdependent and reinforces the other pieces....
FCPA practitioners, commentators and yes, even the FCPA Paparazzi, all spend a lot of time discussing, analyzing and posing theoretical questions related to the legal issue of who is a “foreign official” under the FCPA. The issue deserves lots of attention and analysis. After all, the issue can determine whether a company is liable or not for giving money or anything of value to a...
Sometimes people operate with blinders. I don’t mean to suggest that people deliberately put blinders on to ignore issues – they sort of just grow into a person’s personality. John Lennon said its best – “Living is easy with eyes closed.” The same applies to people who fail to listen. Whether deliberate or not, people avoid what they do not want to hear. There are...
If you trace the path of an FCPA violation inside an organization, at a minimum, you will see a path of lost opportunities, oversights and omissions. If you see anything different, you may be looking at a deliberate scheme involving complicity or active steps by senior management to a bribery scheme. Assuming we are looking at a situation where senior management and the board failed...
The SEC likes to reorganize, refocus and reenergize. In the last ten years, the SEC has continued to reinvent itself. Whether it has been effective or not, is still up for questioning. Some have questioned if the SEC’s initiatives and reorganization have diverted it from monitoring bread-and-butter issues, such as financial fraud, particularly in the accounting area. The SEC’s new chairwoman, Mary Jo White, has...
