Ethics and compliance professionals need to change the drumbeat of their internal message and marketing to corporate boards and leaders. No longer is it appropriate nor persuasive to trumpet fear as a rationale for company investments in ethics and compliance programs. For years, CCOs have cited aggressive enforcement, dangers of prosecution and potential jail sentences as a way to persuade corporate leaders to allocate more...
The art of internal investigations is the ability to identify risks, adapt to those risks and avoid knee-jerk solutions. There are lots of nuances to internal investigations issues and the best practitioners in this area are able to identify them and carefully resolve questions. Since the stakes are high in most internal investigations, companies have to recognize the need for careful deliberation on important issues....
Investigators can be nerds. Some enjoy reading documents; others enjoy conducting witness interviews. Both are challenging tasks. Each requires a separate set of skills. Some investigators are able to master a document review and build a story of what occurred in their head. Others use witness interviews to develop the same picture. To be candid, how to conduct employee interviews is one of my favorites...
People need a vision to inspire them. I know this sounds corny but I always used this motto as a motivational tool. If you can see the goal, then you can figure out a way (or ways) to achieve the goal. If you conduct a set of tasks that are not aligned with any vision, you can veer off target and waste a lot of...
Life is filled with consequences. As our parents told us (and we repeated to our own children), “Your decisions have consequences.” I am a bit reluctant to start a blog series on internal investigations with a childhood motto, but when the shoe fits, you wear it (as the saying goes). When conducting an internal investigation, there are so many pitfalls and potential miscues that can...
The field of economics is often criticized for failing to have relevance to business realities. One important concept I recall was the difference between “short run” and “long run.” Businesses act different over the short run than they do over the long run. This concept, however, has little to do with today’s business world. The concept of long run has little application to today’s economy. ...
Webinar: May 21, 2014, 12 Noon EST Designing Cost-Effective Risk Assessment Programs Sign Up Here The foundation of every anti-corruption ethics and compliance program is a risk assessment. It is important to design and implement a process to conduct an initial risk assessment, to update the risk assessment, and to ensure that you maintain an accurate relative risk-ranking system. A current risk assessment is critical...
Last year, when Chinese officials launched a broad prosecution of GSK and other drug companies for bribery, multinational companies shivered in fear. Company officials were worried that they could fall under Chinese law enforcement scrutiny. China is not known for promoting due process in its criminal justice system. Much of its enforcement is shrouded in mystery and alleged criminals sometimes disappear for periods of time....
The Justice Department warned everyone – they are going to prosecute more individuals for criminal violations of the FCPA. DOJ has backed up its warning. Everyone should expect more criminal cases against individuals. Last year was the year of the criminal prosecution of individuals for FCPA violations. This year will be another banner year for individual criminal prosecutions. Eleven individuals have been indicted this year,...
Today we have a guest post from Lauren Connell, Managing Associate from The Volkov Law Group. Her profile is here. As anyone in the compliance field knows, one of the cardinal rules of internal investigations is impartiality. The people conducting an internal investigation need to be independent, not beholden to anyone involved in the matter. One of the essential steps you take in an investigation...
