The Justice Department and the SEC are tired of investigating companies with “paper” compliance programs. It is easy to spot a “paper” compliance program – as the saying goes, you can smell it a mile away. The key distinguishing feature of an effective compliance program and a “paper” program can be distilled down to the question of whether the program is “operational.” Hui Chen, the...

The New Year brings new promise for compliance professionals. I always sympathize with compliance officers because of their inevitable conflict – their idealism often is confronted by corporate realities – a CEO who fails to live by his or her promise of support for compliance, or the slow assignment of personnel and resources needed to implement an effective compliance program. When you add to these...

When the going gets tough, the tough do not necessarily get going. This is evident in the world of corporate governance, compliance, and defense against aggressive government enforcement. Corporate lobbying interests are pushing a new and dangerous agenda, one that is shortsighted and certain to create problems for chief compliance officers. Several years ago the Chamber of Commerce launched an attack on FCPA enforcement with...

Webinar: Anti-Corruption Enforcement and Compliance — The Year in Review January 5, 2016, 12 noon EST Sign Up Here The past year — 2015 — was another eventful year in global anti-corruption enforcement. While the US Department of Justice enforcement activity slowed, the SEC and other governments increased enforcement activity. DOJ’s enforcement program took some unusual twists with the hiring of a Compliance Counsel and...

These are heady days for Chief Compliance Officers. Over the last 20 years, the CCO has moved from the backwater of corporate offices to the front and center of the power structure. We now have debates over the independence of the CCO from the legal function, the reporting obligations and the relationship between the CCO and the board. There is no question that CCOs have...

Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest. – Mark Twain We all know the obvious – a CEO’s commitment to ethics and compliance is critical to the success of a compliance program. A CEo who stands up and speaks about the company’s culture of compliance is more than a breath of fresh air – it can be the lifeblood...

This week I am devoting five postings to defining the “new” model of ethics and compliance – Compliance 2.0. If you read through compliance writings, blogs, articles, white papers, and other sources, you will see the term “Compliance 2.0” bandied about.  It is a term that has yet to be defined but is taking on a life of its own – a reflection perhaps of...

I am pleased to announce that Tom Fox, Principal, Advanced Compliance Solutions, and I are conducting a joint webinar on Tuesday, December 1, 2015 at 2 pm EST, on the Justice Department’s shifting FCPA prosecution strategy and compliance program requirements. Please sign up HERE. The Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement program is expected to undergo a significant change in policy focus. Building on the recent adoption...

Complacency in compliance is a cancer on a company’s culture. Woody Allen said it best in Annie Hall: A [compliance program] relationship, I think, is like a shark. You know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies. And I think what we got on our hands is a dead shark. Here is the video clip of the scene: here When a Chief Compliance...

“It is Time” – Rafiki, The Lion King Corporate scandals continue to rack up – I am not just blowing smoke on this fact. Corporate boards are under greater scrutiny but the hardest place to bring reform is the corporate boardroom. Old institutions do not change quickly and there is an inherent resistance to change when it comes to a corporate boardroom. The old dynamic...