The sprawling Petrobas corruption scandal continues to grow and stretch across Brazil’s political and economic landscape. Prosecutors handling the case continue to reach new targets and arrest more individuals who profited from the corruption schemes. For global companies that conducted business with Petrobas, there are real enforcement risks as investigators uncover bribery activity. Recently, it was reported that Brazil prosecutors referred four companies to US...

I always enjoyed economics – understanding “rational” behavior and applying it to business situations can be very productive. Of course, there were many detractors who argued that economics is filled with assumptions that take the discipline away from reality, but I find those arguments unpersuasive. There has been a fair amount of research on corruption and the impact that bribery has on a functioning market....

Compliance officers face plenty of challenges. The list of close allies always includes the General Counsel, Internal Audit, Human Resources and Procurement officials. In two recent surveys (here and here), CCOs reported that they do not have a strong working relationship with the CFO and typically do not get involved in the design and implementation of financial controls. That is a real significant problem. Lets start...