I guarantee you if you ask your corporate board to define “ethical culture” and “compliance,” and their actual day-to-day responsibilities in this area, you will quickly realize most board members have no clue. This is not a controversial statement because corporate board members, for the most part, are clinging to old ways when it comes to board responsibilities – focus on the financials, monitor your...
We all know the phrase – “A fish rots from its head.” A perfectly accurate statement as to how corporate culture can suffer from leadership failures or C-Suite misconduct. But there is much more to corporate culture than just what happens in the C-Suite. Day-to-day events throughout the company can infect a corporate culture as well. A well-oiled machine means that corporate leadership establishes ethical...
All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure. Mark Twain People are good at convincing themselves that everything is okay, despite troubling indications. Sometimes it is easier to ignore warning signs than to face the harsh reality. It is really a part of the human condition – we fail to intervene or take action unless required to do...
Jessica Sanderson, Senior Counsel at The Volkov Law Group, recently attended the Rocky Mountain Securities Conference in Denver, Colorado. Jessica’s posting summarizes the major compliance themes from the conference. Jessica can be reached at [email protected]. On Friday May 3, 2019, I attended the Rocky Mountain Securities Conference in Denver and heard from a number of regulators and industry experts, including SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce. SEC...
It is always easy to second-guess or look back with 20-20 hindsight on a compliance breakdown and point out all the problems that were ignored or created by corporate actors. There are common factual scenarios that recur in DOJ and regulatory enforcement actions, some of which fall into certain categories. While defense counsel (being effective advocates) often argue that bad actors are often “rogue” employees,...
The corporate world has been rocked by major governance failures surrounding #MeToo incidents and complaints. Recently, Google suffered global walkouts by employees who were upset by Google’s payment of lucrative severance packages to senior executives forced to resign because of sexual misconduct issues, and a culture of sexual misconduct that included 48 sexual misconduct incidents resulting in the departure/termination of employees. Companies have to address...
There is no question that corporate leaders, senior executives, legal and compliance staff, and internal auditors recognize the value of an ethical corporate culture. It is the latest “fad” in corporate governance, and it is a welcome development. I have written extensively on this important trend and the value of a company’s culture of ethics and compliance. CEOs and corporate executives, however, have embraced this...
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain “To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.” – Mark Twain Mark Twain would have been a great Chief Compliance Officer – he had an extraordinary ability to capture human behavior and motivation. He would have known how to use the right phrase at the right time. I can just imagine CCO Mark Twain meeting...
We all enjoy citing Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s famous description relating to obscene materials, “I know it when I see it.” To apply this maxim in the corporate compliance field does not take much imagination. Let’s start with the most important corporate control for any organization – its culture? How do we define a positive culture of ethics and compliance? We can throw out...
I am pleased to announce the release of my new e-book, It’s the Culture Stupid: Ethics and the Definition of Successful Companies. (Available Here). Many thanks to Corporate Compliance Insights, Maurice Gilbert, Sarah Hadden and Emily Ellis for their continuing support. I am proud to partner with such a fine organization and professional group.
