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A confident person is willing to admit a mistake. An insecure person is unwilling to admit a mistake, even in the face of overwhelming evidence contrary to his or her argument. Not that my prior position was mistaken but I have argued that one of several messages in the FCPA
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Lawyers and compliance professionals repeatedly tout the importance of an internal investigation to protecting a company from devastating consequences from an enforcement action. An internal investigation is important for the company: (1) to evaluate the facts and the potential legal consequences from the events; and (2) to demonstrate the company’
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Can you imagine being the public relations director for China these days? Even in the limited world of foreign bribery, the Chinese have had a rough couple of weeks. Add the latest news to the mix and you have a recipe for a public relations nightmare. JP Morgan disclosed it
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People make bad decisions. Companies make bad decisions. In fairness, sometimes a bad decision is the result of a failure to act, or a failure to prioritize. We are surrounded by oxymorons in our world. I enjoy identifying them. We all know the classics – Compassionate conservatism, military intelligence, etc. In
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The hottest commodity on the job market is the compliance officer. It is about time. No longer are compliance officers considered second-rate professionals, relegated to back office positions and authority. Two trends are responsible for this professional transformation – aggressive enforcement programs and corporate governance focus on risk management. It
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Compliance is hard enough even when the issues are simplified, the tasks are defined, and the strategies are straightforward. It is all too easy to complicate an issue, wrap it in legalese, and technical terms which are used to justify some type of “expertise,” and then claim victory once the
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Returning to the theme of profound grasps of the obvious, compliance officers face numerous challenges where they need creativity and persistence. One area which is not as hard as others is training. A good training program requires common sense. Here is the rocket-science question – How do you make your
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As I have frequently stated, if your business is operating in China, chances are you are violating the FCPA. That sounds very cynical but there is a measure of reality to my claim. With all the recent attention from the GSK investigation in China which is rapidly extending to other
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Chief Compliance Officers are creative people. What appears insurmountable to us mere mortals and attorneys, is just another daily challenge for a CCO. It is a wonder that the compliance profession continues to grow in membership and importance in the business world. After years of neglect, CCOs have become everyone’
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Just when you thought the risks for businesses could not get any worse, the government recently found yet another hook for a criminal investigation. The False Claims Act continues to create significant and real risks for government contractors. Prosecutors enjoy wide authority to use the False Claims Act for criminal
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Corporate board members face a very tough environment. Prosecutors are gunning for a criminal case against a board and/or some of its members. Shareholders regularly sue board members whenever a company suffers a business or legal setback. The life of a board member has dramatically changed. No longer is
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Life as a Chief Compliance Officer is not so easy. The job, as defined, means living with day-to-day risks, any one of which is significant enough to damage or even destroy the company for whom you work. CCOs learn to live with risk. When a CCO has the