General
The Justice Department’s recent guidance on compliance programs, consisting of 110 separate questions, organized around specific compliance topics, has raised a number of interesting procedural and substantive issues. From an enforcement standpoint, how will DOJ prosecutors use the questions in negotiating FCPA enforcement settlements? The possible weight given to
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In the wake of ever-constant business scandals (e.g. ZTE, VW, Takata, Odebrecht), chief compliance officers have to refresh their approach and strategy. Everyone agrees, or at least I think they should agree, that a company’s most effective control is its culture. For CCOs, selling the board and
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I am proud to announce a new sponsor, Exiger, a well-known leader in governance, risk management and compliance services. Exiger assists organizations worldwide with practical advice and technology solutions to prevent compliance breaches, respond to risk, remediate major issues and monitor ongoing business activities. Exiger's unique blend
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Here is a real zinger – clients sometimes do not tell their lawyers the truth. I will wait a minute while you get off the floor because I know everyone is shocked and amazed that this happens. But in the recent ZTE case, which we will discuss, the client company lied
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No one was really surprised when Kenneth Blanco, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, US Department of Justice, announced last week that DOJ was planning to continue the FCPA Pilot Program past April 5, 2017, the scheduled expiration date. Blanco stated in a speech given at the annual
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We all enjoy an oxymoron, e.g., army intelligence, compassionate conservative. Some words go together and some do not. When it comes to compliance and private equity companies, you can predict with usual success that private equity and compliance do not fit. Sometimes simple statements turn out to be good
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Humans have an innate desire to complicate things. When it comes to ideas, professionals are no different – compliance consultants, lawyers, financial advisers and others enjoy solving complicated problems. Such an approach, however, does a disservice to clients and other professionals. Creating complications is not a sign of professional talent; rather,
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Assuming you made it through Part I of this two-part posting about internal controls, we need to consider a new approach to the design and implementation of internal controls. The first hurdle to overcome, as always, is acknowledgement that a new approach is needed. The CFO and the financial
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The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission have dedicated more time and energy to understanding a company’s internal controls and enforcing basic requirements that companies maintain effective internal controls. For prosecutors, companies often fall short when it comes to following their internal controls. If you follow my
Events
Webinar: DOJ Issues New Compliance Evaluation Guidance Tuesday, March 21, 12 Noon Sign Up Here The Justice Department recently released an important list of questions used by prosecutors to evaluate corporate compliance programs. The questions focus on important issues relating to a company's tone-at-the-top, role
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DOJ’s Compliance Evaluation questions provide important indications of “new” trends and approaches to compliance functions and issues. Training In the area of training, DOJ’s Compliance Evaluation reiterates DOJ’s concern that companies tailor their training programs to their specific risk profile. In the FCPA Guidance issued in 2012,
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To design and implement an effective ethics and compliance program, companies have to conduct a risk assessment and tailor its policies and programs to its risk profile. DOJ’s Compliance Evaluation reinforces this framework for a compliance program. Risk Assessment At the outset, a company has adopt a specific methodology