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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
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The headlines get worse and worse. More companies under investigation. More individuals detained and under investigation. The shockwave in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries is palpable. It is all understandable. The message from the Chinese is two-fold – they are going to enforce China’s bribery laws, especially in
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I continue to be astounded by one simple fact (candidly there are others) – companies do not understand that creating and maintaining an ethical culture improves bottom-line financial performance. A commitment to ethics as an enhancement to an existing compliance program not only improves performance of the compliance program, but
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Lawyers like to be dramatic. Litigators love to be dramatic. When it comes to a “bet the company” scandal, the company’s survival will depend not only on the quality of an internal investigation, but the company’s broader “crisis management” skills. There is no question when the stakes are
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The increase in AML enforcement has focused on sanctions violations. The problem continues to plague financial businesses which have yet to adapt to the United States’ ability to enforce US sanctions laws and regulations against conduct which occurs outside the United States. Short-sighted compliance programs fail to integrate a
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This column may be another example of what I call -- “ A profound grasp of the obvious.” The answer to the question of this column is easy according to everyone – financial performance, quarterly results and shareholder value. So is that all on the mind of corporate leaders? We all know the
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I am sure Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission lawyers sometimes sit back and marvel at the world they have helped create – Companies are devoting more resources to the due diligence process for screening third parties. Companies are building due diligence screening procedures and more sophisticated protocols to minimize
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I am always surprised at creative links between compliance principles and major historical events and concepts. Tom Fox, my colleague, is particularly adept at drawing these connections, especially in his recent series describing the link between the Gettysburg battles and specific compliance topics. In his shadow, I would offer another
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In response to the Glaxo controversy and the continuing risks of aggressive FCPA enforcement, drug and device companies need to review and enhance their anti-corruption compliance programs. No hemming and hawing – this is a must for every company involved in these industries. To ignore the current situation, is to