We are here and today I am extraordinarily honored to post my 500th Anniversary podcast. Now, I switch seats to be the guest as I am interviewed by Gregg Greenberg, the General Manager of C-Suite Radio. We take a look back at some of the key compliance trends over the past 10 years, the top episodes, my favorite guests, the Liverpool Football Club, buffalo wings and much more.
We began with a history of my career in compliance and then podcasting, going back to my first podcast with Howard Sklar on the original incarnation of This Week in FCPA. This led to me founding my own podcast, the FCPA Compliance Report. (With a nod towards looking cool in my then-teenaged daughter’s eyes) and, in turn, to founding the only podcast network in compliance, the Compliance Podcast Network.
We discussed some of the most popular episodes of the FCPA Compliance Report. Guest David Klotz has led the way with nearly 10,000 downloads on a podcast about his book Financial Regulation and Compliance. Number two was a podcast with Matt Kelly (the coolest guy in compliance) where we discussed the Alstom, Avon and Petrobras Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions. This experience and the podcast’s popularity led to the founding of one of the most popular shows on the Compliance Podcast Network, Compliance into the Weeds. In the top five, and one of my all-time favorites, is a podcast with John Champion, co-host of MissionLogPodcast.com. In this series John, original co-host Ken Ray and current co-host Norman Lao, review every Star Trek television show episode and movie, a nearly 15 year trek (talk about commitment). John and I did a great show on the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, the Original Series. Anytime I can fully geek out on TOS with one of the most knowledgeable Trek-O-Philes around, you know it is going to be great.
We also talked about a couple of guests who really stood out over these past 500 episodes. The first is Mike DeBernardis, Counsel at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP. On Mike’s first appearance, we had about the quickest connection of any guest I have interviewed. Literally, five minutes into the episode we were answering each other’s questions. Mike is also a top white-collar practitioner, who also defends FCPA cases and his knowledge in that area is second to none. Another top guest is James Koukios, a partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP. Koukios worked in the FCPA Unit of the Fraud Section and is a great resource on all things FCPA from the prosecutorial angle. We get together every couple of months to do an episode wrapped around the firm’s always excellent monthly International Anti-Corruption Developments newsletter.
Following the format from last week, we discussed three of the biggest changes I have observed in compliance over the past decade. The first was how the Department of Justice (DOJ) has evolved in its thinking on compliance which has, in turn, influenced corporate compliance programs. This trend started in earnest with the 2012 FCPA Resource Guide and has continued up to this year with the release of the 2ndedition to the FCPA Resource Guide and 2020 Update to the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs. The second was how compliance functions have evolved from a legal-based paper program to being seen as a business process which can enhance ROI and profitability. The third has been how corporate compliance has come to be seen in a much broader way as a key to the fight against the international scourge of bribery and corruption.
We turned to the future of podcasting and how I see it as a critical tool for every company to fully round out their brand and, more importantly, their conversations with their stakeholders; whether those stakeholders be employees, third-parties or customers. Podcasts are one of the most intimate mediums around and the content marketing they create can be of great, ever-lasting and evergreen value.
We concluded with some words on my favorite Premier League team, the Liverpool Football Club (thanks to Pam Whitehead). I then give a short master class on what makes the perfect buffalo wing, from the style of chicken to use, to the frying process, to the hot sauce. All I will say is that when I finished Gregg said, “Mic Drop.” You will have to listen in to the podcast for the full ingredients and recipe.
A special shout out to C-Suite GM Gregg Greenberg for interviewing me for this episode. It was Gregg who named me the “Voice of Compliance.” Also, a shout out to Jeffrey Hayzlett, Founder and CEO of C-Suite Network who invited me to be on C-Suite Radio, the largest business podcast in existence. This has helped me push my message about compliance to a business audience outside the Compliance Podcast Network. Finally, to Howard Sklar who, lo those many years ago, introduced me to the world of podcasting, for which I am eternally grateful.
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