The Ethics and Compliance Initiative (“ECI”) is a terrific organization that provides important ethics and compliance insights and leadership. Starting in 1994, ECI has conducted a longitudinal, cross-section study of...more
Corporate leaders know what to say and when to say it – for example, a CEO may state at an employee meeting, “We want to hear your concerns. We want you to bring these concerns forward and we will address them. We are...more
The Department of Justice has laid down a marker – companies would be smart to understand the significant change in ethics and compliance program expectations. Companies that ignore this new landscape are gambling with their...more
NAVEX’s annual report on the state of risk and compliance is a must read. Each year NAVEX supplies helpful insights that compliance professionals, corporate managers and board members can use to benchmark their respective...more
7/6/2023
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Ethics ,
Harassment ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Management
Corporate compliance programs in the healthcare industry include many of the same elements that we are all familiar with – risk assessments, code of ethics, written policies and procedures, comprehensive training...more
6/28/2023
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Management Systems ,
Data Privacy ,
Ethics ,
False Billing ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Medical Billing Codes ,
Popular ,
Risk Assessment ,
Stark Law
Corporate governance frameworks seek to maximize management efficiency, risk mitigation, and business success. The most important tool for accomplishing these objectives is straightforward – a Culture of Ethics and...more
Companies have to demand a new focus from their CEOs, senior executives and legal compliance team in response to the new DOJ and regulatory initiatives. These steps are not just suggestions nor items that can be prioritized...more
Once defined, installed, and surrounded with a consequence management system, a corporate culture is not fixed in stone. To the contrary, as the business adapts through growth, innovation or in response to outside market and...more
As a company’s most valuable intangible asset, we have witnessed the wreckage of companies that have fallen victim to reputational damage, scandal and ultimately the wasteland of a rotten corporate culture. In these...more
Everyone has jumped on the corporate culture bandwagon. For some new converts, they like to espouse corporate culture as a recent discovery, or a new-fangled approach for compliance programs....more
The Justice Department’s recent emphasis on ethics and compliance culture, along with greater specificity on “consequence management” is a welcome breath of fresh air. It is a policy coming for a long time and will bring...more
The Justice Department is now taking on the role of marriage counselor. Not with individual couples, but with a critical corporate relationship – ethics and compliance and human resources. Normally, compliance and HR is a...more
Not that I am a glutton for punishment, but I always find enforcement actions to supply a number of valuable lessons learned. There are always instructive nuggets of information, opportunities missed, and root causes that...more
4/5/2023
/ Banks ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethics ,
Financial Transactions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Sanction Violations ,
Wachovia ,
Wells Fargo
If there ever is an example of a rotten corporate culture, Wells Fargo sits at the head of the class. Since Wells Fargo’s sales pressure scandal, Wells Fargo has continued to suffer from a string of scandals and misconduct. ...more
3/30/2023
/ Banks ,
Code of Conduct ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethics ,
Fines ,
Government Investigations ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Obstruction of Justice ,
OCC ,
Performance Incentives ,
Popular ,
Tone At The Top ,
Wells Fargo
The Justice Department continues to push on white collar corporate enforcement, and the intersection of national security sanctions and export controls with corporate criminal enforcement. Last week, Lisa Monaco, DOJ’s...more
3/10/2023
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Anti-Corruption ,
BSA/AML ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Management Systems ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Governance ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Ethics ,
Export Controls ,
Money Laundering ,
White Collar Crimes
LRN continues to provide important insights and trends on the importance of ethics and compliance programs. LRN’s annual report is an important resource and needs to be reviewed by the board, senior management and all...more
Here are some basic propositions that surround FCPA compliance. It is often underplayed that the FCPA contains more than just a bribery prohibition – the FCPA contains broad provisions, requiring accurate books and records...more
2/8/2023
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Ethics ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Internal Controls ,
White Collar Crimes
I always enjoy pulling out the crystal ball and looking forward with due consideration of last year’s trends. It is a perspective that gives us all the opportunity to identify important trends and to set an agenda for the...more
Some were surprised by the recent move by the Department of Justice in focusing on the importance of incentives and disincentives as an important factor in an effective ethics and compliance program. Others, however, had been...more
It is easy to be dogmatic in blog postings — to express an unvarnished opinion that sounds valid. While it may not be supported by hard data or valid evidence, compliance officers are used to trusting their “gut feelings,”...more
NAVEX continues to be one of the premier sources of essential annual benchmarking studies. Recently, NAVEX issued its 2022 Definitive Risk and Compliance Benchmark Report. The Report was based on over 1100 survey responses...more
The Monaco Memo is a watershed moment as part of DOJ’s evolution and advocacy for effective ethics and compliance programs. We have seen prior moments of significant action — DOJ’s adoption of the FCPA Guidance, DOJ’s...more
We often hear about the “essential” elements of an effective ethics and compliance programs. It is natural for professionals to define specific elements of an ethics and compliance framework. This is an important way to...more
We can all remember those instances of matchmaking in our past — we were confident our friends, if they met each other, would fall in love and even get married. We believed that these two separate friends were “meant” for...more
The proper balance in corporate prosecutions remains a tricky issue. On the one hand, many argue that large fines and penalties against corporations are needed to deter criminal conduct, while others contend that...more