Welcome to my second installment in this month’s classic monster movie festival. This year I am revisiting the Frankenstein series  and today I want to explore and, indeed, honor the second in the series but what many viewers and reviews consider the best of the entire lot The Bride of Frankenstein. There are so many great scenes and themes of this movie it is nearly impossible to pick out one or even a few. One of the things I have always appreciated is the German cinema, Bauhaus inspired artwork by Art Director Charles Hall. It not often discussed as central to the plot but it adds a dimension of surrealism to the film I have always enjoyed.

Yet, for today’s blog post, only two things from the movie. The first is the character Dr. Pretorius, who was played by Ernest Thieger.  From the first time we meet him, saving a meal in a crypt, to see the miniature King and Queen in his laboratory, to his maniacal plan to have Dr. Frankenstein create a mate for the Monster (played again by Boris Karloff), to helping the doctor achieve this goal, all played in one of the greatest camp roles of all-time. The performance was and remains a tour de force in the horror genre and forever cementing the fixture of the mad scientist.

The second theme continues to the be the humanity of Frankenstein’s monster. In this film, the Monster can speak but Karloff still brings the pathos he demonstrated in the original film. The scenes at the end of the movie when the Monster meets his newly created mate, played by Elsa Lanchester are some of the most touching ever filmed in the genre.

I am participating in three upcoming webinar and conferences. I hope that you can join me for one or more of the following. Each will present a wide range of detailed information you can use in your compliance program.

Red Flag Group Webinar – final in series on managing supply chain risk

Next Thursday, October 20 at 11:00 AM EDT; 8:00 AM PDT; 4:00 PM BST, I will be participating in a Red Flag Group (RFG) webinar, entitled “Using technology and analysis to manage your supply chain risks”. Often, software platforms can provide a lot of efficiencies such as a reduction of time, resources and a more manageable audit trail. Still, software cannot do everything. Subject matter expertise is still essential to building a quality supplier risk management program. Combining the right platform with bench strength will lead to better risk analysis and supplier communications. In this webinar we will be kicking off a new series to discuss the benefits of using a software technology platform combined with bench strength to help build a more effective risk management program. We will discuss:

• The benefits of a quality technology platform approach;
• Automating processes and increasing the audit trail efficiency; and
• The value of subject matter expertise and risk analysis.

I hope you can join myself and my RFG colleagues for this conclusion to our three-part series of best practices in managing supply chain risk. You can REGISTER HERE

FCPA Blog NYC Conference

On Wednesday, October 26, I hope you can join me and the rest of the editorial team from the FCPA Blog at the inaugural FCPA Blog NYC Conference. The conference is designed to inspire critical thinking by looking at momentous trends now changing the enforcement and compliance landscape for everyone, including the world’s kleptocrats and their financial keepers. It is suitable for those at any level in the legal, compliance, and audit functions from any industry, in the private and public sectors, as well as journalists, academics, students, and policy makers – in other words, the full spectrum of the readership of the FCPA Blog.

The speakers and panels will be first rate beginning with the Founder and Editor of the FCPA Blog, Dick Cassin, who will provide his insights into the five most important Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions. Former No. 2 at the Department of Justice (DOJ), Lanny Breuer, will provide a keynote talk on how the revolution in FCPA enforcement is upon us. Richard Bistrong will, for the first time publicly, address his role as the government cooperator in what has been called the “Africa Sting”. Mike Scher, Julie DiMauro and myself will participate in a panel which looks at who are the interest holders of a Chief Compliance Officer (CCO).

Other panels including one led by Bill Steinman, will discuss the daily life of compliance professionals consisting of balancing risk and reward with ever-growing compliance obligations, all away from the limelight and how the foot soldiers of compliance conceive of and balance risks, and how they view their role in the overall fight against corruption. Now halfway through the DOJ’s historic one-year FCPA Pilot Program, Professor Andy Spalding will provide his perspective on policy commitments, what the program reflects and where might we expect or hope the DOJ to go from here. China expert Eric Carlson, together with Marc Bohn, Russell Stamets and Bill Waite will discuss global enforcement issues.

Finally, and best of all, readers of this blog are entitled to a 20% discount off the regular price. You can access the discount by clicking here. For complete details on the conference, with the agenda and list of all speakers, click here.

SCCE Board Audit and Compliance Committee Conference

Given all that has happened over the past few weeks about Wells Fargo, it has been increasingly and abundantly clear that Boards of Directors need to take a much more active role in overseeing not only the compliance component of every company but also understanding the corporate culture. Fortunately, the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) is putting on just such training next month in Phoenix.

There is quite a distinguished panel of instructors including Urton Anderson, PhD, CCEP, Director/EY Professor – Von Allmen School of Accountancy at the Gatton College of Business, who will speak on the nexus of accountancy and compliance. Well known compliance experts Scott Killingsworth and Erica Salmon Byrne will speak on Board member liability and compliance. David J. Heller, Vice President Enterprise Risk Management and General Auditor at Edison International, will lead two sessions on the role of compliance & enterprise risk management and crisis management.

I will be participating to help Board and Audit and Compliance Committee members understand their obligations and the specific oversight role they play in any best practices compliance program. I will explore what is the role of a board in a best practices compliance program; How can the board positively impact a company’s compliance program?; and what metadata should a board member consider in oversight of a compliance program? I will provide a series of questions that can ask, to fulfill its role.

For more information and registration information, click here.

I hope that you will watch both Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein back-to-back so that you can see the full genius of director James Whale. They truly are the top to classic monster movie films of all-time.

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