Compliance Perspectives: Volkswagen's Transformation
Daily Compliance News: March 3, 2020, the Devil’s Advocate edition
Compliance into the Weeds-Episode 62, Sentencing of VW Employee Oliver Schmidt
Day 20: What Does Innovation in Compliance Look Like?
News recently published by multiple media outlets suggest that certain subcomponents incorporated into a variety of Volkswagen-owned vehicles—including cars manufactured by luxe brands Porsche, Bentley and Audi—were sourced...more
The Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal captured global headlines and was profoundly disruptive to the company, resulting in substantial penalties and a three-year monitorship under former Deputy Attorney General Larry D. Thompson...more
In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News: Deutsche Bank red flag raises issues. (FT) VW hires ‘the devil’s advocate’. (FT) Will coronavirus change the ways businesses work? (FT) How coronavirus is negatively impacting one...more
In January 2019, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan returned an indictment against four executives from Audi, a Volkswagen subsidiary, for their participation and direction of Audi’s emissions-cheating...more
We all know the saying – A fish rots from the head. Sometimes a clear and simple statement says it all. The Volkswagen diesel emissions cheating scandal is yet another example of C-Suite, even CEO, misconduct....more
The compliance community is well aware of the risks in the C-Suite. As you move up the corporate ladder, the level of risk from executive misconduct increases. A rotten executive can quickly bring down a company, destroy...more
As many of you all know, Matt Kelly can rant with the best of them, right up there with Howard Sklar. I was quite intrigued when I read Matt’s December 11, 2017 blog post entitled, “At What Cost Dishonesty? For VW Exec, Seven...more
As I end this section on innovation, I want to conclude by laying out a road map which allows a CCO or compliance practitioner to make more effective and better operationalize a corporate compliance program. With the DOJ’s...more
We are fascinated by corporate scandals. Since the 1980s, the US public has enjoyed unraveling corporate scandals, and vilifying corporate leaders caught in the web of deceit and misconduct. I am sure there are historical...more
The Justice Department’s continuing lack of individual criminal prosecutions in the FCPA arena continues to raise serious questions. DOJ’s issuance of the Yates memorandum was seen as a new and important reiteration of DOJ’s...more
As we look across the corporate governance landscape and focus on the spikes of corporate scandals, I started to wonder if there was any pattern or trend to the nature of corporate scandals....more
Just when we thought 2016 was over and we could all breathe a sigh of relief, DOJ and the SEC have continued to run with a string of new enforcement actions. To all of those prognosticators, paparazzi, commentators, chicken...more
When unraveling a major corporate scandal, especially multi-year schemes involving senior executives, the blame game or lessons learned approach can easily turn into a fruitless exercise. The VA and Takata scandals are...more
One of three counts in Volkswagen’s recent $4.3 billion guilty-plea was for obstruction of justice arising from a litigation-hold botched by house counsel. As VW prepared to admit the defeat-device problems to US...more
Corporate misconduct occurs in a variety of forms. Starting with the basic truism – companies act through people, and when companies engage in misconduct it requires the coordination and collaboration of multiple actors. The...more
That may well be the line most used by Volkswagen (VW) executives after the arrest of their fellow executive, Oliver Schmidt, this past week at the Miami airport. According to an article in the New York Times (NYT), entitled...more
Compliance professionals are familiar with the phrase “tone at the top,” but what exactly does it mean? Unlike other compliance program components, it cannot be easily formalized and implemented in a policy or procedure....more
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. One of the small pleasures I take each week is reading the New Yorker’s Cartoon Caption contest. I have entered most weeks for the past 10 years or so when the spirit moved me with a...more
I conclude my week honoring the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare by using my favorite character in all his work to introduce today’s post. He is The Fool from King Lear. Of Shakespeare’s many theatrical...more
There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it’s all dark.” If you went to college in the 70s or 80s (or maybe even the 90s) you know what the next album is, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. For in the...more
One of the areas where my thinking has evolved in the compliance arena is around the area of reputational damage. Of course commentators, such as Andrea Bonime-Blanc, have written and spoken about preventing damage to a...more
We interrupt this week’s Travel Edition blog posts to honor David Bowie, who died yesterday. To say his album Diamond Dogs was a revelation is simply because it is the only word which comes close. During my final semester in...more
Having gone through the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement year for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), I would now like to turn to my Top Five compliance related events...more
Today, we conclude our week long exploration of the original Star Wars trilogy, all posted in conjunction with three podcasts, subtitled May The Podcast Be With You, where we use one movie as a staring point to review Foreign...more
Last week, VW blamed its “culture” for allowing “individual misconduct” that lead to the emissions-testing-evasion scandal engulfing the company. It reminded me of a couple of corporate-compliance mantras and of DOJ’s recent...more