FCPA Compliance Report

The role of the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) has steadily grown in stature and prestige over the years. In the 2012 FCPA Guidance, under Hallmark Three of the 10 Hallmarks of an Effective Compliance Program, the focus was articulated by the title of the Hallmark, Oversight, Autonomy, and Resources. This Hallmark was significantly expanded in both the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Program (E...

In this episode Matt Kelly and I take a deep dive into the absolutely stunning indictment of five former partners or employees of KPMG and one former employee at the Public Company Oversight Accounting Board (PCAOB). L Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, I visit with Andi Simon, the Principal of Simon Consulting and author of On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights. Simon is a corporate anthropologist and works with corporations to improve culture and effect change. She discusses why she wrote On the Brink and how leaders can use it to effect cultural change, bring businesses greater success and drive profi...

In this episode I visit with Damon Brenner, partner at Control Risks on the 2018 Control Risk Map. He details some of the company’s findings in the document entitled RiskMap 2018. Jonathan Wood, Director at Control Risks will present to the Greater Houston Business and Ethics Roundtable on the Risk Map this coming Thursday, 25th January, from 8-10 AM at the offices of Marathon Oil, here in Houston...

Compliance Programs (Evaluation) is the need to use the information you obtain, whether through risk assessment, root cause analysis, investigation, hotline report or any other manner to remediate the situation which allowed it to arise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you assess internal compliance controls under a best practices compliance program? In this episode I consider how to do so in the most effective manner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I visit with James Shields, the Creative Director for Twist and Shout Communications, a UK company which creates training video using comedy as the touchstone. You can check out a selection of the company’s offerings on its sight, Tuesday’s with Bernie. The company has found that comedy generates a visceral reaction, a reaction based on feeling rather than intellect. Learn more about your ad...

Under Hallmark Nine of Ten Hallmarks of an Effective Compliance Program as articulated in the 2012 FCPA Guidance, it stated, “Finally, a good compliance program should constantly evolve.” This insight was carried forward in the Department of Justice’s 2017 Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs which listed three types of continuous improvement: (1) internal audit, (2) control testing, and (3...

There is nothing like an internal whistleblower report about a FCPA violation, the finding of such an issue or (even worse) a subpoena from the DOJ to trigger the Board of Directors and senior management attention to the compliance function and the company’s compliance program. Such an event can trigger much gnashing of teeth and expressions of outrage followed immediately by proclamations “We are...

In this episode, Jay Rosen and I return for a review of some of the week's top compliance and ethics stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Focusing on investigations under Prong 7 in the Evaluation it stated, Properly Scoped Investigation by Qualified Personnel – How has the company ensured that the investigations have been properly scoped, and were independent, objective, appropriately conducted, and properly documented?  This means you need an investigation protocol in place so that the entire compliance function is on the same pag...

In this episode, the top compliance roundtable podcast is back with a look at some of the top FCPA, compliance and data privacy/data security issues from 2017 and how they inform what will be the top such issues in 2018.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The call, email or tip comes into your office; an employee reports suspicious activity somewhere across the globe. That activity might well turn into a FCPA issue for your company. As the CCO, it will be up to you to begin the process which will determine, in many instances, how the company will respond going forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode Matt Kelly and I take a deep dive into a fascinating paper from Harvard Business School. Boris Groysberg and George Serafeim, worked with a global recruitment firm to study more than 2,000 executive-level job placements from 2004 to 2011, examining a wide range of job placements and pay data since 2004. They found that the stigma of listing a discredited company on your resume, eve...

The building blocks of any compliance program lay the foundations for a best practices compliance program. For instance, in the lifecycle management of third parties, most compliance practitioners understand the need for a business justification, questionnaire, due diligence, evaluation and compliance terms and conditions in contracts. However, as many companies mature in their compliance programs...

As every compliance practitioner is well aware, third parties still present the highest risk under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The Department of Justice Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs devotes an entire prong to third party management. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After you complete your risk assessment, you must then translate it into a risk profile, as Rick Messick has noted, to estimate where bribery is likely occur, so prevention efforts will be properly targeted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this podcast, I visit Jonathan Marks, a partner at Marcum LLP on how to perform a root cause analysis and it uses in the remediation phase of a best practices compliance program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One cannot really say enough about risk assessments in the context of an anti-corruption programs. Since at least 1999, in the Metcalf & Eddy enforcement action, the DOJ has said that risk assessment which measure the likelihood and severity of possible FCPA violations the manner in which you should direct your resources to manage these risks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a...

In the Department of Justice’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs, Prong 8 Incentive and Disciplinary Measures it states: Incentive System – Consistent Application – Have the disciplinary actions and incentives been fairly and consistently applied across the organization? In the FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy it states, “Appropriate discipline of employees, including those identified b...

One of the areas that many companies have not paid as much attention to in their compliance programs is compensation. However, the DOJ and SEC have long made clear that they view monetary structure for compensation, rewarding those employees who do business in compliance with their employer’s compliance program, as one of the ways to reinforce the compliance program and the message of compliance....

Jay and Tom weigh in on the week's top compliance related stories in This Week in FCPA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode I discuss a Board of Director's obligations for a compliance program and how a Board might prudently discharge that obligation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the key goals of any FCPA compliance program is to train employees in awareness and understanding of the FCPA; your specific company compliance program; and to create and foster a culture of compliance. In the 2017 Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs the DOJ asked, “How has the company measured the effectiveness of the training?” This point has bedeviled many compliance professional...

In this episode Matt Kelly and I take deep dive into the issue of non-GAAP metrics and its implications. We were inspired an article in this quarter's MIT Sloan Management Review entitled, "The Pitfalls of Non-GAAP Metrics". It is fascinating review of this topic, which "Lurking within the financial statements and communications of public companies is a troubling trend. Alternative metrics, once u...