FCPA Compliance Report

I conclude this one month series by considering the recently concluded Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) resolution of its outstanding Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement action with Halliburton Company. I wanted to continue to explore the enforcement action around the issue of internal controls, their effectiveness (or lack thereof) and management over-ride of internal control...

in this episode, I visit with Virginia Suveiu, who writes upon theories of risk. She also teaches risk management strategies as UC-Irvine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are now less than six months away from a new Revenue Recognition (“new rev rec”) standard which may significantly impact the compliance profession, compliance pr Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I conclude this section on the COSO 2013 Internal Controls Framework by considering what COSO says about assessing compliance internal controls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Jay and I return for a wide-ranging discussion on some of the week’s top compliance and ethics related stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The fifth and final Objective is Monitoring Activities. The Framework Volume says, “Ongoing evaluations, separate evaluations, or some combination of the two are used to ascertain whether each of the five components of internal control, including controls to effect the principles within each component, is present and functioning. Ongoing evaluations, built into business processes at different leve...

In its Framework Volume, COSO said, “Information is necessary for the entity to carry out internal control responsibilities to support the achievement of its objectives. Management obtains or generates and uses relevant and quality information from both internal and external sources to support the functioning of other components of internal control. Communication is the continual, iterative proces...

We take things a different way in this episode as the commentators throw out five topics for consideration by the group. Last week we had topics from Jay and Matt; this week from Jonathan and Tom.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Control activities are performed at all levels of the entity, at various stages within business processes, and over the technology environment. They may be preventive or detective in nature and may encompass a range of manual and automated activities such as authorizations and approvals, verifications, reconciliations, and busi­ness performance reviews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit mega...

In this episode, Matt Kelly and I take a deep dive into the Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley reform initiatives in the House of Representatives and as articulated by incoming SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. Will the new administration gut SOX and Dodd-Frank compliance requirements? For more see Matt Kelly's blog post SEC Chair Clayton Talks Compliance Costs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...

The Integrated Framework (Framework Volume) recognizes that “every entity faces a variety of risks from external and internal sources.” This objective is designed to provide a company with a “dynamic and iterative process for identifying and assessing risks.” For the compliance practitioner none of this will sound new or even insightful, however the COSO Framework requires a component of managemen...

In this episode, Richard Lummis and I explore leadership lessons from Toussaint Louverture, who held the only successful slave revolt in the Western Hemisphere. Our remarks are based on the recent biography of him entitled, Toussaint Louverture by Phillipe Gerrard. While not an obvious character for study in a business leadership podcast, Louverture nonetheless presented several important lessons...

The updated Framework retained the core definition of internal controls; those being control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information and communication, and monitoring activities. However, it built up Objectives. The 17 principles represent fundamental concepts associated with the five components of internal control. Together, the Objectives and Principles constitute the crite...

In this episode I visit with James Koukios, a partner at Morrison and Foerster on the firm’s newsletter, Top Ten International Anti-Corruption Developments for May 2017. Our topics include:  FCPA Assistant Chief BJ Stieglitz has been selected for detail to UK Financial Enforcement Authorities. We discuss how does a prosecutor work overseas, what this might mean for prosecutions going forward both...

This week we turn our attention to COSO, with an introduction to the organization and its framework for internal controls. I will go through the internal controls and how they relate to compliance. Finally, I will end with a discussion of evaluation of internal controls through the COSO Framework. Once again, I am joined in this exploration by internal controls and accounting expert Joe Howell, EV...

This week, Jay and I return for a wide-ranging discussion on some of the week’s top compliance and ethics related stories, including:  Will Canada approve DPAs for use in anti-corruption prosecutions? TI-Canada recommends they come into use. See article in Corporate Compliance by clicking here. Also see interview with RCMP Superintendent Denis Desnoyers in GIR. Midyear FCPA enforcement report by S...

Last year, one of the most interesting non-Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions was announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It involved a clear quid pro quo benefit paid out by United Airlines to David Samson, the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the public government entity which has authority over,...

Show Notes for Everything Compliance-Episode 14   Topics from Matt: Trump Administration & FCPA enforcement— we have two declinations now; maybe a compare-and-contrast, and speculation on what a tough Trump Admin enforcement WOULD look like; EU’s GDPR— Do EU regulators really know what they want to do with enforcement of this law; although if they follow the lead of the anti-competition people wha...

Is a Board of Directors a compliance internal control? I think the clear answer is yes. In the FCPA Guidance, in the Ten Hallmarks of an Effective Compliance Program, there are two specific references to the obligations of a Board in a best practices compliance program. The first in Hallmark No. 1 states, “Within a business organization, compliance begins with the board of directors and senior exe...

Joe Howell, EVP of Workiva, Inc. as noted that it is reasonable to expect that internal controls over gifts, travel and entertainment (GTE) be designed to ensure that all satisfy the criteria as defined in company policies. Generally speaking, these are fairly narrow, including a definition of the dollar limit, which must not be exceeded in order for gifts to be permissible, coupled with some subj...

In this episode, Matt Kelly and I discuss the recent Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision in HSBC v. Moore. In this case a federal district court had ordered the release of redacted monitor’s report in the HSBC money-laundering Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA), based upon the request of an interested citizen. Both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and HSBC appealed the order and the Court of...

In this episode, I consider the leadership lessons which can be drawn from our 7th President Andrew Jackson. I focus largely on the crisis surrounding the charter of the Second National Bank of the United States, which played out over 5 years from 1831 to 1836. This conflict pitted Jackson against most the nation’s political and financial elites, most prominently Nicolas Biddle, the President of t...

   Today I want to look at internal controls for third parties. One of the questions that GSK faced during the bribery and corruption investigation of its Chinese operations is how an allegedly massive bribery and corruption scheme occurred? The dollars paid out went upwards of $500MM, which coincidentally was the amount of the fine levied by the Chinese court on GSK. It is not as if the Chinese m...

As they made clear with several FCPA enforcement actions in 2016, the SEC has placed a renewed interest in the accounting provisions of the FCPA, specifically the internal controls provisions. The BHP enforcement continued this trend, where there was no evidence that bribes were paid or offered in violation of the FCPA, the poor internal compliance controls at BHP led to a $25MM fine. Kara Brockme...

In this episode, I visit with Melanie Johnson, co-founder of Elite Online Publishing, which aids entrepreneurs, business leaders, and professional athletes to create, publish, and market their books, to build their business and brand. Melanie talks about her professional journey which led to this venture and how her career in broadcasting gave her a unique understanding for the world of online pub...