FCPA Compliance Report

This week, Jay and I return for a wide-ranging discussion on some of the week’s top compliance and ethics related stories, including: HSBC monitor report protected from release. See article in Reuters by clicking here. The Odebrecht scandal continues to resonate across South America. See Dick Cassin’s post in the FCPA Blog. The first half of 2017 has brought the final resolutions of only two FCPA...

A gap analysis is a method of assessing the differences in performance between a business' internal controls to determine whether business requirements are being met and, if not, what steps should be taken to ensure they are met successfully. Moreover, it is a determination of the degree of conformance of your organization to the requirements of an internal controls standard. A gap analysis is mai...

Today, I consider some ways in which a compliance professional can work to implement internal controls in a multi-national organization. The first step is to convert your company’s compliance risks into internal control objectives. The internal control objectives are then given to each business unit with instructions to develop controls, which meet the objectives. This process should allow more of...

In this episode I visit with Carlos Ayers on steps you can take to make your compliance program more effective to employees in Latin America. This includes such things are localizing your training and presentations, consideration of local laws, use of language and regionalizing your approach.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Next, I will review how to use the risk assessment you have performed as a tool to provide a structured approach to establishing effective internal controls. After preparation of the risk assessment, the next step is to prioritize the listing of the risks and which locations they are common. This begins by mapping existing internal controls to risks and then assess whether the internal controls ar...

In an article entitled, 12 Leadership Qualities of An Often-Overlooked President, Matt Myatt, writing in forbes.com online reviewed the leadership qualities of John Adams as laid out in David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize winning biography, appropriately entitled John Adams. Adams presidency was glossed over with little more than a brief mention, most probably because he was President between two of...

Today, I want to discuss how to assess for your internal controls regime for international operations. It is incumbent that you need to review as much information so you can to understand the financial and operational structure of an entity and how the financial and operation structure outside the US is integrated with the corporate headquarters, or the US business unit’s financial and operation s...

In this episode, Matt Kelly and I take a deep dive into the 4th of July weekend use of the New Jersey beaches by Governor Chris Christie. Governor Christie had closed the beaches in a budget dispute but was still able, as Governor, to give himself and his family full access to the now wide open beaches on the recently passes holiday weekend. We consider Governor Christie’s example of undeserved pr...

Next, I want to consider some of the issues around internal controls outside the US and why your company’s internal controls might require changes for different countries across the globe. However, this provides an opportunity to further operationalize your compliance program through internal controls more narrowly tailored to mirror your business practices.  Every Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) s...

The issue of beneficial ownership is one which still bedevils many compliance professionals. Today, I visit with Brian Alster, Dun & Bradstreet’s Global Head of Supply and Compliance about the problem this issue continues to raise in the anti-corruption compliance space. Beneficial ownership is a critical inquiry for financial institutions and financial services companies but is becoming more impo...

This week, Jay and I return for a wide-ranging discussion on some of the week’s top compliance related stories, including:  U.S. charges top Colombia anti-graft prosecutor with money laundering. See article by Dick Cassin the FCPA Blog. US Supreme Court may finally settle one of the fiercest debates arising from the Dodd-Frank Act: What is a whistleblower and when are they protected against corpor...

There are four significant controls that he would suggest the compliance practitioner implement initially. They are: (1) Delegation of Authority (DOA); (2) Maintenance of the vendor master file; (3) Contracts with third parties; and (4) Movement of cash / currency.  Your DOA should reflect the impact of compliance risk including both transactions and geographic location so that a higher level of a...

Today, New York Times columnist David Brooks’ thoughts on building and maintaining order inform our discussion on internal controls. In the area of internal controls, I believe it is incumbent to consider not only the most obvious risk areas for your internal controls but also the universe of potential transactions within the operations of a particular company. There is a clear need for rigor in y...

In this episode, I visit with Patrick Henz, a compliance practitioner and author of Access Granted: Tomorrow’s Business Ethics. Henz has written one of the most fascinating books on compliance going forward into the future that I have recently read. His book analyzes actual and future technological developments to discuss how these will affect tomorrow's business reality and its impact on the huma...

What specifically are internal controls in a compliance program? Internal controls are not only the foundation of a company but are also the foundation of any effective anti-corruption compliance program. The starting point is the FCPA itself, requires the following:  Section 13(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act (15 U.S.C. § 78m(b)(2)(B)), commonly called the “internal controls” provision, requires iss...

In this episode, I visit with Ed Buthusiem, with BRG Business Transformation. BRG  partners with companies and their stakeholders to deliver sustainable results with speed and transparency through a data-driven and expert-led approach. We discuss the work of BRG and how BRG helps companies to drive a value proposition. We explore what this means for a Chief Compliance Officer or compliance practit...

In this week which starts the 4th of July holiday weekend, Jay and I return for a wide-ranging discussion on some of the week’s top compliance related stories, including:  The second Declination of the Session’s Justice Department, CDM Smith. For a copy of the Declination click here. For article in the FCPA Blog, click here.  The son of Equatorial Guinea's president went on trial this week in Fran...

Yesterday I considered an article by Ryan Hubbs, entitled “10 Factors Leading to Reporting Mechanism Distrust”, in which he detailed 10 factors leading to hotline distrust. Today I want to pick up on that article with Hobbs' tips for building a trusted hotline reporting program and culture, talk about the SEC whistle blowing program, and conclude with a few thoughts on why experienced, invested co...

Today I want to consider some factors which can lead to employees’ distrust of an internal reporting system. Ryan Hubbs wrote an excellent article entitled “10 Factors Leading to Reporting Mechanism Distrust”.  The guidance and mandates for companies on reporting mechanism reporting are numerous, overlapping and sometimes very broad. There are the US Sentencing Guidelines; regulations under Sarban...

The top compliance roundtable podcast is back with a wealth of new topics. Stayed tuned to the end where there are some heartfelt and somber rants in this edition.  Matt Kelly opens with a discussion on Uber from the policies and procedures framework. Matt rants on the danger of overly legalistic approaches to compliance.  For Matt Kelly’s posts on Uber and the intersection of policies and procedu...

In an article entitled “How to Launch and Operate a Legally-Compliant International Workplace Report Channel” or in compliance parlance, a hotline, author Donald Dowling of the law firm of White and Case, provided a useful guide to help navigate the challenges of setting up a multi-national whistleblower’s hotline, such as is required under the FCPA and UK Bribery Act. The majority of his article...

In this episode, Matt Kelly and I take a deep dive, literally into the weeds of the convergence of the compliance profession and the nascent cannabis industry. While several states have made pot for medical use legal and one state, Colorado has made it legal for personal consumption, it is still illegal under federal law. We consider such questions as: Lawyers and accountants are required to repor...

Is your hotline working for you? In an article entitled, entitled “Promoting Effective Us of the Compliance Hotline” José Tabuena provided an excellent example of the power of a hotline. He provide a case study of a company which had not integrated its IT function into its regular compliance and ethics training programs. As such there were zero calls into the hotline by employees from the IT depar...

In this episode, I visit with Steven Durham, a partner in the law firm of Labaton Sucharow. The firm is one of the leaders in the SEC Whistleblower practice. Durham describes his background and how he got to the firm. He relates the Whistleblower Practice at Labaton, what is your role and how Jordan Thomas worked to create the firm’s whistleblower practice after leaving the SEC. He then  relates w...

Today I would like to review some best practices regarding a compliance hotline.  The hotline should be developed and maintained externally. It seems axiomatic that em­ployees tend to trust hotlines maintained by third parties more than they do internally maintained systems. Through the submitting of reports via an external hotline there is a perceived extra layer of anonymity and impartiality com...