Whistleblower Policy and Non-Retaliation. A big part of building a culture of compliance is to establish clear guidance for employees and third parties to report suspicions of wrong doing. The employee is more likely to report corruption if they believe they will remain anonymous and there is no possibility of any retaliation to a valid [...]
Foreign Agent Activity. Many companies doing business in a foreign country retain a local individual or company to help them conduct business. Although these foreign agents may provide entirely legitimate advice regarding local customs and procedures and may help facilitate business transactions, companies should be aware of the risks involved in engaging third-party agents or [...]
What is Adequate? In appraising a compliance program, the DOJ and SEC consider whether a company has sufficient resources to ensure the company’s compliance program is implemented effectively. When it comes to compliance, there is no one-size-fits-all program. Adequate resources may be measured in different ways. Companies may consider a variety of factors when determining what [...]
Tone at the Top. The top of the organization must actively encourage a compliant culture through out the organization. Managers and employees at all levels must be aware of the executive expectation to discourage pure profit over compliance with laws and regulations. Within a business organization, compliance begins with the board of directors and senior [...]
Do you need a new course on conduct or ethics? A code of conduct and a code of ethics define the company's values, objectives and provide guidance to the responsibilities of the employees. A code of ethics governs decision-making while a code of conduct governs actions for companies to self-regulate. Every code of ethics and conduct is different and [...]
Compliance as a marketing campaign As the Department of Justice and the Securities Exchange Commission increase the number of investigations, corporations ask, “What can we do to prevent corruption?” The solution is… Create a Culture of Compliance to positively influence your employees. International laws such as the FCPA and the UK Bribery Act require companies [...]
Resource Guide to the FCPA. The Department of Justice and the Securities Exchange Commission delivered a 134 page guide to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The Guide is an unprecedented undertaking by DOJ and SEC to provide the public with detailed information about the approach and priorities of the FCPA enforcement. Specific benchmarks were identified [...]
Declination: Sounds like a bad word but actually, it’s what Compliance Officers want to hear. A declination occurs when the SEC or the DOJ determines not to prosecute a company after an investigation. In 2012 the DOJ declared 6 declinations and the SEC called out 11 declinations DOJ explicitly attributed declination decisions when the company self [...]
Conflict of Interest. We've all heard of a conflict of interest but how do we know if we have a conflict of interest? Trick question because it's impossible to determine whether your situation is a conflict because you don't have an independent or objective point of view. If you have any friends or family and you also [...]
Who needs a Code of Conduct? Both private and public companies are required to have a code of business ethics and conduct. The Code is not legal advice and is not to be used as an employee manual of instructions. The ethics standards are provided to encourage a compliant corporate culture and to point the [...]
