In the latest episode of EMBARGOED!, Brian and Tim return to China in a big way as they dive headlong into the TikTok and WeChat bans to analyze what transactions are actually prohibited, the status of the various court proceedings seeking to delay the bans, where things stand with CFIUS review of TikTok’s “divestiture,” and, last but not least, China’s countermoves to try to ensure it will have the last word.
Next, we turn to Iran and the U.S.’s attempt to unilaterally reimpose U.N. sanctions under the JCPOA more than two years after withdrawing from the deal. Finally, in the Lightning Round, we share a few quick thoughts on recent sanctions aimed at countering foreign interference in U.S. elections and discuss the latest travel-related restrictions on Cuba (Hint: Don’t stick rum or cigars in your suitcase before returning to the States unless you have an OFAC license).
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EMBARGOED! is not intended and cannot be relied on as legal advice; the content only reflects the thoughts and opinions of its hosts.
EMBARGOED! is intelligent talk about sanctions, export controls, and all things international trade for trade nerds and normal human beings alike, hosted by Miller & Chevalier Members Brian Fleming and Tim O’Toole. Each episode will feature deep thoughts and hot takes about the latest headline-grabbing developments in this area of the law, as well as some below-the-radar items to keep an eye on. Subscribe for new bi-weekly episodes so you don’t miss out!
Timestamps:
0:10 Introduction and Roadmap
The Rundown
7:01 More TikTok and WeChat (Commerce rules, state of the “bans,” CFIUS and the TikTok “divestiture,” China’s Unreliable Entities List)
46:17 Iran Snapback
1:02:13 Lightning Round
1:02:25 Cyber designations relating to election interference by (GASP!) Russia
1:10:17 CACR amendments to further restrict aspects of Cuba travel
1:17:34 Final Thoughts
*Stay sanctions free.*
Day: September 29, 2020
The Compliance Life details the journey to and in the role of a Chief Compliance Officer. How does one come to sit in the CCO chair? What are some of the skills a CCO needs to success navigate the compliance waters in any company? What are some of the top challenges CCOs have faced and how did they meet them? These questions and many others will be explored in this new podcast series. Over four episodes each month on The Compliance Life, I visit with one current or former CCO to explore their journey to the CCO chair. This month, my guest is DeAnna Nwankwo who served as Corporate Compliance Officer for Core Laboratories from 2003 May 2020. In that capacity, she led Core Laboratories ethics and compliance activities.
As CCO, DeAnna reported to the general counsel and secretary and to the audit committee of the board of directors. She was responsible for formulating and implementing Core Lab’s ethics policies and procedures, including its Code of Ethics and Corporate Responsibility and making sure they were communicated and trained upon across the company. DeAnna managed the company’s employee Helpline resources and served as a final internal resource which concerned parties could communicate after other formal channels and resources were exhausted. As Corporate Compliance Officer, she was authorized to implement all necessary actions to ensure achievement of the objectives of an effective compliance program. In her role, she collaborated with other functional departments (Internal Audit, Human Resources, Information Security, etc.) to receive and direct compliance issues to appropriate resources for investigation and resolution.
In this fourth and final episode, DeAnna discusses that as a Chief Compliance Officer, you must stand for what you believe in or you will fall for anything. She explained there were times when she did not agree with my manager on certain things like firing a group of managers in one business unit for violating the Company’s Code of Business Conduct regarding mileage reimbursement or when individuals claimed they were retaliated against. In those instances, she stood her ground and pushed back. We concluded with some thoughts about the uniqueness of DeAnna’s journey to the CCO chair and reflect that all CCOs have a unique journey.
CONVERGE is in its 5th year of bringing together the world’s leading companies for 2 days of dynamic speakers, thought-provoking breakout sessions, and opportunities to connect with like-minded professionals. This year the conference has gone virtual. You will leave the conference with new resources and best practices allowing you to continue the hard work of driving ethics to the center of your business. In today’s episode I visit with Lisa Fine. We visit about her panel at Converge20 on Bypassing burnout: Maximize your ethical impact, grow your career, and empower your team.
Lisa Director, Compliance, Americas, Pearson and uber Washington Nationals and Buffalo Bills fan. The session will cover strategic thinking, career sustainability, and professional development to help you build a personal brand within your organization and the wider ethics and compliance community. For more registration and information on Converge20, click here.
In this podcast I am joined by AMI Managing Director Rod Grandon. In this episode, we discuss small business compliance programs. Companies do not need to “break the bank” in order to have an effective program. The United States Sentencing Commission Guidelines Manual (Guidelines) expressly provide that the “formality and scope of actions that an organization shall take to meet the requirements of [the] guideline, including necessary features of the organization’s standards and procedures, depend on the size of the organization.” Small concerns must still demonstrate the “same degree of commitment to ethical conduct and compliance with the law as large organizations,” but may do with “less formality and fewer resources” than would be necessary of a large concern.
These programs, and their benefits, extend beyond a written set of rules and policies. Companies use ethics and compliance programs to communicate company mission statements, goals and expectations; to encourage staff to share the same set of corporate values; and to drive their behavior in day-to-day business activities.
It may be appropriate for small concerns to rely on “existing resources and simple systems.” For example, it may be appropriate:
- For senior company leaders to discharge their responsibilities for oversight of an effective program by directly managing the company’s efforts, as opposed to hiring or designating others to do so.
- To train employees through informal staff meetings, and monitoring effectiveness through “regular ‘walk-arounds’ or continuous observation while managing the organization.”
- To use available personnel and resources, rather than employing separate staff, to run the program.
- To model the company’s ethics and compliance program on existing, high-quality programs and practices of other similar organizations (although, as noted above, there are no perfect one-size-fits-all programs – even if adopting an existing program, the company must tailor that program to the specific business needs and operational risks associated with the company’s activities).
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 mainly a document review or a “show me the evidence” type activity, evidence which usually will come in the form of a record or document. During a gap analysis, there is some auditing accomplished, through key stakeholders providing the evidence they may have – or not – for each of the requirements set forth in the relevant internal controls standard. In this episode, I am joined by AMI’s Eric Feldman to explore this topic.
3 Key Takeaways
- Now is the time for a gap analysis.
- Add a Fraud Risk Assessment to your gap analysis.
- Culture is a foundational internal control.
Most of the advice and knowledge people present about #internalaudit is very theoretical. If you are like most auditors you are still asking “But how do I implement at my organization.”
In this #jammingwithjason #internalaudit podcast I talk with Toby DeRoch of InsightCPE on how we can become much more practical and just do things instead of talking about it. Two areas we dig into deeper are how to practically apply an Agile Auditing approach, and how to deal with a virtual audit environment, including how to develop relationships remotely.
Join Toby and Jason for the next cRisk Academy webinar “Why Do Auditors Ignore Fraud?” on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 · 9:00 AM PDT. Register at: https://www.bigmarker.com/crisk-academy/Why-Do-Auditors-Ignore-Fraud
Check out Toby’s list of upcoming webinars at: https://www.insightcpe.com/webinars
and his full list of courses available through the cRisk Academy on-demand learning platform at: https://www.insightcpe.com/on-demand
Andy Hinton joined #NotMe as an advisor. He says that the move is “just a continuation of the mission that I had at Google and GE, which is to leverage the employee population to help organizations do better when it comes to risk detection, risk monitoring, and ultimately, risk management.” Ariel Weindling is the founder of #NotMe. His motivation was to try to solve the problem of misconduct, which he felt was being tackled very inefficiently. He says that he wanted his daughter to have a tool she could use to be safe in the workplace, so she would not be a victim or a witness of misconduct. Both men join Tom Fox on this week’s show for an interesting look at the #NotMe tool and how it helps organizations keep employees safe.
An Employee First Approach
Andy says that #NotMe has the right approach by putting employees first. He comments that it is “a tectonic shift” as other services are focused on the organization’s needs rather than serving and supporting employees. The goal of #NotMe is to change workplace culture and to make workplaces safe for everyone. Tom asks how they can implement that goal. Ariel responds, “We believe that safety is key in the workplace. Whether we are speaking about psychological safety or physical safety, they are key to an organization. They’re key to an employee because employees are not gonna do good work if they are not safe. Safety benefits all stakeholders of the company.” He goes on to explain that misconduct is really about an abuse of power, and shares the two ways #NotMe addresses this issue. “[We want] companies to stop looking at an employee report as a liability, but rather as an opportunity to listen, to discuss, to communicate, and to course-correct.”
A Robust Reporting System Enhances Profitability
Tom cites research that companies with a robust reporting system tend to be more profitable. Andy agrees and adds, “The ability to energize and engage employees to do a better job around risk identification, risk reporting, and risk management is truly a potentially tremendous asset for an organization… When it’s appropriately leveraged, it does make the organization better… [in] profitability and revenue generation.” Ariel describes the features of the #NotMe app as well as the dashboard. The difference between #NotMe and other tools, he says, is that #NotMe belongs to the employee so it preserves and maintains their anonymity throughout. Andy points out that using an independent tool like #NotMe is essentially leveraging your employee population to help you manage risk.”
Prevention Starts with Reporting
Preventing workplace misconduct starts with reporting. Tom comments that #NotMe can provide continuous information that would help an organization continuously improve its compliance program. Andy adds, “#NotMe is an easy way to do that. By deploying it, promoting it you express to your employees that you are taking these issues seriously, and you’re doing fundamental concrete things to address them.”
Resources
Not-Me.com
Ariel@not-me.com
Andy Hinton on LinkedIn
Welcome to a special five-part podcast series where I take a deep dive into the Miller & Chevalier Chartered Latin American Corruption Survey. Over this five-part series I will visit with firm lawyers James Tillen, Matt Ellis, Alexandra Almonte and Greg Bates. Miller & Chevalier and 14 partner firms have tracked perspectives on anti-corruption issues in the region since 2008. It is the most comprehensive survey on the perception of corruption in Latin America.
This year, 54 percent of survey respondents said corruption is a significant obstacle to doing business – up 10 percent since 2012 – while only 45 percent of respondents believe offenders are likely to be prosecuted, down from 66 percent in 2008. Despite Latin America’s anti-corruption progress over the last decade this new survey data reveals corruption risk to be at an all-time high across the region.
In this Episode 2, I visit with firm Member Matt Ellis on some of the Survey’s findings on country specific corruption issues. Some of the highlights include:
- What countries in the region are seen as most corrupt?
- What were some of the most surprising country-specific findings?
- Brazil has been so active in recent years in leading corruption investigations and cooperating with other countries. What does the data say about Brazil?
- Mexico is a focus right now given the various investigations surrounding Pemex. What does the data say about Mexico corruption risk?
- Do any countries buck the trend of more perceived corruption risk?
- The Notebooks Scandal in Argentina was a surprising development. What are Argentines saying about their own anti-corruption laws and efforts?
Join us in our next episode where we explore some of the Survey’s high-level findings on compliance trends with Alejandra Almonte.
For more information on the Miller & Chevalier Chartered 2020 Latin American Corruption Survey, click here. The Survey is available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:
- SEC uses risk based approach for enforcement. (SEC Press Release)
- Why it all starts at the top. (FT)
- Uber wins back license to operate in London. (WSJ)
- Trump paid $750 in taxes for the years 2017 & 2016. (NYT)
