Categories
Corruption, Crime and Compliance

Episode 241 – Continuous Improvement, Testing and Auditing of Your Ethics and Compliance Program

The Justice Department and various regulatory agencies continue to emphasize the importance of continuous improvement, testing and review as part of robust assessment procedures in an effective compliance program. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control has specifically stated that a sanctions compliance program should include “a comprehensive, independent, and objective testing or audit function” so that a company can determine “how their program[] [is] performing and should be updated, enhanced, or recalibrated to account for a changing risk assessment or sanctions environment.” The Health and Human Services — Office of Inspector General has made similar statements underscoring the need to conduct compliance audits and testing. An important part of every compliance program focuses beyond the design and operation of the program to the important issue of whether the program is working. In this respect, DOJ and regulatory agencies have noted that CCOs should be striving to develop “continuous” monitoring systems and avoid “snapshots” in time. In order to execute such monitoring, compliance has to maintain broad access to operational data across all key functions in a company. This data must be used to regularly update risk assessments, compliance policies and procedures and financial controls.

In this episode, Michael Volkov takes a broad review of the testing and auditing of ethics and compliance programs.

Categories
Greetings and Felicitations

Winnie the Pooh Explains Compliance: Part 5 – Winnie the Pooh as CECO (Think, Think, Think)

This week I have explored compliance through a five-part podcast series, as seen through the lens of Winnie the Pooh and the characters living in the Hundred Acre Woods. I want to conclude my series by looking at Winnie the Pooh himself through the lens of the Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer (CECO).

Pooh may be a bit naive and slow-witted, but he is also friendly, thoughtful and steadfast. Although he and his friends agree that he is “a bear of very little brain”, Pooh is occasionally acknowledged to have a clever idea, usually driven by common sense. Pooh is also a talented poet; his poems and “hums frequently punctuate the stories”. Although he is humble about his slow-wittedness, he is comfortable with his creative gifts. When Owl’s house blows down in a windstorm, trapping Pooh, Piglet and Owl inside, Pooh encourages Piglet (the only one small enough to do so) to escape and rescue them all by promising that “a respectful Pooh song” will be written about Piglet’s feat. Later, Pooh muses about the creative process as he composes the song.

Pooh is very social. Christopher Robin is his closest friend, Piglet, and often chooses to spend his time with one or both of them. But he also habitually visits the other animals, often looking for a snack or an audience for his poetry as much as for companionship. His kind-heartedness means he goes out of his way to be friendly to Eeyore, visiting him, bringing him a birthday present, and building him a house, despite receiving mostly disdain from Eeyore.

We need to recall that the DOJ started from the position that the role of compliance and ethics in an organization was co-equal. Winnie the Pooh reminds us of that foundational building block. Pooh also reminds us that a CECO is a social animal. Just as he is friends with all the animals and characters we have visited this week, you as a compliance professional should make friends with all the corporate functions they represented this week: sales, HR, finance and legal. If you find you run out of hunny to pass around, you can always resort to the Russ Berland strategy of pizza.

Even though this is the final offering in this week’s blog post on Compliance in the Hundred Acre Woods, do not feel blue. We will have another week of Pooh later this summer for more compliance lessons. And if you do feel blue in the interim, check out this YouTube clip of the Pooh theme song. And always remember, when all else fails;

“Think, Think, Think”

Categories
Because That's What Heroes Do

WandaVision: Episode 1 – Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience

In this podcast series, two complete MCU fans, Tom Fox, founder of the Compliance Podcast Network, and Megan Dougherty, co-founder of One Stone Creative, indulge in a passion for all things in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We previously reviewed all the movies, and now we begin a series on WandaVision. If you want to indulge in your love for the MCU with two fans passionate about all things MCU, this is the podcast series for you. We begin with Episode 1, Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience for this offering.

Some of the highlights include:

Ø  The story synopsis.

Ø  What are the key plot points?

Ø  What were some of our favorite cookies?

Next up in our series WandaVision, Episode 2, Do Not Touch That Dial.

Categories
The Woody Report

Twitter v. Elon Musk

Welcome to The Woody Report, where Washington & Lee School of Law Associate Professor Karen Woody and host Tom Fox discuss issues on white collar crime, compliance issues, international corruption, securities and accounting fraud, and internal corporate investigations. From current events to topical issues to academic research and thought leadership, Karen Woody helps lead the discussion of these issues on the new and exciting podcast. In this episode, Tom and Karen explore the Twitter lawsuit against Elon Musk for failing to follow through on his agreement to purchase Twitter. Some of the issues we explore include:

  1. Twitter Complaint
  2. What is specific performance?
  3. What is an equitable remedy?
  4. Why is this matter in Delaware?
  5. The judge and her role.
  6. The discovery to date.

Resources

Karen Woody on LinkedIn

Karen Woody at Washington & Lee, School of Law

Categories
Creativity and Compliance

Lessons from EY Enforcement Action

Where does creativity fit into compliance? In more places than you think. Problem-solving, accountability, communication, and connection – all take creativity. Join Tom Fox and Ronnie Feldman on Creativity and Compliance, part of the award-winning Compliance Podcast Network. In this episode, Tom and Ronnie continue their short series of provocative statements on compliance training and communications, followed by a discussion. In this episode, Tom riffs on the recently released EY enforcement action and Ronnie chimes in with lessons learned for compliance training and communications.

 Resources:

Ronnie Feldman (LinkedIn)
Learnings & Entertainments (LinkedIn)
Ronnie Feldman (Twitter)

Learnings & Entertainments (Website)

60-Second Communication & Awareness Shorts – A variety of short, customizable, quick-hitter “commercials” including songs & jingles, video shorts, newsletter graphics & Gifs, and more. Promote integrity, compliance, the Code, the helpline and the E&C team as helpful advisors and coaches.

Workplace Tonight Show! Micro-learning – a library of 1-10-minute training and communications wrapped in the style of a late-night variety show that explains corporate risk topics and why employees should care.

Custom Live & Digital Programing – We’ll develop programming that fits your culture and balances the seriousness of the subject matter with more engaging delivery.

Tales from the Hotline – check out some samples.

Categories
Daily Compliance News

August 5, 2022 the Oops edition

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • The jury picked in ex Blue Bell CEO criminal case. (Food Safety News)
  • SEC addresses COIs. (Reuters)
  • Binance investigation teams bitches about news coverage. (CoinDesk)
  • Alex Jones’s lawyers ‘accidentally’ sent all his texts to opposing counsel. (Houston Chronicle)