Day: January 12, 2023

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Greetings and Felicitations

PodfestExpo 2023 – Seth Silvers on Podcasters Using NFTs for Growth

In this episode of the PodfestExpo 2023 Preview Podcasts series, I visit with Seth Silvers, CEO and founder of the Story On Media & Marketing and the Small Business Storytellers podcast. We discuss his presentation at PodfestExpo on putting structure around your podcast production by creating a killer host and guest media kit. Some of the issues we tackle in this podcast are:

  • How NFTs can facilitate growth for your pod and an additional revenue stream.
  • What can Web3 bring to the B2B space?
  • How relationships and connections can help fuel your podcast growth.

I hope you can join me at PodfestExpo 2023, hosted by Podfest Global. This year’s event will be January 26-29, 2023, at the Renaissance Orlando at Seaworld in Orlando, Florida. The line-up of this year’s event is first-rate, with some of the top names in podcasting.

Podfest Expo is a community of people interested in and passionate about sharing their voice and message with the world through the powerful mediums of audio and video. We’re proud to unite as many people as possible to learn, get inspired, and grow better together.

 PodfestExpo is so much more than just a mere conference. While we pride ourselves on featuring the most engaging speakers, exciting topics, and in-depth content, the thing that sets PodfestExpo event apart from all others is the tight-knit community we’ve been building since 2013. You don’t just attend a Podfest event – you become part of the Podfest family.

 Whether you’re new to podcasting or a veteran podcaster looking to innovate and improve your podcast, our easy-to-understand Conference Topics allow you to customize a daily agenda based on what you’re most interested in learning. No matter your skill level or experience, PodfestExpo 2023 has plenty to offer!

 I hope you can join me at the event. For information on the event, click here. As an extra benefit to listeners of this podcast, PodcastExpo is offering a discount on the registration price. Enter discount code Fox10.

 PodfestExpo 2023 is a production of Podfest Global, which is the sponsor of this podcast series.

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31 Days to More Effective Compliance Programs

Day 12 – Financial Incentives for Compliance

One of the areas that many companies have not paid as much attention to in their compliance programs is compensation and incentives. However, the DOJ and SEC have long made clear that they view monetary structure for compensation, rewarding those employees who do business in compliance with their employer’s compliance program, as one of the ways to reinforce the compliance program and the message of compliance.

This was made clear again in the Monaco Memo, which stated, “Corporations can help deter criminal activity if they reward compliant behavior and penalize individuals who engage in misconduct. Compensation systems that clearly and effectively impose financial penalties for misconduct can incentivize compliant conduct, deter risky behavior, and instill a corporate culture in which employees follow the law and avoid legal “gray areas.”

Moreover, the Monaco Memo tied compensation to a company’s culture of compliance. It stated, “Similarly, corporations can promote an ethical corporate culture by rewarding those executives and employees who promote compliance within the organization. Prosecutors should also consider whether a corporation’s compensation systems provide affirmative incentives for compliance-promoting behavior. Affirmative incentives include, for example, the use of compliance metrics and benchmarks in compensation calculations and the use of performance reviews that measure and reward compliance-promoting behavior, both to the employee and any subordinates whom they supervise. When effectively implemented, such provisions incentivize executives and employees to engage in and promote compliant behavior and emphasize the corporation’s commitment to its compliance programs and culture.”

Yet compensation incentives have long been key to any best practices compliance program. As far back as 2004, then SEC Director of Enforcement Stephen M. Cutler noted that integrity, ethics, and compliance needed to be part of promotion, compensation, and evaluation processes: “At the end of the day, the most effective way to communicate that “doing the right thing” is a priority, is to reward it.”

The 2020 FCPA Guidance, 2nd edition, stated the “DOJ and SEC recognize that positive incentives can also drive compliant behavior. These incentives can take many forms, such as personnel evaluations and promotions, rewards for improving and developing a company’s compliance program, and rewards for ethics and compliance leadership.” The Monaco Memo takes it a step further by asking more broadly has your company, “incentivized employee behavior as part of its efforts to create a culture of ethics and compliance within its organization.”

Three key takeaways:

  1. The DOJ and SEC have long advocated compensation as a way to motivate employees into ethical and compliant behaviors
  2. Keep the compliance aspects of your compensation structure simple and easy for your employees to understand
  3. Have full transparency in the framework of your compensation structure
Categories
Everything Compliance

Episode 109, The New Year’s Edition

Welcome to the only roundtable podcast in compliance as we celebrate our second century of shows. Everything Compliance has been honored by W3 as the top talk show in podcasting. In this episode, we have the quintet of Jay Rosen, Jonathan Armstrong, Jonathan Marks, Tom Fox, and Matt Kelly, all discussing issues they are looking at as we begin 2023. We conclude with our fan-fav Shout Outs and Rants section.

  1. Matt Kelly looks at some of the ESG issues he will be following in 2023, including SEC rules around ESG, potential audit requirements, who will hold this function internally, and the new role of the ESG Controller. He rants about Zulily and its SOX compliance failures which allowed an employee to embezzle over $300,000.

2. Jonathan Marks looks at corporate governance issues in 2023, including board structure and guidance, recent Board failures, and Board oversight and monitoring. He shouts out to the NFL to cancelling the game between the Bengals and Bills.

3. Tom Fox shouts out to the 50th anniversary of School House Rock and lists his top five.

4. Jonathan Armstrong gives us a preview of 5 key issues he is following for 2023: ESG, GDPR fines, ransomware, supply chain risk issues, and crypto scams. He rants about the mistreatment of Prince Harry’s dog and asks if the dog was traumatized when Prince William knocked his brother (Prince Harry) down and broke the dog’s food bowl.

5. Jay Rosen reviews acronyms that drive him crazy. He shouts out to EMS personnel in Cincinnati for training and being prepared when Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during the Bills game and saved his life.

The members of Everything Compliance are:

•       Jay Rosen– Jay is Vice President, Business Development Corporate Monitoring at Affiliated Monitors. Rosen can be reached at JRosen@affiliatedmonitors.com

•       Karen Woody – One of the top academic experts on the SEC. Woody can be reached at kwoody@wlu.edu

•       Matt Kelly – Founder and CEO of Radical Compliance. Kelly can be reached at mkelly@radicalcompliance.com

•       Jonathan Armstrong –is our UK colleague, who is an experienced data privacy/data protection lawyer with Cordery in London. Armstrong can be reached at jonathan.armstrong@corderycompliance.com

•       Jonathan Marks is Partner, Firm Practice Leader – Global Forensic, Compliance & Integrity Services at Baker Tilly. Marks can be reached at jonathan.marks@bakertilly.com

The host and producer, ranter (and sometime panelist) of Everything Compliance is Tom Fox, the Voice of Compliance. He can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com. Everything Compliance is a part of the Compliance Podcast Network.

Categories
Daily Compliance News

January 12, 2023 – The Spies Cash in Corruption Edition

Welcome to the Daily Compliance News. Each day, Tom Fox, the Voice of Compliance, brings you compliance-related stories to start your day. Sit back, enjoy a cup of morning coffee and listen to the Daily Compliance News. All from the Compliance Podcast Network. Each day we consider four stories from the business world, compliance, ethics, risk management, leadership, or general interest for the compliance professional.

Stories today include:

  • The ex-Austrian minister was found not guilty of corruption. (Reuters)
  • The coinbase compliance team won’t be whacked. (WSJ)
  • SEC sues Covington over a hack. (Reuters)
  • EU corruption investigation looks at Morocco. (FT)