Day: June 6, 2023

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31 Days to More Effective Compliance Programs

One Month to a More Effective Compliance Program with Boards – Prudent Discharge of Board Obligations

What are the obligations of a Board member regarding the FCPA? Are the obligations of the Compliance Committee under the FCPA at odds with a director’s “prudent discharge of duties to shareholders”? Do the words prudent discharge even appear anywhere in the FCPA? In the case of Stone v. Ritter, the proposition is found that “a duty to attempt in good faith to assure that a corporate information and reporting system, which the board concludes is adequate, exists.” From the case of In re Walt Disney Company Derivative Litigation, she drew the principle that directors should follow the best practices in ethics and compliance. The Board has the role of monitoring the performance of the compliance function, including monitoring the performance of it using customary economic metrics and overseeing compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

While the Board is not responsible for auditing or ferreting out compliance problems, it is responsible for determining that the company has an appropriate system of internal controls. The Board should also monitor company policies and practices that address compliance and matters affecting the public perception and reputation of the company. Every company should ensure that it conducts appropriate compliance training for employees and conducts regular compliance assessments. Finally, the Board must take appropriate action if and when it becomes aware of a material problem it believes management is not properly handling.
There is no reference to prudent discharge in the FCPA itself. However, a Board member might think more than twice about the prudent discharge of duties to the shareholders as both the DOJ and SEC now might wish to look into a Board’s prudent discharge of duties under the FCPA.

Three key takeaways:

  1. What is prudent discharge?
  2. What is your process for doing compliance at the Board level?
  3. A Board must have active rather than passive engagement around compliance.

For more information, check out The Compliance Handbook, 3rd edition, available from LexisNexis here.

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Innovation in Compliance

Passion, Podcasting and Perspective with Eli Marcus

Exploring the most intriguing minds and their stories can motivate us. In this episode of Innovation In Compliance, host Tom Fox talks with Eli Marcus, a fellow member of the C-Suite Network and a prominent figure in the self-help sector. They delve into Marcus’s career, his transition from the world’s largest seminar company owner to a celebrated podcaster, and his unending quest for knowledge and personal development. They also dissect the intimate power of podcasting and the significance of asking the right questions.

Eli Marcus has a passion for self-help and motivation. Growing up as a “non-fiction self-help geek,” Eli found solace and guidance in books, which later fueled his entrepreneurial spirit. He went on to establish the Seminar Center in New York City, which quickly became the world’s largest seminar company, hosting iconic figures ranging from Michael Jackson to motivational speakers like Les Brown. Marcus has embraced the transformative power of podcasting and is the host of The Motivation Show, a popular podcast within the C-Suite Network.

 

You’ll hear Tom and Eli discuss:

  • Podcasting offers a unique intimacy, fostering a one-on-one bonding experience that often reveals insights about a person’s journey, interests, and perspectives that might not emerge in other formats.
  • “The quality of your life is determined by the quality of the questions you ask,” Eli says. He encourages listeners to probe deeper and not shy away from asking challenging questions.
  • Success doesn’t come from a one-off motivational boost. Instead, it’s about constant learning, repetitive practice, and reaching a tipping point that significantly alters your perspective.
  • Eli’s approach to his podcast involves asking the questions that pique his curiosity most; he believes his audience will share this curiosity.
  • Passion is integral to making engaging podcasts, as it resonates with listeners even on an audio level.
  • Eli’s favored guests are individuals who are well-known or have a large audience. However, he also looks for fascinating individuals, regardless of their following.
  • Learning deep things and understanding the perspectives of others can help you complain less and appreciate more.
  • The perspective of “Don’t sweat the small stuff” is valuable, and most things, in reality, are small stuff, excluding significant life events like the death of a loved one.
  • Celebration and positivity even in times of grief can be a powerful coping mechanism.

 

KEY QUOTES:

“The quality of your life is determined by the quality of the questions you ask.” – Eli Marcus

 

“I always wanted to stay in the self help game, right? How can I do this in the easiest way and just get started? And that’s the beauty of being able to do the podcast.” – Eli Marcus

 

“It’s not like you drink water once and you’re good for the rest of the year. The same thing with motivation or learning. You just got to keep learning over and over again. And sometimes what Malcolm Gladwell calls the tipping point, you need maybe 1000th time or repetition finally before it sinks in and it tips things over your way. ” – Eli Marcus

 

Resources:

Eli Marcus on LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter | Email

Categories
SBR - Authors' Podcast

SBR Authors Podcast – Hal Hershfield, Your Future Self – Part 1

Welcome to the Sunday Book Review, the Authors Podcast! In this episode, Tom is joined by colleague Earnie Broughton. Join Tom and Earnie as they interview Hal Hershfield, author of Your Future Self, on Sunday Book Review-Author’s Edition. Delve into the psychology of decision-making and the importance of understanding present and future selves. Listen in as they discuss how organizational identity influences risk and ethical decisions and how the concept of multiple selves relates to integrity and making ethical decisions. Discover the neuroscience behind thoughts about one’s future self and how forgiveness and self-forgiveness can overcome procrastination. Learn how a connection to one’s future self can affect ethical behavior in an organizational context and find practical ways to bring ethics and compliance into workplace programs. Make sure to catch the release date of Hershfield’s upcoming book and where to find his research. Tune in now for an engaging and thought-provoking conversation!

Key Highlights Include:

·      Inaccurate Self-Prediction in Organizations

·      Collective Identity and Ethical Decision Making

·      Challenges of Future Self Concept

·      Importance of Future Self in Decision Making

·      Visualization, Procrastination, and Forgiveness

·      Connection to Future Self and Ethical Behavior

·      Ethical Behavior and Personal Values

 Notable Quotes:

“People who have a stronger sense of connection to their future selves end up doing more of the stuff that they say they want to do, saving more, for instance, reporting higher levels of subjective health.”

“If an organization has a strong collective identity and sees itself almost as a person would over time, then you might imagine if the employee is there and the decision makers there, I buy into that identity, and they feel strongly about where the organization will go in the future, then I could imagine that level of connection will be an important input into these risk decisions, ethical decisions.”

“The essential self. The one that is continuous over time that others see as these moral traits that you’re talking about…I think that relates to the ethics topic of integrity integration and bringing those disparate parts in the resonance.”

“Our future selves evoke similar activity patterns as thoughts about others. In the brain, our future selves look like other people.

Resources

Hal Hershfield

Hal Hershfield at UCLA

Your Future Self

Tom Fox

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Categories
Trekking Through Compliance

Trekking Through Compliance: Episode 5 – The Enemy Within

In this episode of Trekking Through Compliance, we consider The Enemy Within, which aired on October 6, 1966, Star Date 1672.1.

While gathering specimens on planet Alpha 177 (whose night temperature reaches -120 degrees), the transporter malfunctions, stranding the remaining 4-man landing party (including Sulu) on the planet; Kirk beams up. Kirk is split into two alter-egos, the evil one (hostility, lust, violence), which arrives unnoticed a few minutes after the good Kirk (compassion, love, tenderness) after the crew has left the transporter room.

The evil Kirk enters Yeoman Janice Rand’s quarters and lies in wait for her. She scratches him when he attacks her. She fights him off, and soon after that, the good Kirk shows signs of losing both his decisiveness and ability to command. This leads to a gut-wrenching scene where Spock and McCoy interview Rand about the attack.

Spock and Scotty rig the transporter to run off the impulse engines and successfully fix the transporter. He is overpowered when the good Kirk tries to bring the evil Kirk to the transporter. The evil Kirk goes to the bridge and orders the Enterprise to leave orbit, but the good Kirk follows him there. Kirk eventually returns to normal when the transporter is modified and used to fuse his two parts back together. The landing party is also beamed back up, suffering from frostbite, but nothing worse.

 

Compliance Takeaways:

  1. A leader must make decisions and then be decisive about them after they are made.
  2. Does your speak-up culture include training on how to listen?
  3. #MeToo means that if, as a bystander, you see something, it is your responsibility to report it.
Resources:
Categories
Daily Compliance News

Daily Compliance News: June 6, 2023 – The Filthy Ritual 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.

  • How to prepare for increased ESG reporting requirements. (WSJ)
  • New great podcast on fraudsters. (Filthy Ritual Podcast)
  • Circuits split on Forum Selection clauses for shareholder actions. (Reuters)
  • The Pope warns of corruption risk in missionary fundraising. (AP)
Categories
Data Driven Compliance

Data Driven Compliance: Mollie Nichols on Law and Data

Are you struggling to keep up with the ever-changing compliance programs in your business? Look no further than the award-winning Data Driven Compliance podcast, hosted by Tom Fox, featuring an in-depth conversation around the uses of data and data analytics in compliance programs.

In this episode, Tom welcomes the Co-Founder, CEO of Redgrave Data, Mollie Nichols, for an insightful discussion on the importance of data in legal matters and the use of AI in legal representation. Mollie shares her extensive experience in digital evidence, e-discovery, privacy, and client data and her time as an assistant US attorney in Texas. Redgrave Data’s clients are mainly tech companies facing complex big data legal issues and specialize in providing high-quality services. Mollie discusses how Redgrave Data automates data processes for clients, saving them thousands of dollars a day. They also examine the importance of data governance in corporate governance and analytics tools’ critical role, particularly in the legal industry. To learn more about Redgrave Data’s services, head to their website. Don’t miss this engaging and informative episode of Data Driven Compliance.

Key Highlights

· Preserving Data Compliance

· The Power of Technology in Law

· Data visualizations for legal strategy development

· Redgrave’s Data Governance Services and ESG

· The Importance of Data and Corporate Governance

· Data Governance and Analytics in the Cloud

 KEY QUOTES

“It’s really important to understand what data is in play, what data is relevant to a particular matter so that you can take reasonable steps to preserve it.”

“Most of our clients at this point are tech companies that expect from their legal representation that their lawyers will be dealing with their issues using the same type of technology that they would expect to use in their business.”

“I had a team of developers that would quickly put together some sort of utility… And we had tools that we built that we saved clients millions of dollars in a very short fashion.”

“It’s taking that type of information and being able to present it meaningfully. But we do that through using these tools.”

Resources:

Mollie Nichols on LinkedIn 

Redgrave Data

 Tom Fox 

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