Day: November 14, 2023

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Principled Podcast

Principled Podcast – S10E10: What are the E&C Priorities for Companies in the Middle East?

What you’ll learn on this podcast episode

In the nearly 10 years of running our annual program effectiveness research, LRN has had the good fortune to discuss trends in E&C with leaders from across the world. The Middle East is one such region. How do business practices differ in this region compared to other parts of the world? Who are the like-minded professionals that E&C leaders can connect with in the Middle East? In this episode of LRN’s Principled Podcast, host Amy Hanan is joined by Elvis Angyiembe, the co-founder of the Middle East and Africa Compliance Association (MEACA). Listen in as they discuss Elvis’s experience working in the Middle East for various multinational companies, what led him to start MEACA, and what the E&C priorities are for companies in the Middle East. 

Are you an E&C professional based in the Middle East? Take this 10-minute survey and share your experiences for LRN’s 2024 E&C Program Effectiveness research. Results will be published in February.

Guest: Elvis Angyiembe

Elvis Angyiembe – Grayscale

Elvis Angyiembe is co-founder and co-chair of the Middle East and Africa Compliance Association (MEACA). He has significant experience working for multinational companies helping them manage significant legal and compliance matters. He has supported three companies under deferred prosecution agreements with the US Department of Justice. He has lived in Cameroon, Germany, US, South Africa, and currently in Dubai. He holds a Juris Doctorate (JD) from Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston, Texas, and a bachelor’s degree in criminology from the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland.

Host: Amy Hanan

Amy Hanan – Grayscale

Amy Hanan is the chief marketing officer at LRN. A B2B digital marketing leader, Amy has a nearly 20-year track record in product, brand, lifecycle, and demand-generation marketing as well as corporate communications for media, professional services, and technology companies. One of her central areas of expertise is executing tech-enabled marketing initiatives for growth. Before joining LRN, Amy was the chief digital officer at Baretz+Brunelle, a marketing and communications agency serving the legal and financial services industries. Her previous experience includes Reorg Research, ALM Media, and The Associated Press. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northern Arizona University.

Categories
Daily Compliance News

Daily Compliance News: November 14, 2023 – The Supreme Court 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 we are following in today’s edition:

  • The Supreme Court issued its first-ever Ethics Code. (WSJ)
  • Chinese corruption in Nepal? (NYT)
  • The FDIC hires a law firm to investigate allegations of a toxic workplace. (FT)
  • The law firm said it didn’t know the partner was living with the judge. (Reuters)

 

Categories
31 Days to More Effective Compliance Programs

One Month to a More Effective Compliance Program Through Culture: Day 10 – Improving Culture Through Investigations

Meric Bloch strongly emphasizes the importance of workplace investigations and fostering a culture of employee compliance. He believes that merely setting up a hotline and establishing policies is insufficient; companies must actively engage with employees to understand their motivations for speaking up or remaining silent. Bloch also underscores the need for accountability and a critical evaluation of the effectiveness of compliance programs. His experiences with multinational companies have shaped his understanding of the challenges they face, particularly the fear of being perceived as incompetent and the difficulties in reporting.

One of the key points raised by Bloch is the importance of making speaking meaningful and credible. He pointed out that companies often fail to communicate what should be reported, leading to confusion among employees. Bloch also highlights the lack of follow-up interviews and training for reporters as a problem. He stressed the need for organizations to engage with reporters and gather additional information to better understand the context and potential gaps in the initial report. Bloch also discussed the importance of addressing friction points within organizations. He mentioned that employees often hesitate to speak up due to concerns about the involvement of headquarters or fear of retaliation. Organizations must actively address these concerns and create an environment where employees feel safe and supported when reporting issues.

To create a culture of speaking up, organizations must move beyond passive measures such as hotlines and policies. They need to actively engage with employees, educate them about their role in the process, and provide clear guidance on what should be reported. By doing so, organizations can foster a culture of compliance where employees feel empowered to speak up and contribute to maintaining ethical standards.

Three key takeaways:

1. Your investigation process must go beyond simple policies and procedures.

2. Seeking additional information from a reporter will enhance the investigative process and your culture.

3. Remove friction points in the speak-up and investigative processes.

Do you want to improve your culture? How can you assess your culture and develop a strategy to improve it going forward? In this free webinar on the new tool, The Culture Audit with Tom Fox and Sam Silverstein, on Tuesday, November 28, 12 CT, For more information and registration, click here.

Categories
Innovation in Compliance

The Future of Communication in Financial Compliance: Part 2 – To Be or Not To Be Compliant

This week, I have a special five-part podcast series sponsored by Verint on the Future of Communication in Financial Compliance. My guest in this series is Phil Fry, VP and GTM of Financial Compliance Strategy at Verint. Over this series, we will take a deep dive into the current status of communications in financial institutions, how to be or not be compliant, analysis and insight into the area, and how to avoid accentuating the negative and the human element in compliance. In this second podcast, we consider how to be compliant.

Phil Fry, the VP and General Manager of Financial Compliance Strategies at Verint, brings over forty years of experience in the financial compliance industry and a deep understanding of the challenges financial firms face in adhering to regulations amidst evolving communication modes. He believes the shift towards these models has increased the need for digital compliance solutions, as communication and collaboration have become predominantly digital.

Fry emphasizes the importance of capturing data from Unified Communications (UC) tools and enhancing them with AI-based features to support businesses in maintaining compliance. He introduces the concept of “human compliance,” which involves monitoring a regulated user’s interactions across channels and locations to prevent misconduct. Fry’s perspective is shaped by his experience at Verint, where he saw the company’s investment in AI technology to enhance compliance features. Join Tom Fox and Phil Fry on this episode of the Future of Communications podcast to learn more about the need for comprehensive and proactive digital compliance solutions in the context of hybrid work models.

Key Highlights:

  • The Impact of Hybrid Working on Business and Compliance
  • Revolutionizing Communication Capture in the Digital Age
  • Verint’s Comprehensive Financial Markets Website

Resources:

Phil Fry on LinkedIn

For More Information check out Verint.

Categories
Blog

Hybrid Work Models Driving Need for Digital Compliance Solutions

This week I have a special five-part podcast series, sponsored by Verint on the Future of Communication in Financial Compliance on the Innovation in Compliance podcast series on the Compliance Podcast Network. My guest in this series is Phil Fry, VP and GTM of Financial Compliance Strategy at Verint. Over this series, we will take a deep dive into the current status of communications in financial institutions; how to be or not be compliant; an analysis and insight into the area; and how to avoid accentuating the negative and the human element in compliance. In this second post, we consider how to be or not be compliant.

The rise of hybrid work models, driven by digital communications and workplace flexibility, has significantly impacted businesses and financial markets. With the shift towards remote and flexible work arrangements, essential platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom have become crucial for business operations. However, this shift has also created a need for compliance capture solutions to ensure regulatory compliance and prevent misconduct in digital communications.

One of the leading compliance vendors in this space is Verint, which has been investing in artificial intelligence (AI) and developing solutions for platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Their approach, known as human compliance, focuses on monitoring regulated users’ communications across various channels. By shifting the focus from capturing tools or communications to capturing an individual’s interactions holistically, Verint believes they can effectively prevent misconduct within organizations.

The traditional approach to compliance capture involved recording and analyzing messages and calls. However, Verint’s human compliance approach recognizes that focusing on the individual is crucial to ensuring compliance. By monitoring an individual’s communications across channels and locations, both during regular working hours and outside of them, organizations can more easily identify conditions in which acts of noncompliance are more likely to occur. This proactive approach allows for the implementation of automated tools to respond to incidents, rather than passively waiting for problems to be identified.

Verint’s Microsoft Teams compliance recording solution offers features like Conditional Recording and Start Recording, which allow organizations to control recording behavior based on the participation of the interaction. This level of control enables organizations to proactively decide how they monitor and analyze an individual’s interactions, further enhancing their compliance efforts.

The shift towards hybrid work models and the increasing reliance on digital communications platforms have also led to the emergence of new and more complex regulations. Organizations must navigate these regulations while considering the impact on employee needs and behavior. The challenges associated with capturing and analyzing communications in a hybrid work environment, where conversations may involve multiple languages, transfer across different channels, and occur in noisy environments, require sophisticated compliance solutions.

Verint has been heavily investing in AI to enhance its compliance solutions. Their generative AI features, such as multilanguage transcription and summarization, help financial firms speed up audio review processes and make them more efficient. These AI-powered features provide valuable data insights and analysis, enabling organizations to meet their compliance requirements effectively.

In conclusion, the rise of hybrid work models driven by digital communications has created a significant need for digital compliance solutions. Verint’s human compliance approach, focusing on monitoring an individual’s interactions across channels and locations, offers a proactive way to prevent misconduct within organizations. By investing in AI and developing market-leading features, Verint aims to support businesses in their efforts to maintain compliance in the digital age. As organizations navigate the complexities of hybrid work models and evolving regulations, it is crucial to consider the impact on employee needs and behavior when making decisions about digital compliance solutions.

For More Information check out Verint.