The 2022 Monaco Memo emphasized the basic point that the key to every company is culture. The bottom line is that corporate culture matters, and corporate culture that fails to hold individuals accountable or fails to invest in compliance—or worse, that thumbs its nose at compliance—leads to bad results.
To assist companies in understanding this requirement, the 2023 ECCP sets out inquiries demonstrating that DOJ requirements are more than simply the ubiquitous “tone-at-the-top,” as they focus on the conduct of senior management. The DOJ wants to see a company’s senior leadership actually doing compliance. The DOJ asks if company leadership has, through their words and concrete actions, brought the right message of doing business ethically and in compliance to the organization. How does senior management model its behavior based on a company’s values and finally, how is such conduct monitored in an organization?
Three key takeaways:
1. Senior management must actually do compliance—not simply talk the talk of compliance but also walk the walk.
2. The DOJ is now actively assessing corporate culture during investigations.
3. Your CEO is a Compliance Ambassador.
