Author: admin

Categories
The ESG Report

Eli Sutton on Operational Sustainability

The ESG Report podcast is hosted by Tom Fox. In this episode, Tom is joined by Eli Sutton is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in sales and 15 years in operation leadership. He has been involved in a variety of industries, but has spent the last 10 years with Teramind, providing employee monitoring solutions to organizations. They discuss how operational sustainability can help your business grow and thrive for years to come!

You will learn how operational sustainability can help your business grow and thrive over the long term. After the pandemic hit, many companies were looking to maximize their workforce productivity rather than security. Eli found that Teramind offered customizable solutions that could provide compliance, security and productivity without hindering user ability. With the right processes, resources, and tools like Teramind, companies can be operationally sustainable and maximize their growth. Eli’s knowledge and experience has been invaluable in helping businesses maximize their productivity and security.

Key Highlights

1. What benefits can a solution like Teramind provide to organizations in terms of security, productivity, and data management?

2. How can Teramind help organizations execute due diligence processes more efficiently and save on billable hours?

3. How have organizations’ needs changed with the pandemic, and how can Teramind help them meet those new requirements?

Notable Quotes

1.     “Strong work ethic, a proven process to complete each task, following through with a proven process, a team member who monitors that proven process and make sure that it’s being followed and a team to overall review and optimize that proven process over time – this is the key to operational sustainability and success.”

2.     “Think of a company as something like a massive ship that’s going across the Atlantic. Now what does that ship need to make that journey a success?”

3.     “For a company to be operationally sustainable, it must have strong foundations.”

4.     “Put in 100% of the effort and you’ll make it across in record time.”

Resources

Eli Sutton on LinkedIn

Teramind

Tom Fox 

Connect with me on the following sites:

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

LinkedIn

Categories
Innovation in Compliance

Transformation by Surfing the Waves with Alex Schwartz and Nate Thompson

The traditional workplace as we know it is changing exponentially. This, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has forced companies to adapt to a new way of doing business. In this episode of Innovation In Compliance, Nate Thompson and Alex Schwartz, co-founders and hosts of The Disrupted Workforce, chat with host Tom Fox about the trends and challenges facing companies in this new era of work, including talent acquisition and retention, how AI will help identify talent pools, and the major shifts and disruptions happening in the workplace. 

Alex Schwartz is a digital marketing and transformation solutions expert with over a decade of experience working with Fortune 500 companies. Prior to that, he worked in talent management in New York. Alex realized that there was a need to focus more on helping individuals navigate change and on creating better work cultures. He is passionate about looking at the future of work from a human-centered perspective.

 

Nate Thompson started his career as an engineer at Qualcomm. He ultimately left the technology space to focus on understanding organizational psychology and helping organizations reinvent themselves. Nate has spent the last 20 years specializing in organizational leadership and change. He went through a personal transformation after experiencing a “life crash”, which gave him the grit and resilience he needed to become a successful business leader. In March 2020, Nate and Alex launched their current platform.

 

You’ll hear Tom, Alex and Nate discuss these ideas in this episode:

  • The world is changing rapidly due to various factors, including the pandemic. Nate tells Tom, “We are at the slowest period right now that we will ever be going forward. In other words, right now, today life is going really fast, and it’s only going to get faster, like significantly faster.” 
  • “The way that you’re even thinking about the world today has to start to evolve,” Nate remarks. The future of work mindset – as conceptualized by Alex and Nate – is crucial to navigate fast-paced change, and it’s based around the idea of exploring, expanding, and evolving.
  • “The eleven days of clean audit health to failure [of the Silicon Valley Bank] really demonstrated to me the speed of which social media can bring change,” Tom remarks. 
  • “Sometimes leaders and organizations aren’t progressive, and they’re battening down the hatches and trying to weather the storm. The only problem is that strategy will not help in this dynamically unfolding world. You have to be able to surf the waves, not get washed over, crashed upon,” Nate says.
  • Companies need to be proactive in building future of work programs, including creating talent mobility within the organization.
  • Thoughtful and empathetic communication is crucial in handling layoffs, upskilling, and reskilling of the employee base.
  • Talent acquisition and talent retention are among the most important issues for corporations in 2030 and beyond.
  • There is a global job shortage and talent shortage in the United States.
  • The focus of hiring is shifting from a skills and pedigree-based system to one more focused on how people learn because skills are changing so fast that how people learn and adapt can be more important than what degree or skill they have.
  • There will be a more blended workforce where people are going to be wearing different hats and leaders and companies need to understand the needs of each worker to let them rise up and lead, even if they’re part-time.
  • AI is changing the way recruitment works, unlocking talent pools that we never thought of.
  • Alex and Nate use their podcast, The Disrupted Workforce, to share insights about the future of work, to amplify thought leaders’ voices, and to help people prepare, navigate, and thrive through these changing times.

 

KEY QUOTES

“We are at the slowest period right now that we will ever be going forward. In other words, right now, today life is going really fast, and it’s only going to get faster, like significantly faster.” – Nate Thompson

 

“…strategy will not help in this dynamically unfolding world. You have to be able to surf the waves, not get washed over, crashed upon.”  – Nate Thompson

 

“We are moving from a skills and pedigree based hiring system, we believe, to one much more focused on how people learn. This is a fundamental shift that we are seeing because skills are changing so fast, that how you learn and how you adapt can actually be more important than what degree or skill you have. Because it’s quite possible that the job that you’re going to have in six months versus the one that you’re entering the door in hasn’t even been invented yet.” – Alex Schwartz

 

“If you ignore this, you will be kind of run over by these waves of disruption. We believe, and try to wake people up and really lead them through.” – Alex Schwartz

 

Resources:

Alex Schwartz on LinkedIn | Instagram 

Nate Thompson on LinkedIn 

The Disrupted Workforce

Categories
Data Driven Compliance Innovation in Compliance

Daniel Villani on the Using the Right Data

Data Driven Compliance, hosted by Tom Fox, is a podcast featuring an in-depth conversation about the uses of data and data analytics in compliance programs. In this episode, host Tom Fox visits Daniel Villani from Villani Analytics. Daniel has an extensive 15-year background in technology, specifically working with medium to large businesses. They discuss Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) software, vendor selection, audibility, and ESG reporting. Daniel emphasizes the importance of data utilization and integration, offering solutions and advice on the best solutions to stay competitive. Listeners can learn more from Daniel’s YouTube channel, Villani Analytics, and LinkedIn profile.

Key Highlights

·      ERP & EPM Explained

·      Data Privacy and Security in Financial Technology Solutions

·      Ensuring Data Accuracy and Quality Assurance Through Governance

·      The Importance of Documentation in Vendor Selection

·      Utilizing Data Analytics to Get Insights

·      Benefits of Implementing Environmental, Social, and Governance Programs

·      Building Data Streams: Connecting Siloed Data for Success

Notable Quotes

1.     ” I laugh because it sounds completely imaginative, but you’d be surprised how many organizations and some of the leading organizations and fortune 500 ones are relying on somebody’s word that their numbers are okay.”

2.     “I take the, you know, the full unbiased approach where I’m happy to recommend the system that I don’t implement just because I don’t do it for the money that comes out of it. I do it to make sure that you get the right solution for your business.”

3.     “It’s also equally important to ensure that you have the documentation around your governance in place.”

4.     “The companies that are going to bring it together in the most meaningful way are the ones that are going to better compete in their industry.”

 Resources

Daniel Villani on LinkedIn

Villani Analytics

Categories
Daily Compliance News

April 4, 2023 – The Is FL Anti-Business 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 of Daily Compliance News:

·       Disney President says Florida under DeSantis is ‘anti-business.’ (WSJ)

·       Venezuela detains 44 more in a corruption probe. (Al Jazeera)

·       EY banned in Germany over Wirecard. (FT)

·       Italians wave good-bye to ChatGPT. (ComplianceWeek)

Categories
Principled Podcast

S9 E8 – Under Pressure: How Boards are Facing Today’s Global, Regulatory Issues

What you’ll learn on this podcast episode

Corporate boards are feeling more pressure than ever from a variety of stakeholders—government prosecutors and regulators, institutional investors, corporate activists, consumers, and others seeking responsible change in an ever-changing global economy. As the concept of both corporate and individual accountability continues to expand, how can boards adapt their approach to governance and oversight to meet these increasingly complex expectations? In this episode of LRN’s Principled Podcast, host Susan Divers is joined by Michael Volkov, the CEO of the Volkov Law Group and author of the recent white paper “Directors Dancing on the Head of a Pin: Corporate Boards Face Escalating Risks and Enforcement Challenges.” Listen in as they discuss the global challenges corporate boards are facing in 2023, and the steps they can take to meet regulatory pressures. 

Guest: Michael Volkov

Michael Volkov

Michael Volkov specializes in ethics and compliance, white collar defense, government investigations, and internal investigations. Michael devotes a significant portion of his practice to anti-corruption, sanctions, trade, antitrust, and AML compliance and defense. He regularly assists clients on FCPA, UK Bribery Act, AML, OFAC, Export-Import, Securities Fraud, and other issues.

Michael has extensive trial experience and has developed a problem-solving approach to serve client needs. He has extensive contacts in the federal government and on Capitol Hill. Given his broad government experience, he represents clients in federal and state court, before the Justice Department and other federal agencies, and on Capitol Hill. 

Prior to launching his own law firm, Mr. Volkov was a partner at LeClairRyan (2012-2013); Mayer Brown (2010-2012), Dickinson Wright (2008-2010); Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice (2008); Chief Counsel, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, House Judiciary Committee (2005-2008); and Counsel, Senate Judiciary Committee (2003-2005); Assistant US Attorney, United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (1989-2005); and a Trial Attorney, Antitrust Division, United States Department of Justice (1985-1989).

Mr. Volkov resides in Washington, D.C., San Diego, California, and Marsala, Italy, with his wife and six children. He and his wife enjoy traveling, the arts, and philanthropic activities. Mr. Volkov is an avid tennis player. 

Host: Susan Divers

Headshot_Susan_Divers_S7E18_Principled_Podcast

Susan Divers is a senior advisor with LRN Corporation. In that capacity, Ms. Divers brings her 30+ years’ accomplishments and experience in the ethics and compliance area to LRN partners and colleagues. This expertise includes building state-of-the-art compliance programs infused with values, designing user-friendly means of engaging and informing employees, fostering an embedded culture of compliance and substantial subject matter expertise in anti-corruption, export controls, sanctions, and other key areas of compliance.

Prior to joining LRN, Mrs. Divers served as AECOM’s Assistant General for Global Ethics & Compliance and Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer. Under her leadership, AECOM’s ethics and compliance program garnered six external awards in recognition of its effectiveness and Mrs. Divers’ thought leadership in the ethics field. In 2011, Mrs. Divers received the AECOM CEO Award of Excellence, which recognized her work in advancing the company’s ethics and compliance program.

Mrs. Divers’ background includes more than thirty years’ experience practicing law in these areas. Before joining AECOM, she worked at SAIC and Lockheed Martin in the international compliance area. Prior to that, she was a partner with the DC office of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal. She also spent four years in London and is qualified as a Solicitor to the High Court of England and Wales, practicing in the international arena with the law firms of Theodore Goddard & Co. and Herbert Smith & Co. She also served as an attorney in the Office of the Legal Advisor at the Department of State and was a member of the U.S. delegation to the UN working on the first anti-corruption multilateral treaty initiative.

Mrs. Divers is a member of the DC Bar and a graduate of Trinity College, Washington D.C. and of the National Law Center of George Washington University. In 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 Ethisphere Magazine listed her as one the “Attorneys Who Matter” in the ethics & compliance area. She is a member of the Advisory Boards of the Rutgers University Center for Ethical Behavior and served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Practical Training from 2005-2008.

She resides in Northern Virginia and is a frequent speaker, writer and commentator on ethics and compliance topics. Mrs. Divers’ most recent publication is “Balancing Best Practices and Reality in Compliance,” published by Compliance Week in February 2015. In her spare time, she mentors veteran and university students and enjoys outdoor activities.

Categories
Compliance Kitchen

Understanding the Beneficial Ownership Information Filing Requirement Starting in 2024

Are you aware of the upcoming beneficial ownership information filing requirement that will start in January 2024? The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued their first set of guidance materials, aiming to help individuals and small businesses understand the incoming filing requirement. According to the guidance, “beneficial ownership information” refers to individuals or individual who directly or indirectly own or control a company.

To enhance corporate transparency and discourage illegal activities like money laundering, companies must report the beneficial ownership information to FinCEN. The guideline applies to domestic and foreign reporting companies, including corporations, LLCs, or any other legal entity that was created by filing documents with a secretary of state or similar body. However, exemptions are available, and there are 23 different types of entities exempted from the requirement.

To ensure a smooth transition, FinCEN has put together an online platform for reporting and published frequently asked questions on their website along with an introductory video on YouTube. If you’re a business owner or operate a legal entity registered to do business in the U.S, it’s essential to start preparing for the beneficial ownership information filing requirement.

Here are three tips to keep in mind:
– Stay updated with the latest guidance materials available on the FinCEN website.
– Ensure that you have all documents and information needed to report beneficial ownership information accurately.
– Identify whether you qualify for any exemptions and seek professional advice if needed.

Categories
31 Days to More Effective Compliance Programs

One Month to a More Effective Compliance Program for 3rd Parties – Introduction and Key 2022 Enforcement Actions Involving 3rd Parties

Over the month of April, I will consider the risk management of third parties in an operationalized compliance program. As every compliance practitioner knows, third parties still present the highest risk under the FCPA. You must assess whether the company has a business rationale for needing the third party in the transaction, and the risks posed by third parties, including their reputations and relationships, if any, with foreign government officials. You should ensure that contract terms with third parties specifically describe the services to be performed, the third party performing the work, and that its compensation is commensurate with the work provided in that industry and geographical region.   Finally, you must continuously monitor the third-party relationships through updated due diligence, training, audits, and/or annual compliance certifications by the third party.

In this introduction, I visit with Alexander Cotoia, a Regulatory and Compliance Attorney at the Volkov Law Group, to consider how recent FCPA enforcement actions point towards the use cases for a robust third-party risk management system. In 2022, most FCPA-related enforcement actions involved third parties and required organizations to reprioritize third-party risk management. In this episode, we consider case studies involving ABB Limited, GOL Airlines, and Oracle, demonstrating the importance of understanding bribery and corruption schemes, making voluntary disclosures, and reassessing third-party risk management.

3 Key Takeaways:

1. How can organizations reprioritize third-party risk management as a core compliance function?

2. How can organizations avoid FCPA violations and maximize cooperation credit?

3. How can organizations effectively assess the risks posed by potential business partners?

Check out The Compliance Handbook, 3rd edition, here.

Categories
Corruption, Crime and Compliance

FCPA Catch UP: DOJ Corsa Declination and SEC Settlements with Flutter and Rio Tinto

The world of FCPA enforcement is always changing, and in this episode of Corruption, Crime and Compliance, Michael Volkov catches us up on three recent enforcement actions. From Corsa Coal’s rare declination to SEC settlements with Flutter Entertainment and Rio Tinto, each case offers important insights into the current state of FCPA enforcement. He shares how voluntary self-disclosure, appropriate due diligence processes, and enhancements to compliance programs and accounting controls can help companies avoid penalties and strengthen their position.

You’ll hear Michael discuss these ideas:

  • Companies are encouraged to voluntarily self-disclose bad behavior to the DOJ, which may result in a declination and significant reductions in penalties.
  • Corsa Coal earned a rare declination from the DOJ after cooperating in the prosecution of two former executives and meeting their burden to establish inability to pay. Their disgorgement was significantly reduced from $31 million to $1.2 million.
  • Flutter Entertainment, which acquired PokerStars, was fined $4 million by the SEC for improper payments to Russian-based consultants made by Stars Group, its previous owner. Stars Group failed to conduct due diligence or maintain appropriate written contracts for third parties, leading to bribery violations.
  • Acquiring companies should conduct appropriate due diligence on the acquired company’s FCPA compliance.
  • Rio Tinto paid $15 million to settle FCPA violations arising from a bribery scheme involving a senior Ghanaian government official. Despite red flags indicating that the consultant was advising the Ghanaian official and preserving Rio Tinto’s ability to operate in Guinea, Rio Tinto eventually approved two lump sum payments totaling $10.5 million.
  • Companies should pay attention to red flags when paying high commissions to sales agents involved in extractive industries.
  • Rio Tinto implemented enhancements to their compliance programs and accounting controls after FCPA violations.

 

KEY QUOTES:

“As part of DOJ’s push on voluntary self-disclosures in changes to its corporate enforcement policy, they really are encouraging companies to come in and voluntarily disclose when they find bad behavior.” – Michael Volkov

 

“…when acquiring a company, you’ve got to conduct due diligence and make sure that you do not find any FCPA violations or any problems like that.” – Michael Volkov

 

“Rio Tinto strengthened its ethics and compliance organization, enhanced its code of conduct, as well as its policies and procedures, gifts and hospitality, due diligence, and use of third parties. In addition, Rio Tinto enhanced its whistleblower program and improved its monitoring systems and internal controls related to payments to third parties. Finally, Rio Tinto enhanced its anti-corruption risk assessments and transactions testing and increased training of employees and third parties.” – Michael Volkov

 

Resources:

Michael Volkov on LinkedIn | Twitter

The Volkov Law Group

Categories
FCPA Compliance Report

Ryan Patrick on the Role of a US Attorney Under the Monaco Memo, CEP & ECCP

Welcome to the award-winning FCPA Compliance Report, the longest running podcast in compliance. Looking for a podcast that will give you insights into the Department of Justice’s corporate enforcement policy and the implications for corporations facing investigations? Look no further than FCPA Compliance Report! In this episode, Tom Fox sits down with Ryan Patrick, a former US district attorney for the southern district of Texas. They discuss the importance of staying up-to-date with DOJ memos and speeches, the difficulty for corporations in deciding whether or not to self-disclose, and the implications of outside counsel being deputized. Ryan emphasizes the importance for companies to work with lawyers who know judges and have pre-existing relationships with local prosecutors, including US attorneys and line prosecutors. They discuss the Southern District of Texas and its role in border-related issues, as well as the Patrick’s time as a US Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. This podcast is a must-listen for anyone looking to gain a better understanding of corporate enforcement and compliance policies. Don’t miss out on the conversation between Tom Fox and Ryan Patrick!

 Key Highlights

·      Discussing U.S District Attorney’s work challenges

·      Evolution of Corporate Enforcement Policy by DOJ

·      Challenges in Communication with Corporations for Attorneys

·      Challenges of Self-Disclosure for Businesses

·      Navigating Legal Issues with Local Counsel

·      Challenges to Attorney-Client Privilege in Corporate Cases

·      Border Security and Cryptography Cases in Texas

·      US Attorney General Advisory Committee in Presidential Administration

·      Role of Southern District of Texas in law enforcement and corporate enforcement

·      Inside a Federal Prosecutor’s Role

 Notable Quotes

·      “It seems to me that this broaden beyond simply anti-corruption in FCPA and whether it be fraud, whether it be antitrust, whether it be environmental, whether it be a wide variety of other types of issues that an AUSA and a local district attorney US district attorney’s office would prosecute.”

·      “Asking the US attorney’s offices now to step into this space where really thinking from the idea of self-disclosure and from monitoring or audio auditing, so to speak, someone’s compliance program.”

·      “One of the not perhaps most difficult, but hardest conversations a corporation has is whether or not to self-disclose under the FCPA.”

·      “Bring it to me. I will consider it because it’s not 1 size fits all.

Resources

Ryan Patrick on LinkedIn

Ryan Patrick on Haynes and Boone

Tom

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

LinkedIn

Categories
Daily Compliance News

April 3, 2023 – The $495 Million 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 of Daily Compliance News:

  • UK to increase funding in ABC and AML fight. (WSJ)
  • PdVSA appeals, losing CITGO. (Reuters)
  • Gertler takes corruption case to Biden Administration. (NYT)
  • US recovers $53MM from corrupt Nigerian oil deal. (OCCRP)