In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:
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The Compliance Life details the journey to and in the role of a Chief Compliance Officer. How does one come to sit in the CCO chair? What are some of the skills a CCO needs to success navigate the compliance waters in any company? What are some of the top challenges CCOs have faced and how did they meet them? These questions and many others will be explored in this new podcast series. Over four episodes each month on The Compliance Life, I visit with one current or former CCO to explore their journey to the CCO chair. This month, my guest is Rob Chesnut, whose most recent position was as the Chief Ethics Officer at Airbnb. He is also the author of the best-selling book, Intentional Integrity: How Smart Companies Can Lead an Ethical Revolution with St Martin’s Press.
In this third episode, Rob talks about his move in 2016 to Airbnb as GC and what it was like in those early days. We talked about Rob’s move to the role of Chief Ethics Officer at Airbnb. We chat about his ‘Integrity Belongs Here’ initiative and conclude with some of the things he learned moving to the Chief Ethics Officer chair.
Internal Controls
Internal controls are an organization’s processes, regulations, and practices for maintaining corporate governance’s accuracy in fostering transparency and avoiding fraud. Internal controls may help enhance operating performance by improving the accuracy and reliability of financial statements, in addition to compliance with laws and legislation and discouraging workers from embezzling assets or committing fraud.
In another uber-treat episode of The Compliance Handbook, I’ve invited Karen Woody to talk about internal controls’ role in compliance.
Key takeaways discussed in the chapter:
- Understand how internal controls are compared to smoke alarms that go off if there’s some wrongdoing happening.
- Dive deeper into the four keys of internal controls for compliance. Learn how to use each key in your goal to have an ethical company.
- Get the point that Internal controls can change, evolve, and grow as the bad guys get more sophisticated. Find the solution on how your organization can implement a dynamic policy.
- Wade through the COSO 2013 Internal Controls Framework and see if the same policies will work for your organization.
- Have knowledge of how the SEC views internal controls and why we have non-bribery SEC internal control enforcement actions.
- Make sense of some lessons in failures of internal controls.
The “Nuts and Bolts” for Creating a Comprehensive Compliance Plan
The first chapter of this unique work lays out a succinct yet thorough 31-day approach to operationalizing a company’s compliance regimen. Beginning with a section on what 2020 brought to the compliance landscape, the chapter methodically outlines best practices for everything from establishing policies, procedures, and internal controls, to assessing risk, training, handling investigations, and more. Each day ends with three key takeaways you can implement at little or no cost.
Order your copy OR copies of The Compliance Handbook: A Guide to Operationalizing Your Compliance Program. Save 25% off.
http://www.lexisnexis.com/fox25
In this special five-part podcast series, I visit with Dr. Pat Harned, President of the Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI), about the organization’s 2021 Global Business Ethics Survey (GBES). Since 1994, ECI has conducted this cross-sectional study of workplace conduct from the employee’s perspective. ECI’s GBES data provides the only global benchmark on the state of ethics and compliance (E&C) in business. This year’s GBES is the first compliance related survey conducted after the global pandemic hit. It has significant information for the compliance professional which they need to consider for every compliance program, literally on a world-wide basis.
While a multitude of factors influence ethical behavior, the GBES reports interplay of four major ethics outcomes are tied to the daily decisions employees make with respect to how they behave in the workplace. These are: pressure in the workplace to compromise ethical standards; observations of misconduct; reporting misconduct; and, ultimately, the retaliation perceived by employees after they reported misconduct. Some of this year’s findings are quite troubling as they are clearly trending in disturbing directions. Over this series we will review the key findings, how retaliation against whistleblowers has taken an alarming turn, the impact of Covid-19 on compliance, closing with conclusions and recommendations. In Part 2, we consider its key trends.
Join us for Episode 3, where we discuss the troubling findings around retaliation. To obtain a copy of the Survey, click here. To find out more about ECI, click here.
Chris Fuller is an author and the President and CEO of Influence Leadership Inc, an organization focused on serving businesses through the development and growth of their people. He is a keynote speaker and has facilitated many strategic sessions for large companies. This experience has given him valuable, best-practice insights. Tom Fox welcomes him to this week’s show as they discuss ideas and strategies to help you around leadership.
Mid-Level Management & Cultural Change
Chris wants to help leaders achieve their dreams, while also creating a great work environment for their employees. The day-to-day reality of leadership is a challenge, and new mid-level managers get burned out when they are promoted without proper preparation. “I have a strong focus on the first-time leaders, to prepare them so that they’re set up for success, not set up for struggle,” Chris says. Embedding this as a culture within an organization will have to involve senior leadership. “We start with the mid-level, we make sure that we equip and empower the new leaders, but then from an organizational effectiveness standpoint, we really want to impact cultural change at the senior leader level.”
Being Intentional & The Inspired Leadership Pathway
Becoming an inspired leader means being intentional and purposeful. Chris gives an anecdote of going to see Hamilton, and he expresses that the kind of dedication put into the play is the kind of dedication we need to apply to the workplace. “If we take that to our daily lives, if we take that to our professional lives, how much inspiration and how much achievement can we start with? We can’t have inspired results without intending to get there and being on purpose not on accident.” It’s part and parcel of Chris’ inspired leadership pathway which is about embodying a serving others mindset. Tom asks Chris to explain further. “It’s about being passionate and purposeful in what you do,” he responds. “It’s also about integrating operations with people and also being real and authentic in your relationships, while “executing with excellence.” The combination of cultural and fundamental execution is what will lead an organization to success.
“And”, Not “Or”
Chris’s style of leadership takes into account the “and” of everything: results and relationships; people and production. He utilizes both aspects and encourages leaders to do the same. “I’ve got to infuse that adventure and that sense of reality, the gritty reality of leading in the trenches with this infused adventure set to make it…. I’m going to equip and empower you but in the middle of it we’re gonna have a blast.” People learn better through stories and when they’re having fun, Chris expresses. Culture is critical to a company’s development and ethical values, it needs to be emphasized from the top down. “A leader’s behavior can tell the rest of the organization under them or those that witness them, that the cultural statements are simply a poster on the wall.”
The Race Method & Celebrating People
Tom asks Chris to explain the Race Method. Chris states that it’s one of the methods that came out of studying the Iditarod. The race methodology says: are you ready to run the race that is going to be mapped out for you, and what are those action steps that you need to do if your team isn’t race-ready? You need to have action, or else the team is never going to be able to fulfill what you want them to fulfill. We have to teach them to do what we need them to execute. “We need checkpoints – evaluate the progress made and we can involve it. So ready, act, checkpoint, and evolve.” When employees do something right, we need to celebrate them, Chris adds. “When you celebrate and catch people doing something right, they want to do more of it and others want to be celebrated as well.” Make your values and culture clear, tie those literal behaviors together, and when they are activated in your employees, celebrate that to the fullest.
Resources
Chris Fuller | LinkedIn, Twitter
InfluenceLeadership.com
In this episode we talk with Atle Skjekkeland, CEO at Infotechtion, about information protection and governance; the challenges and priorities that companies are facing as they work remotely and from around the world; and the models for reducing operational risks, increasing cost savings and using information to identify opportunities for the future.
Voices of Data Protection is a show about the latest processes and solutions to help you manage your data, keep it safe, and stay compliant. We talk with industry experts, leaders, and program managers from Microsoft to learn how digital transformation is accelerating the need for compliance, how organizations are navigating this new landscape, and learn best-in-class practices and solutions to get your organization started and bring compliance to the next level. Transcripts are available for all episodes. For more infomration, visit: https://aka.ms/voicesofdataprotection
Learn More
Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher, Deezer
In this special five-part podcast series, I visit with Dr. Pat Harned, President of the Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI), about the organization’s 2021 Global Business Ethics Survey (GBES). Since 1994, ECI has conducted this cross-sectional study of workplace conduct from the employee’s perspective. ECI’s GBES data provides the only global benchmark on the state of ethics and compliance (E&C) in business. This year’s GBES is the first compliance related survey conducted after the global pandemic hit. It has significant information for the compliance professional which they need to consider for every compliance program, literally on a world-wide basis.
While a multitude of factors influence ethical behavior, the GBES reports interplay of four major ethics outcomes are tied to the daily decisions employees make with respect to how they behave in the workplace. These are: pressure in the workplace to compromise ethical standards; observations of misconduct; reporting misconduct; and, ultimately, the retaliation perceived by employees after they reported misconduct. Some of this year’s findings are quite troubling as they are clearly trending in disturbing directions. Over this series we will review the key findings, how retaliation against whistleblowers has taken an alarming turn, the impact of Covid-19 on compliance, closing with conclusions and recommendations. In this Part 1, we review some of the key trends.
Join us for Episode 2, where we discuss some of the key findings from the 2021 GBES. To obtain a copy of the Survey, click here. To find out more about ECI, click here.
Jonathan Poling is one of the leading voices in sanctions and trade compliance. He has a wealth of experience as a federal prosecutor in the counter-espionage division of the Department of Justice, where he prosecuted spies, arms dealers, and people doing business illegally in sanctioned countries. Jonathan is currently a partner at Akin Gump. He chats with Tom Fox and Stephen Martin about his work at the DOJ, and other important trade compliance issues, including how he thinks the work of the DOJ will change under the Biden administration.
Working at the DOJ
When Jonathan joined the Department of Justice, the National Security Division was still new, having been established after 9-11 “to consolidate the different national security sections of the Department of Justice and facilitate the exchanging of intelligence with the intelligence community.” Jonathan explains that there were gaps in the economic sanctions that he and his colleagues focused on and helped to close. “Those seeds have since blossomed into a lot of new tactics,” he says. Stephen asks him what he expects from the Biden administration. He first responds with what he expects to stay the same, including an emphasis on foreign influence, particularly in China. What he expects to change, he says, is that things in the DOJ will “return to normal order”.
Tom asks what Merrick Garland can do to rebuild the morale of the prosecutors working at the DOJ. Jonathan remarks that the first thing is to slow down. In recent times, there has been a rush to prosecution, and it’s understandable that the public wants to see cases tried as soon as possible. However, there’s a reason things take a while, Jonathan says. “It’s a serious thing to charge somebody. You want to go through the evidence gathering. You want to make sure you have your i’s dotted and your t’s crossed.” He emphasizes that the Attorney General should focus on setting the priorities of the agency: his able prosecutors know the job well and can perform their duties in the courtroom. He also shares why not every case that can be prosecuted should be.
Navigating Trade Compliance
“What we’re doing [at Akin Gump] is trying to help our clients navigate a complicated regulatory space that is still very antiquated and doesn’t always fit their businesses,” Jonathan says. Companies trying to trade legally in sanctioned countries like Iran find it difficult to understand and navigate the regulations. “If they violate the regs – even technically – it can result in significant penalties to the company,” Jonathan points out. He is happy that sanctions are becoming more targeted so that companies can better understand what they can and can’t do.
World Bank Monitor & the Future of Trade with China
Tom asks Jonathan about his work as a World Bank monitor. He describes the role and his experience and comments, “There are a lot of lessons to be learned from that program… that probably could be employed to other monitorships around the world.”
With regard to trading with China, Jonathan comments that we’re witnessing a change of approach. Very soon, he says, how compliance is done in Chinese companies must change: “There is going to need to be a sea change in terms of how compliance is done in Chinese companies.”
Resources
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
jpoling@akingump.com
In the Episode, fan fav and MoFo partner James Koukios returns to discuss the firm’s always informative Top 10 International Anti-Corruption Developments for December 2020. We focus this episode on ABC enforcement efforts from other countries. Highlights include:
· CFTC brings first FCPA enforcement action;
· Patrick Ho conviction upheld;
· Brazilian government announces 5-year ABC plan;
· MPP settles Car Wash enforcement action; and
· ABC reforms introduced in NDAA.
Recourses
MoFo Top 10 International Anti-Corruption Developments for December 2020