In today’s edition of Sunday Book Review:
- To Cook a Bear by Mikael Niemi
- The Night of the Fire by Kjell Eriksson
- Snowdrift by Helene Tursten
- Victim 2117 (A Department Q Novel) by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Author: admin
Special guest Nick Gallo joins Tom Fox for a six-part podcast series about books. In this introductory episode, they talk about Nick’s 100 Book Challenge for 2020, where his goal was to read or listen to a selection of 100 books. Nick shares how he curated his reading list, his methods for completing the challenge, and the insights he learned from the experience. One such insight is that learning is like flexing a muscle, and just like the other muscles of the human body, you must stretch it often to keep your mind healthy.
“This was one of the biggest accomplishments of my life,” Nick claims. Part of the motivation to complete the challenge was his desire for his company to be a learning organization, he adds. “If we’re constantly in an improvement mode, there’s a lot of magic to be unlocked.”
In this special series, Tom and Nick share the five books Nick read – here’s what’s coming up:
- Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
- The Culture Map by Erin Meyer
- The Fearless Organization by Amy Edmondson
- The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek
Listeners can read Nick’s notes on each book at his LinkedIn page.
Resources
Tom Fox on LinkedIn | Twitter
CompliancePodcastNetwork.net
Nick Gallo on LinkedIn
ComplianceLine.com
A 360-degree view of compliance is an effort to incorporate your compliance identity into a holistic approach so that compliance is in touch with and visible to your employees at all times. It is about creating a distinctive brand philosophy of compliance which is centered on your consumers. In other words, it helps a compliance practitioner to anticipate all the aspects of your employees needs around compliance. This is especially true when compliance is either perceived as something that comes out of the home office or is perceived as the “Land of No.” A 360-degree view of compliance gives you the opportunity to build a new brand image for your compliance program. This is important as the 2020 Update mandates that for a compliance program to be effective, it must be understood by a wide variety of stakeholders.
Communications is often thought of as a two-way street, upward and downward, inbound and outbound, or side-to-side. However, it is better to think of it as a 360-degree effort. You simply can no longer effectively communicate in just two ways. You now communicate in a more holistic manner, and in multiple ways. If you are just thinking about communications in the classic form, you are missing something that is happening around you.
The best example I can provide to you is a story told to me by Louis Sapirman, Vice President and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at Panasonic Corporation of North America – Panasonic USA. This story happened to him in Argentina when he was the CCO at Dun & Bradstreet (D&B). Argentina has an interesting form of illegal conduct, which is an open black market for the changing of currency. Sapirman was with a colleague who was one of the leaders from the company’s South American operations and they went into a convenience store. The person who was going to sell him the product suggested that he go just around the corner and change money on the black market where he could get a much better exchange rate, almost a 100 percent difference in the exchange rate; he declined to do so. Sapirman paid and received the established bank rate in the small transaction.
He had not considered role modeling that compliance. About six months later one of his team members was in Mexico speaking to the leader of the D&B operation there. The non-compliance function employee said that he was the person who had been with Sapirman. He recounted the story of doing the right thing, when literally no one was watching. That is the power of 360-degrees in communication.
Three key takeaways:
- Remember the definition of 360-degrees of communication. It is an effort that moves the compliance identity into a holistic approach so compliance is in touch and visible to your employees at all times
- What is your objective? What are you trying to do with your 360-degrees of communications and how are you using that mechanism to deliver the objectives of your compliance program?
- Evaluate. You need to evaluate three factors: 1) has the message been delivered; 2) has it been heard; and 3) is it being implemented?
What are internal controls? The best definition I have come across is from Jonathan Marks who defined internal controls as:
An internal control is an action or process of interlocking activities designed to support the policies and procedures detailing the specific preventative, detective, corrective, directive and corroborative actions required to achieve the desired process outcomes or the objectives(s). This, along with continuous auditing, continuous monitoring and training reasonably assures:
- The achievement of the process objectives linked to the organization’s objectives;
- Operational effectiveness and efficiency;
- Reliable (complete and accurate) books and records (financial reporting);
- Compliance with laws, regulations and policies; and
- The reduction of risk-fraud, waste and abuse, which,
Aids in the decline of process and policy variation, leading to more predictive outcomes.
The DOJ and SEC, in the 2020 FCPA Resource Guide, stated:
Internal controls over financial reporting are the processes used by companies to provide reasonable assurances regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements. They include various components, such as: a control environment that covers the tone set by the organization regarding integrity and ethics; risk assessments; control activities that cover policies and procedures designed to ensure that management directives are carried out (e.g., approvals, authorizations, reconciliations, and segregation of duties); information and communication; and monitoring. … The design of a company’s internal controls must take into account the operational realities and risks attendant to the company’s business, such as: the nature of its products or services; how the products or services get to market; the nature of its work force; the degree of regulation; the extent of its government interaction; and the degree to which it has operations in countries with a high risk of corruption.
This was supplemented in the 2020 Update, with a pair of pointed questions: whether a company has made significant investigation into its internal controls and have they been tested, then remediated based upon the testing?
The bottom line is that internal controls are just good financial controls. The internal controls that detail requirements for third-party representatives in the compliance context will help to detect fraud, which could well lead to bribery and corruption. As an exercise, map your existing internal controls to the Ten Hallmarks of an Effective Compliance Program or some other well-known anti-corruption regime to see where gaps may exist. This will help you to determine whether adequate compliance internal controls are present in your company. From there you can move to see if they are working in practice.
Three key takeaways:
- Effective internal controls are required under the FCPA
- Internal controls are a critical part of any best practices compliance program
- There are four significant controls for the compliance practitioner to implement initially. (a) Delegation of authority (DOA); (b) Maintenance of the vendor master file; (c) Contracts with third parties; and (d) Movement of cash/currency
Welcome to this special podcast series, Integrity Matters: Exploring the NDAA, sponsored by K2 Integrity. This week I visit with Chip Poncy, Global Co-Head Financial Crimes Risk Management practice and member of K2 Integrity’s Board, and Gail Fuller, Managing Director at K2 Integrity. Over the week we have broken down the changes to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and changes in enforcement authority to Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) which are found in the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Topics discussed included breaking down the big picture, company formation reform, new opportunities under this new law, coming change to corporate governance under the NDAA and the long view of the new law. In this concluding Part 5, I am joined by again Gail Fuller to look at the long view under the new law.
For more information go to the K2 Integrity website.
For more information on the Dedicated Online Financial Integrity Network (DOLFIN) click here.
People change – we all do. Leaders who don’t understand how their diverse followers have changed could potentially be left with demotivated, underperforming, unengaged employees. Even worse, one day you may find yourself questioning why you’ve just received your best employee’s two-week notice.
In today’s episode I’m sharing with you several questions to help kickstart conversations with your people that will unlock answers to how you can best delegate responsibilities, evaluate performance, and strengthen your leader/employee relationship.
As we kick off 2021, I challenge you to take your leadership to the next level. Get to know your team better so you can help everyone accomplish their goals – including yours – this year! #LevelUp
If you’re looking for tangible action steps and refreshing insights to help ignite the power of your own leadership journey, sign up for my weekly leadership blog HERE.
If your business would benefit from higher-performing leaders, check out more information about the comprehensive leadership development training I do HERE.
If you want to reach out to me directly, email alyson@vanhooser.com.
If you enjoyed this episode, will you please subscribe and leave a review? Your reviews help this show get discovered by more incredible leaders just like you. I’m obsessed with helping leaders ignite their performance results and I’d love to have you help me make an impact! Thank you so much!
P.S. Share and tag me on social — @AlysonVanHooser — and I’ll share your comments and big takeaways on my feed!
We come to this episode as somber as we have ever been. President Trump incited insurrection against America, the American people and America’s Democracy on Wednesday. Tom and Jay join the call of Senators and Representative of both political parties to remove President Trump via the 25th Amendment or impeachment. We also have our first look in 2021 at some of the top compliance articles and stories which caught their eye this week.
- A game-changer in compliance-the AMLA Law of 2020. Tom takes a deep dive in a 5-part blog post series and podcast series on the FCPA Compliance Report.
- Why you need a compliance ‘Victory Plan’ for 2021. Dick Cassin explains in the FCPA Blog.
- CFTC’s foray into FCPA enforcement creates new risk factors. Aaron Nicodemus in Compliance Week (sub req’d)
- Was the Goldman Sachs FCPA resolution ‘just and appropriate’? Jenny Kline in GAB.
- Is your digital culture mature? Jim DeLoach in CCI.
- What are your compliance resolutions for 2021? Andrew Burt in Navex Global’s Risk & Compliance Matters
- First SolarWinds shareholder action filed. Kevin LaCroix in the D&O Diary.
- Rethinking corporate enforcement. John Coffee in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Goverance.
- A new month is here and a new guest on The Compliance Life. Gwen Hassan- Director of Compliance at CNH Industrial. In this month’s first episode, Gwen talks about the twisting road which introduced her to compliance. Check out the episode here.
- This month, on 31 Days to a More Effective Compliance Program, I look back over 2020 and set out some of the key enhancements you need to do for your compliance program in 2021. Day 1 | What 2020 Brought To Compliance Programs; Day 2 | Continuous Monitoring and Continuous Improvement; Day 3 | Leadership’s Conduct At The Top; Day 4 | Moving Compliance Tone Down Through An Organization; Day 5 | The Board and Operationalizing Compliance; Day 6 | The Code of Conduct; Day 7 | Policies and Procedures; and Day 8 | Internal Controls and Compliance. Note 31 Days to a More Effective Compliance Program now has its own iTunes channel.
- Join Tom on the Convercent event, “Future-proof your compliance program for 2021”, on Wednesday, January 20th | 11:00 am -:00 pm ET. For details and registration, click here.
- Join K2 Integrity on Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 10 AM ET, when financial crimes compliance experts respond to your AML/CFT, sanctions, and other financial integrity-related questions. Submit your questions and register here.
Tom Fox is the Compliance Evangelist and can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com. Jay Rosen is Mr. Monitor and can be reached at jrosen@affiliatedmonitors.com.
In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:
- WSJ Editorial Board calls for Trump to resign. (WSJ)
- What is risk? (WSJ)
- Texas lawyer who engaged in armed insurrection fired from AGC position. (HoustonChronicle)
- Hawley book contract cancelled. (WSJ)
There are numerous reasons to put some serious work into your compliance policies and procedures. They are certainly a first line of defense when the government comes knocking. The 2020 Update made clear that “Any well-designed compliance program entails policies and procedures that give both content and effect to ethical norms and that address and aim to reduce risks identified by the company as part of its risk assessment process.” This statement made clear that the regulators will take a strong view against a company that does not have well thought out and articulated policies and procedures against bribery and corruption; all of which are systematically reviewed and updated. Moreover, having policies written out and signed by employees provides what some consider the most vital layer of communication and acts as an internal control. Together with a signed acknowledgement, these documents can serve as evidentiary support if a future issue arises. In other words, the “Document, Document, and Document” mantra applies just as strongly to policies and procedures in anti-corruption compliance.
The specific written policies and procedures required for a best practices compliance program are well known and long established. According to the 2020 FCPA Resources Guide, some of the risks companies should keep in mind include the nature and extent of transactions with foreign governments (including payments to foreign officials); use of third parties; gifts, travel, and entertainment expenses; charitable and political donations; and facilitating and expediting payments. Policies help form the basis of expectations for standards of conduct in your company. Procedures are the documents that implement these standards of conduct.
The 2020 FCPA Resource Guide ends its section on policies with the following, “Regardless of the specific policies and procedures implemented, these standards should apply to personnel at all levels of the company.” It is important that compliance policies and procedures are applied fairly and consistently across the organization. Institutional fairness demands that if compliance policies and procedures are not applied consistently, there is a greater chance that an employee dismissed for breaching a policy could successfully claim he or she was unfairly terminated. Moreover, inconsistent application of your policies and procedures will destroy the credibility of your compliance program. This last point cannot be over-emphasized. If an employee is going to be terminated for fudging their expense accounts in Brazil, you had best make sure that same conduct lands your top producer in the U.S. with the same quality of discipline.
Three key takeaways:
- Written compliance policies and procedures, together the Code of Conduct, form the backbone of your compliance program.
- The DOJ and SEC expect a well-thought out and articulated set of compliance policies and procedures and that they be adequately communicated throughout your organization.
- Institutional fairness for the application of policies and procedures demands consistent application across the globe.