Welcome to Compliance Man Chooses the Target with Tim Khasanov-Batirov series. Today we a have a special Christmas podcast. Our goal is to highlight matters that should be on agenda of practitioners that deploy compliance programs in industries or countries of active FCPA enforcement. We target three specific matters that you might like to address in the course of implementation of your compliance program. Today we will focus on classical but evergreen topic of gifts giving.
Target #1: How to kill your corporate gifts policy?
If you work at the HQ of an international corporation and believes that all questions with gifts giving in your company are already settled many years ago you might be wrong. The most unpleasant news could be that the reason of this problem are not necessarily rogue managers in the fields, who deliberately violate rules. Look at your global gifts policy and if it says something like “gifts of nominal value are allowed” there is big chance that the problem is already there. Assume that in some countries at which your company operates per local legislation (or updates in the legislation) gifts giving to state officials are prohibited as such or this process is a subject to certain limitations. In ideal case your global policy is adopted in each jurisdiction by local compliance team. We recommend checking out if it is really so as most likely you don’t have compliance folks in each jurisdiction of corporate presence. Another typical problem is when simultaneously in each respective jurisdiction there are two policies. The global one, which allows petty gifts, even if it contains clause on prevalence of local laws and a tailored gifts policy adopted by an office in the respective jurisdiction. In reality the personnel in the fields will get confused which policy to follow.
Target #2: Toxic Gifts
The FCPA enforcement practice clearly demonstrates absolute ban on entertainment of state officials and PEPs by companies. It is also clear that it is forbidden to give luxurious gifts and even sometimes small gifts if there is a corruption intent. Still there is a grey area for list of non-luxurious gifts which still might be considered as non-appropriate from my point of view even if there is no intent to influence decision taking. I mean alcohol, for instance. In some jurisdictions it is a common practice to give alcohol as Christmas gift. From my prospective it is not right but still it is just a personal view, not a law.
Target #3: Non-Toxic Gift
We have touched a couple of problems related to gifts giving and now it is time to get back to talking about pleasant sides of Christmas. It is time to say that Compliance Man has launched a channel at you tube called ‘Compliance Man by Timur Khasanov-Batirov” aimed on sharing compliance tips with professional community. The first video of the series called “1001 Compliance days” is available here. Please feel free to comment and subscribe.
Merry Christmas to everyone from Compliance Man!
Join us for the next episode of Compliance Man Chooses the Target with Tim Khasanov-Batirov in 2020.
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There are many companies that have employees who’ve never stepped foot in their office.
Maybe you’re thinking, “But that has to be very few companies and employes, right?”
The answer — not so much. Remote employees are not a thing of the future, it is the reality of the 21st Century workforce. Leaders must prepare for the challenges and opportunities this massive change presents.
In this episode, I am sitting down with my business partner, Phil Van Hooser. Phil is a Hall of Fame Leadership speaker and author. Phil and I are speaking on the issue not only because we are helping other leaders successfully navigate the change, but we ourselves in our own business, are practicing what we preach.
With Gen X, Y, and Z increasingly wanting flexible schedules, the number of remote workers in today’s workforce has increased very fast. In today’s episode, part 1 of 2, we are taking a look at why employees want to work out of the office, how that may make managers and supervisors feel, and practical steps you can take to make sure engagement, communication, and performance stays on the right track.
As a leader, YOU control your leadership success. Tune in for real-talk about how to lead well in this new environment of remote workers.
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!
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Welcome to the Great Women in Compliance Podcast, co-hosted by Lisa Fine and Mary Shirley.
Today’s Great Women in Compliance podcast is a little different. At the most recent SCCE Compliance and Ethics Institute held in September, Lisa and Mary asked the session attendees to provide examples of the best professional advice they received, and we had a lot of great information from women throughout the ethics and compliance community. It was a unique opportunity for Mary and Lisa to be on the same episode, as most of the GWIC podcasts are with one of them interviewing ethics and compliance leaders.
We got exceptional insights from this community, and Lisa and Mary thought it would be the perfect way to end the 2019 podcasts. Not only did Great Women in Compliance’s first full year brought lots of great discussions on the podcast, it brought out constant reminders of the fantastic individuals that make up the GWIC community.
We all hope you enjoy this advice from the GWIC Community and best wishes to you and yours in 2020. Join the Great Women in Compliance community on LinkedIn here.
Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast which takes a deep dive into a compliance related topic, literally going into the weeds to more fully explore a subject. In this episode, Matt Kelly and I go into the weeds about the Ericsson FCPA enforcement action from the internal controls perspective.
Some of the highlights include:
- What does this enforcement action tell up about internal controls?
- How were the business units able to evade internal controls for so long?
- Was there control override?
- What is the role of ERP systems such as Oracle and SAP in compliance?
- If a company refuses to use standard ERP systems, is that a control failure under the FCPA?
- What are the lessons learned for a corporate compliance program?
- What does all this mean for compliance professionals going forward?
Resources
Tom’s blog posts, both the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog.
Part 1-Overview
Part 2-The Bribery Schemes
Welcome to a special five-part podcast series from the Compliance Podcast Network. In this series I am taking a look at the Hughes Hubbard & Reed 2019 FCPA and Anti-Bribery Alert. I visit with five firm lawyers involved in the preparation of the report, each of whom is a subject matter expert in an area of the FCPA and anti-corruption. In this Part 5, I visit with Salim Saud, Partner at Saud Advogados, in cooperation with Hughes, Hubbard & Reed LLP, on developments in anti-bribery enforcement from Brazil from over the past year.
Some of the highlights include:
- What is the key role the CGU has taken over the past year?
- How is the CGU currently assessing compliance programs?
- What were some of the setbacks in Brazil over the year?
- How can a company obtain a Leniency Agreement?
- What are some key lessons for the compliance practitioner?
Resources
Hughes Hubbard 2019 FCPA and Anti-Bribery Alert, click here.
Fizza Khan, this week’s guest on the Innovation In Compliance show, has been in regulatory consulting for over 10 years. She is the CEO and founder of Silver Regulatory Associates, an innovative company that specializes in helping companies meet their regulatory obligations. She and Tom Fox discuss the idea of outsourced compliance as well as the interesting and often complicated world of cryptocurrency.
Listen to the Episode Now:
The Cutting Edge of Outsourced Compliance
Tom comments that the regulatory compliance space has different guidelines, regulations and laws than his world of ABC compliance. He asks Fizza to describe some of the cutting edge things her company is doing, in particular the idea of ‘outsourced compliance’. She replies that financial services companies must have a strong regulatory compliance program that’s not only good on paper, but practically functioning. Her company, as an outsourced compliance option, can help firms meet their obligations either by integrating into their compliance program or by working alongside an existing compliance program to ensure that it aligns with the client’s interests.
Services Offered
Silver Regulatory Associates offers various services depending on your needs. These include:
- Registration and foundation services
- Maintenance service
- Assessment service
- Exam support service
Crypto: Security or Exchange Instrument?
There are many questions surrounding cryptocurrency. Whether it is a security or an exchange instrument is one of the questions facing the industry. Fizza explains that the Howey Test is used to determine whether a particular instrument will be deemed a security and needs to come under the SEC’s regulations. The test makes its determination based on three criteria:
- Is the investment in the form of money?
- Is the investment of money in a common enterprise?
- Is there an expectation of profits from the enterprise? Is that expectation of profit derived from the efforts of others?
Tom asks Fizza to discuss what a company must do if it’s determined to be a security vs an exchange instrument, and how her company can help them fulfill their regulatory obligations. She explains the implications of each scenario. Her company helps clients determine the next steps and take appropriate action to become compliant, she says. Continuous analysis and monitoring of cryptocurrency guidelines is paramount. If a company changes the way it uses, manages or distributes its cryptocurrency, this could trigger additional regulatory requirements.
Preparing for the SEC Exam
Tom mentions an article Fizza wrote, entitled, Uptick In SEC Exams: Four Ways To Ensure A Smooth Process. He asks her to explain how she helps companies prepare for such an exam. She replies that the article targets investment managers and broker dealers who are already regulated and registered with the SEC. The routine exam is when SEC staff examiners come to organizations to ensure that their compliance program is meeting all regulatory obligations. They also want to see that the program is being actively implemented in the business. Silver helps you prepare for a smooth exam: they analyze your existing program, help you prepare the required documents, and they even prepare you to answer questions the SEC might pose. Fizza gives several tips to help you highlight your strengths in the Day One presentation.
Resources
SilverRegulatoryAssociates.com
fkhan@silverreg.com
Article: Uptick In SEC Exams: Four Ways To Ensure A Smooth Process
Article: Insight: Key Crypto Compliance Considerations In Light of Facebook’s ICO
In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:
- NBA to Rockets-We Got it Wrong But You Didn’t Tell Soon Enough? (ESPN)
- NFL to Everyone-we got it wrong, so what? (YaHoo Sports)
- WADA to Russia-you are banned from Olympics and World Cup. (NYT)
- IOC to the World-we really, really, really are against corruption in sports. (IOC Press Release)
In this episode I visit with Stacie Hartman, co-chair of the Financial Services Group at Steptoe & Johnson LLP. She offers insight in how this new appeal to whistleblowers could impact the type or volume of enforcement cases within the CFTC. Stacie leads major cases in courts around the country and in enforcement proceedings before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and financial exchanges, as well as in investigations by the US Department of Justice (DOJ). She has a strong track record of helping her clients avoid prosecution completely or obtain settlements at record-low penalties.
In July, the House passed the Whistleblower Protection Reform Act of 2019, which passed by a vote of 410-12. Last month the Senate introduced the Whistleblower Programs Improvement Act. In this podcast we consider what these pieces of legislation might mean for the corporate compliance practitioner.
Some of the highlights include:
We consider if these pieces of legislation are in response to the Supreme Court decision in Digital Realty Trust?
If so, how do they remedy the Court’s decision?
Are there be ancillary issues involved?
Do they expand the definition of whistleblower?
What do they do for the timeframes for decisions on whistleblower awards at the SEC and CFTC?
Listeners are familiar with whistleblower process to the SEC. Have there been What if any are the differences in the process program run by to the CFTC?
Resources
Stacie Hartman firm profile
In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:
- Should Russia be kept out of the Olympics? (WSJ)
- Amazon moves into NYC, without tax subsidies. (NYT)
- Ericsson channels their inner Alice Cooper. (DOJ Press Release)
- China market for HW and SW to close by 2022. (FT)
