Categories
Compliance Into the Weeds

Hogan Lovells Report on Compliance Budgets


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 we take a deep dive into recent Hogan Lovell’s report High Seas: Steering the Course II Navigating bribery and corruption risk in 2020. We conclude with a special tribute to Bernie Ebbers and his role in creating the modern compliance professional.
Some of the highlights include:

  • What do the survey results say about the direction of compliance function spending?
  • Can companies manage risks in emerging markets when compliance spending is decelerating?
  • Technology can improve compliance efficiency but it can also improve compliance evasion.
  • Will CCOs be able to interpret data from ComTech tools?
  • What are the implications for the compliance discipline and CCO?

Resources
Hogan Lovell’s report High Seas: Steering the Course II Navigating bribery and corruption risk in 2020, click here.
Matt Kelly blog post, Compliance Resources Getting Tighter

Categories
Daily Compliance News

February 12, 2020, the Trump Orders DOJ edition


In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • Trump orders DOJ reduce sentence recommendation on Roger Stone. (WSJ)
  • FTC expands investigation into Big Tech. (WSJ)
  • FED watching coronavirus risk, Trump says there is no risk. (WSJ)
  • New Wells Fargo CEO makes structural changes to prevent more fraud. (WSJ)
Categories
Innovation in Compliance

Reimagining Data Privacy with Ray Pathak


Ray Pathak is the COO of Nymity, which was recently acquired by TrustArc. He chats with Tom Fox about the acquisition and how his company is reimagining privacy.

A Powerful Combination
Nymity and TrustArc have been in the compliance space for a combined 40 years. Nymity has research expertise, and TrustArc is versed in automation and technology. The companies coming together with their complementary skills have created something powerful and special in the marketplace.
Reimagining Privacy
Tom asks Ray to expand on its catchphrase, ‘Reimagining Privacy’. It’s about providing data intelligence within the compliance solution, Ray responds, so that companies can do more with less. “We want to empower organizations to understand their data better and by understanding it, be able to do more with their data.” He calls this ‘unleashing the data’.
The wait-and-see approach used by so many companies is a failure waiting to happen, Ray argues. It may solve the problem of today, but it’s not viable long-term because you would have to start from scratch each time a new law comes out. He advocates a more proactive, take-control approach: build out a comprehensive privacy program so when a new law comes out you’re just tweaking your program instead of creating a whole new one.
Embedding four layers of research within their tools so that information is available to clients when they need it, makes Nymity’s solution different from other solutions on the market. Ray goes on to explain how this process brings privacy intelligence to their clients, saving them valuable time. Their comprehensive framework containing 139 different technical and organizational measures, grouped into 13 categories, and mounted to over 900 local and international laws allows clients using the framework to build out their data privacy program to comply with many laws.
Future Trends
Tom asks Ray to comment on the top issues in data privacy for 2020 and beyond. Ray responds that the first issue is the impact laws like CCPA will have. More states are coming out with privacy laws, likely to be more comprehensive than CCPA, he predicts. The second issue he talks about is making data privacy easier for people. Privacy is becoming more complex, but their privacy intelligence tool makes it more accessible for clients. Thirdly, he says that by combining technology with research, his company is helping to provide insights to organizations with their solution.
Resources
Nymity.com
TrustArc.com

Categories
Daily Compliance News

February 11, 2020, the Dark Arts edition


In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • Chinese military officers charged in Equifax hack. (NYT)
  • Andrew Hill on why Bernie Ebbers is more relevant today. (FT)
  • Of dark arts and codebreakers. (WSJ)
  • Panama Papers nets first tax evasion guilty plea. (WSJ)
Categories
31 Days to More Effective Compliance Programs

Six core principles for compliance incentives

Most compliance professionals understand the need to discipline employees who may have violated ethics and compliance programs or otherwise engaged in bribery and corruption. However, many Chief Compliance Officers (CCOs) and compliance practitioners do not focus as much attention to compliance incentives. I have developed six core principles for incentives, adapted from Spring 2014 MIT Sloan Management Review article, entitled “Combining Purpose with Profits”, and formulated them for the compliance function in an anti-corruption compliance program.

1.     Compliance incentives don’t have to be elaborate or novel. 

2.     Compliance incentives need supporting systems if they are to stick.

3.     Support systems are needed to reinforce compliance incentives.

4.     Compliance incentives need a “counterweight” to endure.

5.     Compliance incentive alignment works in an oblique, not linear, way.

6.     Compliance incentive initiatives can be implemented at all levels.

Obviously, this list is not exhaustive. Yet it is now more important than ever that you demonstrate tangible incentives for your employees to gain benefits, both financial and hierarchical, through doing business ethically, in compliance with your own Code of Conduct and most certainly in compliance with relevant anti-bribery laws. It is also a requirement that such actions be documented so they can be demonstrated to the regulators, if they come knocking.

Three key takeaways:

  1. Compliance incentives do not have to be elaborate or novel.
  2. You must create support systems for your compliance incentives.
  3. Compliance incentives should be implemented at all levels.
Categories
Why a Duck

A Night at the Opera, Part 3 and Compliance into 2020


From Vaudeville to the Silver Screen to the Small Screen, the Marx Brothers made an impact wherever people found them. Now Tom Fox and Mike Volkov have wedded their love of the Marx Brothers with their passion for compliance and bring them into the boardroom to help explain and explore the sometimes-chaotic world of governance, risk-management, ethics and compliance. In this episode they begin a three-part series where they discuss the movie A Night at the Opera and how it informs the 2019 in Compliance, FCPA enforcement actions and Compliance into 2020 and beyond.  In this episode we put on our prognosticator’s turbans and looked into the veiled land of 2020 and beyond in compliance. Highlights from the podcast include:
1.     Why data will become more important in compliance?
2.     You have an ABC compliance program. What about Anti-Trust and Trade Compliance?
3.     How do the OFAC Compliance Framework and Anti-Trust Division Guidance inform ABC compliance?
4.     Where will compliance convergence go in 2020?
5.     Will 2020 be the year of the ‘Ethical Edge’?
6.     What will happen to FCPA enforcement numbers in 2020? What about individual prosecutions.
Resources
Mike Volkov-FCPA Predictions for 2020
Tom Fox–Compliance Insights for 2020 and Beyond
Marx Brothers-The Sanity Clause Scene–YouTube

Categories
Daily Compliance News

February 10, 2020, the Corp Spying edition


In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • Citgo 6 rearrested in Venezuela. (HoustonChronicle)
  • Credit Suisse CEO fired for spying on subordinates. (FT)
  • Top CitiGroup trader fired for stealing food from Canteen. (FT)
  • Corporate CEO racially abuse Uber driver on tape, gets fired. (NYT)
Categories
Sunday Book Review

February 9, 2020, the Roger Kahn edition


In today’s edition of Sunday Book Review, I pay tribute to Roger Kahn:

Categories
FCPA Compliance Report

James Koukios on the MoFo Top 10 International Anti-Corruption Developments for December 2019

In the Episode, I visit with James Koukios, partner at Morrison & Foerster, Editor-in-Chief of the firm’s Top 10 International Anti-Corruption Developments. We visit about the firm’s Top 10 International Anti-Corruption Developments for December 2019.

Some of the highlights include:

  1. South Korea Passes Bill to Establish New Anti-Corruption Agency.
  2. Four of the top 6 FCPA enforcement actions of all-time are telecom companies? Why is telecom so susceptible to corruption?
  3. You were involved in one of the earliest telecom trials. Do you see much difference in the corruption from the Haitian Teleco cases and the much larger ones like Ericsson?
  4. What lessons do you seen in this enforcement action for the compliance professional?
  5. Will we see more teleco FCPA enforcement actions in 2020 or 2021?
  6. SNC-Lavalin resolves corruption charges in Canada.

 Resources
To a copy of the Top 10 International Anti-Corruption Developments for December 2019 Newsletter click here.

Categories
This Week in FCPA

Episode 191 – the All Hail Airbus edition


Reports are that Airbus would settle corruption allegations for nearly $4bn in England were correct. Jay and Tom are back to consider some of the top compliance articles and stories which caught our eye this week.

  1. Airbus commentary is out. Dick Cassin on the FCPA Blog, Mike Volkov on Corruption Crime and Compliance, Tom Fox on the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog and Jonathan Armstrong on Cordery Compliance all lead the discussion.
  2. COSO warns of siloed compliance. Kristin Broughton in the WSJ Risk and Compliance Journal.
  3. Odebretch extends monitorship 9 months. Will that be enough? Mengqi Sun explores in the WSJ Risk and Compliance Journal.
  4. What about small annual changes in the TI-CPI? Matthew Stephenson goes diadic in the Global Anti-Corruption Blog.
  5. Is new DOJ Guidance a sword or shield or both? Jay continues his series in CCI.
  6. How to grow your compliance program as your company scales. Gio Gallo explains in CCI.
  7. Worried about CCO liability? Matt Kelly explores on Radical Compliance.
  8. Bernie Ebbers passes. A moment of silence for his role in compliance. Jim Zarolli in NPR.
  9. Speaker programs and big pharma. WilmerHale lawyers opine in NYU’s Compliance and Enforcement Blog.
  10. On the Compliance Podcast Network, Tom begins a one month look at the role of HR in compliance.This week saw the following offerings: Monday-introduction to the role of HR in compliance; Tuesday-the role of HR in creating an ethical culture; Wednesday-the hiring process; Thursday-the reference check. Friday-incentivizing compliance. Note 31 Days to a More Effective Compliance Program now has its own iTunes channel. If you want to binge out and listen to only these episodes, click here.
  11. Join Tom for the webinar, The Houston Astros: Ethics, Compliance and Sign Stealing onThursday February 13, at 2 PM CST. Registration and information 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.