In this episode I am joined by AMI Managing Director Rod Grandon. We have considered the responsibility of federal contractors to maintain their status as “Responsible Contractors” and explore the benefits of having an effective compliance and business ethics program to not only increase business efficiencies and profitability but prepare you in good stead if the regulators come knocking. In this episode, we consider how you can keep your compliance program fresh through ongoing monitoring.
To gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of corporate ethics and compliance efforts and to identify any gaps in the program’s scope, contractors are well advised to commit to an objective assessment of their ethical culture and ethics and compliance programs before a crisis occurs. Grandon stated, “part of the requirement for an ethics compliance program is that the contractor will conduct periodic reviews of the company’s business practices, procedures, policies, and internal controls for compliance with the Contractors Code of business ethics and conduct and the requirements associated with federal contracting.” Contractors should consider carefully whether the assessment can be performed using in-house resources, or whether the assessment should be performed by an independent and objective outside organization.
An independent, outside reviewer would in their report create a roadmap that a company could use to remediate any deficiencies if new risks had arisen, either in markets, products or services that could be used as a documented roadmap if a regulator ever came knocking. The company could show such regulator that “yes, we not only reviewed our program, but we have a roadmap and here are the steps we are taking based upon this roadmap to move forward into the future.”
To find out more about Affiliated Monitors, Inc. check out their website www.affiliatedmonitors.com.
Josh Turpen is the Chief Product Officer of Jama Software. He says that early in his career he came to understand the importance of good requirements and testing, and the ability to tie it all together. Their Jama Connect solution, he argues, is “the premier requirements management test and risk tool… as it brings together requirements, test and risk in a way that our customers can have good traceability and good verification.” He and Tom Fox chat about the importance of being an enabler, as well as product development lifecycle management in this week’s show.
A Larger View on Risk
Josh says that Jama’s experience in diverse industries gives them a broader view of risk. With this wide expertise, they are able to help their clients see how product requirements and tests tie back to risk, and how requirements, risk and tests change with product alterations. Tom comments that changing external risk – such as the present pandemic – calls for new risk assessments. Josh agrees. “Overall,” Josh says, “re-evaluating risk with external events in mind is a good practice. And you’ve gotta have a system that enables that.” He and Tom discuss document-based solutions versus item-based, and why he believes item-based solutions are better.
Managing Product Development
It’s important for engineers to know what they’re building and why, Josh says. He argues that it helps them make better decisions. That buy-in is a critical component of success: “One of the key enablers of success is that holistic picture that… everybody is bought in on and understand,” he says. You need to hire good people and be an enabler, he adds. “It’s not what you do. It’s what you can help your team do.” Tom asks him to define product development lifecycle management. Josh explains that it’s seeing the scope of the product development from end to end.
Resources
JamaSoftware.com
Josh Turpen on LinkedIn
Ever heard the expression “beating a dead horse?” It has nothing to do with animal cruelty, but simply means a particular effort is a waste of time as there will be no outcome.
Well there are some efforts #internalaudit continues to push that are also as big a waste of time as beating a dead horse, and in this #jammingwithjason #internalauditpodcast I’m going to talk about them in a very candid way.
If you find yourself doing these things, it’s time to STOP. You are wasting your energy and likely damaging the reputation and relevance of internal audit in your organization.
Listen in at: http://www.jasonmefford.com/jammingwithjason/ or wherever you enjoy listening to podcasts.
Jamming with Jason has interviews and discussions (jam sessions) relevant to internal audit leaders, and professionals in internal audit, risk management, and compliance. If you want to up-level your life and career you need to be listening each week.
Join the leadership program Jason mentioned in this episode here: https://jasonmefford.mykajabi.com/caebriefing
In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:
- Short Sellers, SEC investigation and stock price up. (WSJ)
- Leon Black and Jeffery Epstein. (NYT)
- Will energy ever address digital gap. (Houston Chronicle)
- On South African corruption. (BBC)
The DOJ and SEC have both made it clear that they expect companies to be more robust in their use of data analytics in compliance programs. This means using data to not only detect and prevent illegal conduct but also in the remediation prong of any best practices compliance program as well through continuous improvement. In 2019, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matthew Miner said in a speech that the DOJ will inquire whether compliance departments have access to internal data that could help them identify misconduct and whether compliance officers make adequate use of data analytics in their reviews of companies under investigation. Since at least 2016 in the FCPA enforcement action involving Key Energy Services, Inc., the SEC has been communicating to compliance professionals of the need for increased use of data and data analytics in any compliance program.
The bottom line is that it is not if but when you begin to incorporate corporate information into your compliance program to make your compliance program more efficient and your business process run more effectively. My suggestion is that you begin now to identify the data you have access to and the data to which you currently do not have access. Find a way to bridge that gap.
Three key takeaways:
- DOJ pronouncements mandate CCO availability to and use of data.
- Data can be an actionable solution across geographic and business lines.
- Use data as a business strategy.
For more information, check out The Compliance Handbook, 4th edition, here.
Categories
Episode 032–William Reed
On this episode of The Ethics Experts, Gio welcomes William Reed, who educates us on the history of ethics within the samurai.
Check out more episodes, and don’t forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform!
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The FinCen Papers
In this podcast, I am joined by Piero Molinario, Senior Managing Director, Head of Financial Crimes Risk and Compliance for EMEA for K2 Intelligence FIN and Joanne Taylor, Managing Director, K2 Intelligence FIN who works with clients investigations and financial crime compliance, including fraud risk management, anti-bribery and corruption, regulatory enforcement, and fraud investigations. Both are located in London. We take a deep dive into the FinCen Papers.
Some of the highlights include:
- What are the FinCen Papers?
- What is the significance of their release?
- Does this release hurt financial institutions?
- Does it hurt the regulators?
- Do the FinCEN Papers show there is more work to be done?
- Are there any positive takeaways from the release of the FinCEN papers?
For more information on K2 Intelligence FIN, check out their website here.
For additional reading see the white paper, The FinCEN Files Impatiently Bypasses Government Entities Responsible for Acting on SARs Filings.
See also the following policy, Policy Alert: ICIJ Leaked SAR Investigation Highlights Opportunity for BSA/AML Reform, 25 September 2020
In today’s edition of Sunday Book Review:
- Big Dirty Money by Jennifer Taub
- Great Tax Wars by Steven Weismann
- Perfectly Legal by David Cay Johnson
- The Pale King by David Foster Wallace