In Part 1, we consider the role of state AGs as enforcers of civil law and in bringing litigation to enforce consumer protect and related statutes. Every US state and territory has an AG, whose role is to serve as the chief legal advisor for that state. State AGs are empowered to prosecute violations of state law, represent the state and its employees when sued, and usually to provide legal advice to state agencies and to the state legislature. But its most important and most challenging role may be the right to bring litigation – to file suit – in the name of the state.
Listen is on the WTO’s prediction of global trade trends vis-a-vis COVID-19, some points to think about when looking at licensing agreements and how to file rejected transactions reports with OFAC.
Welcome to the newest addition to the Compliance Podcast Network, Compliance and Coronavirus. As the Voice of Compliance, I wanted to start a podcast which will help to bring both clarity and sanity to the compliance practitioner and compliance profession during this worldwide health and healthcare crisis. In this episode, I am joined by Ben Wolf, Founder of Wolf’s Edge Consulting. We discuss how companies and compliance professionals need to think about the manner in which they will do business in the new 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and thereafter. What will be your new normal?
Welcome to the Great Women in Compliance Podcast, co-hosted by Lisa Fine and Mary Shirley. In this episode, Mary Shirley visits with Fabiana Lacerca-Allen, the Senior Vice President of Compliance at Aimmune Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for potentially life-threatening food allergies. Practicing law and compliance for more than 25 years, Lacerca’s passion as a compliance leader stems from values instilled in her at an early age and have helped to shape her career path as a global thought leader in law and compliance.
We start the episode off with a bang as Fabiana recalls how her fascinating childhood informed her first lessons in Compliance. With three attempts made to kidnap her as a child, Fabiana is no stranger to the risk to physical safety and shares with us her tips for when she travels alone on business. Don’t miss the article Fabiana co-authored on this topic for more information: https://hispanicexecutive.com/self-defense-white-paper/
Fabiana also shares her approach to leadership and building a team around you – a tribe of people that you want to have with you throughout even the toughest of times – the people you’d be willing to have with you during a kidnapping – or Coronavirus lockdown! Relatedly, Mary and Fabiana discuss the concept of mentorship as a two way street and Fabiana discusses how she fosters her mentorship relationships to ensure that the benefits are maximized for both parties.
We end this episode with a nod to self-care and some surprising results of award programs in schools that can provide us with food for thought regarding Compliance program incentives.
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 podcast Matt Kelly and Tom Fox take a deep dive into the recent mandate from the CDC that CEOs, CCOs and CFOs certify and attest that each employee who disembarks from a cruise ship has met the CDC requirements to do so, under potential criminal penalty. Three cruise lines, Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Line have over 100,000 employees cooped up on ships in US ports. The CDC wants to make certain that when they come on land, it is safe for everyone.
Some of the highlights include:
- What are the CDC requirements?
- Why does the CDC want CEO, CCO and CFO attestation?
- Should these corporate leaders agree to do so?
- What is about the employees on the ships?
- Given that at least 100 cruise ships that set sail after March 4, the first day that a passenger died of Covid-19 while on a cruise stopping in the United States, is this warranted?
- What does it mean for potential liability going forward?
Resources
Matt Kelly blog post, Cruise Lines Face Covid-19 Compliance Squeeze
In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:
- Will Covid-19 finish the work of the Business Roundtable? (Bloomberg)
- What if you don’t want to return to work? (NYT)
- Mexico urges US to investigate US officials tied to corrupt Mexican government official. (Reuters)
- Yet another EY investigation in the UK. (The Guardian)
What is the value of having a Code of Conduct? I have heard many business folks ask that question over the years. In its early days, a Code of Conduct tended to be a lawyer-written and lawyer-driven document to wave in regulator’s face during an enforcement action by using it to claim, “we are an ethical company”. Is such a legalistic code effective? Is a Code of Conduct more than simply your company’s law? What is it that makes a Code of Conduct effective? What should be the goal in the creation of your company’s Code of Conduct?
How important is the Code of Conduct? Consider the 2016 SEC enforcement action involving United Airlines, Inc., which turned on violation of the company’s Code of Conduct. The breach of the code was determined to be a FCPA internal controls violation. It involved a clear quid pro quo benefit paid out by United to David Samson, the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the public government entity which has authority over, among other things, United Airlines operations at the company’s huge east coast hub at Newark, NJ.
The actions of United’s former CEO, Jeff Smisek, in personally approving the benefit granted to favor Samson violated the company’s internal controls around gifts to government officials by failing to not only follow the United Code of Conduct but also violating it. The $2.4 million civil penalty levied on United was in addition to United’s Non Prosecution Agreement resolution with the DOJ, which resulted in a penalty of $2.25 million. The scandal also cost the resignation of Smisek and two high-level executives from United.
Three key takeaways:
- Every formulation of a best practices compliance program starts with a written Code of Conduct.
- The substance of your Code of Conduct should be tailored to the company’s culture, and to its industry and corporate identity
- “Document, Document, Document” your training and communication efforts around your Code of Conduct.
Categories
Covid-19 and Global Trade
In this podcast episode, we take a look at recent import and export developments in the US and the EU, plus one update on anti-trust in response to the corona virus pandemic.
On this special bonus episode of The Ethics Experts, we speak with Compliance Evangelist Tom Fox about how organizations can think ahead to determine the compliance aftermath of COVID-19.
Check out more episodes, and don’t forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform!
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. This month, I visit with Ellen Hunt, Senior Vice President – Audit, Ethics & Compliance Officer. Ellen is a lawyer, ethics & compliance professional, and chief audit executive. She has extensive management experience in designing, implementing and operating ethics and compliance programs including board governance and reporting, designing ethics education, creating policy management frameworks, managing enterprise and compliance risk processes as well as handling investigations and regulatory inquiries. Utilizing AARP’s enterprise risk management profile, she re-designed how AARP conducts its annual audit planning process to identify audits that relate to the organization’s must significant risks and incorporated the use of data analytics into audit execution.
In this first episode, we discuss how to start the journey to the CCO chair. We consider what it means to be in the compliance profession. How do you think about a career in compliance? What are some of the skills you will need to move forward in compliance?