Tag: Christian Perez-font

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31 Days to More Effective Compliance Programs

One Month to a More Effective Compliance Program Through Data Analytics – Day 15: Data Analytics – Fuel that Powers Both Law and Compliance

Data analytics is revolutionizing the field of law and compliance, providing valuable insights and enhancing effectiveness. Data analytics is often referred to as the fuel that moves the compliance engine. It provides the necessary insights to make informed decisions and drive compliance programs effectively. By analyzing data, compliance professionals can gain a deeper understanding of their organization, such as the number of employees per region, which can inform communication strategies and training initiatives. Simply put, to become a better compliance professional, you must become a better businessperson.  This underscores the importance of understanding the business context and using data analytics as a tool to drive compliance efforts.

Data analytics is of utmost importance in the field of law and compliance. It provides valuable insights, enhances effectiveness, and drives compliance programs. Compliance professionals must strive to become better businesspeople and understand the role of data analytics as the fuel that moves the compliance engine. By leveraging data analytics, law firms like Thinkeen can offer innovative solutions for complex transactions. However, education and awareness about the importance of data analytics are still needed to fully harness its potential. Balancing tradeoffs and addressing challenges associated with data analytics are crucial for successful implementation. Ultimately, data analytics is a powerful tool that can transform the way laws and compliance are approached, leading to more effective and efficient outcomes.

Three key takeaways:

1. Data analytics is often referred to as the fuel that moves the compliance engine.

2. We need more education and awareness about the importance of understanding data so that you can extract the right information

3. Data analytics is a powerful tool that can transform the way laws and compliance are approached, leading to more effective and efficient outcomes.

For more information on KonaAI, click here.

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The ESG Report

The Legal Side of ESG with Christian Perez Font


 
Christian Perez Font has appeared on many of Tom Fox’s podcasts. He is the managing partner of Thinkeen Legal, a revolutionary law firm that specializes in corporate and commercial law, domestic and cross-border transactions, and compliance with a focus on startups, and small and mid-sized companies. He specializes in using data to help clients do traditional legal tasks. Thinkeen Legal’s main focus is the healthcare industry. In this episode, Christian and Tom discuss organizations’ legal approach to ESG. 
 

 
Compliance Through The ESG Lens
Tom asks Christian how he approaches M&A and compliance from an ESG perspective. Christian responds that when he looks at data and legal projects, he thinks about the data from two perspectives. “First you need to think of data as fuel because it’s what keeps your compliance cycle going on, your business cycle going on; but also as a measure of progress towards a certain goal.” The same goes for a company’s ESG program, he says. He explains that it is crucial to have fixed goals for each part of your ESG program as well as a way to measure your progress toward those goals. In an ESG program, you may have to analyze large sums of data in some cases, and in other cases the data may be very limited. He tells Tom, “When we talk about data in the governance side of things, you’re probably going to have fewer amounts of data to track than if you’re thinking about social responsibility.” 
 
The Nexus Between Healthcare Compliance and ESG
Thinkeen Legal is known for its work in the healthcare compliance industry, so Tom asks how data, healthcare, compliance, and ESG intersect. Christian explains that there’s a big intersection of ESG and compliance on the social responsibility side and governance sides.  He remarks, “When looking at acquisition as an investor, one of the things you want to look at is the social responsibility program to know if this is the company you want to invest in from a corruption standpoint… In the healthcare sector, we’ve seen some companies use social responsibility initiatives for improper purposes.” Therefore, he advises that good asset management – which is a part of a governance system – can provide you with useful information from a compliance perspective about what is happening in relation to ESG in the company. 
 
ESG and Data Analytics 
Tom asks Christian about the importance of ESG audits and the importance of the data you collect. Christian replies that auditors play a crucial role in data tacking by having to intimately understand the trends the company is tracing. “Data analytics and tracking play a major role in business acquisitions,” he points out. “Know as much as you can about the other. Understand the company’s ESG program and have a clear grasp of its social responsibility and environmental footprint.”
 
Resources 
Christian Perez Font | LinkedIn | Twitter 
Thinkeen Legal | Twitter | Instagram  
 

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The ESG Compliance Podcast

ESG Through a Legal Lens with Christian Perez-Font


Christian Perez-Font has one of the most unique law practices I’ve come across.
We spoke at a conference around three years ago, and we’ve kept in touch since then. I’ve had him come on several podcasts to talk about his analytical and data-driven approach to legal issues in the world of ESG.
Watch ▶️ ESG Through a Legal Lens with Christian Perez-Font
Key points discussed in the episode:
✔️ Christian Perez-Font gives us a background on his professional experience – a lawyer by trade who sees compliance as business support. He also defines the mantra of his company, Thinkeen Legal.
✔️ The right perspective going into data tracking and analyzing – seeing data as fuel for your business and a measure of progress.
✔️ The intersection of ESG and compliance in social responsibility and governance.
✔️ Manufacturing companies are cognizant of the environmental aspect of ESG. However, “E” goes beyond companies with plants subjected to carbon footprint regulation.
✔️ Data analytics is all about utilizing and presenting relevant data.
Don’t be the Instagram of corporations. You don’t have to publish every number for investors to avoid the threat of transparency.
✔️ Track political contributions. Talk about diversity.
✔️ There are no a-ha moments in data tracking. Don’t wait for the trends to pass. Start now, then it’ll be easier to spot any spikes or changes so you can quickly make adjustments to your ESG program.
✔️ Data shouldn’t be used to prove how good a company is. It should be to learn and know if you’re on the right track.
✔️ The role of the auditor in data tracking.
✔️Data analytics and tracking play a major role in business acquisitions. Know as much as you can about the other. Understand the company’s ESG program and have a clear grasp of its social responsibility and environmental footprint.
✔️ Trade sanctions and trade compliance have become a huge part of data analysis in ESG.
✔️Using data visualization to convince your board that the ability to present information is a valuable asset.
✔️Changing policies isn’t a sign of weakness but of progress.
Christian Perez-Font is the managing partner of Thinkeen Legal, a law firm that specializes in corporate and commercial law, domestic and cross-border transactions, and compliance with a focus on startups, small and mid-sized companies. His company has experience in many industries but we are particularly strong in healthcare. They also offer outside general counsel services to clients who are not yet ready to hire an in-house counsel or those in need of a secondment while they fill a position. They have significant external and in-house legal experience having worked for premier firms and multinational companies such as Arnold & Porter, Baker & McKenzie, Baxter International, Olympus Corporation, and OPKO Health, Inc. They have been clients so they understand that Legal is a business support function.
His aim is to add value by delivering simple and pragmatic business advice with a legal content.

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ComTech

Where is Your Data? with Christian Perez Font


 
Thinkeen Legal is not your typical law firm, and on this week’s episode of ComTech, Valerie Charles and Tom Fox are talking to founder Christian Perez Font about exactly why that is, and what makes the firm so unique in the industry.
Christian started his career in more traditional, transactional law, but found compliance practices to be uniquely interesting and satisfying, so he built a law practice to provide businesses with the type of information they need to confidently make decisions. He says that Thinkeen Legal “[doesn’t] provide legal advice, we provide business advice with legal confidence.”

Understanding the Data Lifecycle
Valerie points out that it’s great when you can buy data off the shelf – it’s cheaper than creating your own, and is reliable – but there are always going to be situations where industry and company-specific situations mean you need to generate your own. Whether you source data externally or internally, you need to understand what data is and what it means to make good business decisions based on it.
Critical to this process is understanding the lifecycle of data – where it resides in an organization and the different systems it goes through. Data analysis is an evolution and Tom believes that companies should be looking at finding and extracting the data as a business process. Christian points out that the first, most foundational thing you need to do is understand what data is, and what data you need to inform your business decisions and compliance programs.
Looking Towards the Future
Valerie asks what companies need to begin thinking about to prepare for 2025 and beyond, and Christian shares what he thinks: that we need to understand data better – the lifecycle, where it resides, extracting and applying it, and investing in the resources that will be required to do all of it. Further, he believes that compliance teams are going to need to be truly cross-functional to be effective. This isn’t restricted to just compliance but applies to the whole business sector. More teamwork is needed.
 
Resources
Christian Perez Font on LinkedIn
ThinkeenLegal.com

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Innovation in Compliance

Data as Fuel with Christian Perez-Font


Christian Perez Font is the founder of Thinkeen Legal, a law firm that uniquely incorporates data analytics, compliance and law. He began his career as a corporate attorney and in 2008 joined Baxter International, a multinational healthcare company, as in-house counsel. When he joined Baxter, his work was 10% compliance-related and 90% business-related, but by the time he left 5 years later, he was doing 65% compliance work. The key to becoming a better compliance professional, he proposes, is to become a better business person. He and host Tom Fox discuss the importance of data in compliance and in business.
Listen to the Episode:

Data as Fuel
When people think about Data Analytics they imagine some form of AI that’s going to automatically pinpoint problems. Christian says that the truth is that Data Analytics has to be at the core of compliance: data is the fuel that powers the compliance engine. It’s the data that will tell you how you should be communicating compliance policies and doing training so that you can achieve your business goals. Most of the data that is used for compliance purposes is already there from the business side; you just need to understand how to aggregate it, how to look for it and how to plug it in. You have to understand your industry and your company goals before you start collecting that data.
How Thinkeen Uses Data 
Tom asks how Thinkeen Legal uses its data proficiency in mergers and acquisitions, transactional work and compliance. Christian shares how his company used its data expertise to advise clients in cross border transactions. Because we know where the touchpoints are, he says, we’re able to incorporate them into the due diligence process and ask the right questions and get the right information. They can identify areas of risk which helps their clients decide whether to proceed with an acquisition. Christian finds that general counsels are becoming savvier about compliance and they appreciate that his firm gives them advice and support.
The Future of Data and Compliance
The intersection of law, data and compliance will continue to evolve, Christian predicts. He is happy that the importance of Data Analytics is being acknowledged. If you don’t have the right data, you won’t get the right information, without which you can’t make the best business decisions. In addition, a big part of what we do with data is benchmarking, Christian says. The more information that we can share in the industry, the better.
Resources
ThinkeenLegal.com
Thinkeen Legal on Twitter | Instagram
Christian Perez Font on LinkedIn