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Daily Compliance News

Daily Compliance News: May 22, 2023 – The Unexpected Consequences Edition

Welcome to the Daily Compliance News. Each day, Tom Fox, the Voice of Compliance, brings you compliance-related stories to start your day. Sit back, enjoy a cup of morning coffee, and listen to the Daily Compliance News. All from the Compliance Podcast Network. Each day we consider four stories from the business world, compliance, ethics, risk management, leadership, or general interest for the compliance professional.

Stories we are following in today’s edition:

  • Uber DEI head put on leave for ‘insensitivity’. (NYT)
  • Some unexpected consequences from mass layoffs. (FT)
  • DeSantis tries to disqualify a federal judge. (Reuters)
  • Epstein threatened to blackmail Bill Gates over an affair. (WSJ)
Categories
FCPA Compliance Report

Ethics Madness 2023

Welcome to the award-winning FCPA Compliance Report, the longest-running podcast in compliance. This episode was recorded during March Madness, the return of Jason Meyer and Tom For Ethics Madness. In Ethics Madness, dive into the ethical questions surrounding the University of Alabama basketball team and their missteps in handling incidents involving their players. In this exciting podcast, the hosts discuss the possibility of redemption for individuals who have committed past indiscretions and how companies must vet their employees for a better work environment. They also cover topics such as mental health, the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, and how companies should embrace ESG for a better business process. You’ll also hear insightful interviews with professionals on compliance and ethics education and enjoy fun segments like the Compliance Anthem of the Week. Don’t miss out on this amazing podcast that will inspire and educate compliance and ethics professionals. 

Key Highlights

·      Ethics in Sports: University of Alabama Basketball

·      Can you love art but not artists?

·      Redemption for unethical behavior in sports

·      The Power of Forgiveness & Reputation Management in Sports

·      Mental health in the compliance profession

·      Political Pressure on DEI Programs in the Southern States

·      Fostering DEI in Organizations

·      Core values and politics in universities & ESG betting

·      ESG in Energy Business Processes

·      Ivy League success in March Madness

·      Professional skepticism and NCAA tournament predictions

 Notable Quotes

“Should I feel guilty that I put the tide in my bracket?”

“Even energy companies are doing ESG. Why? Because they see it in their self-interest.”

“Spending more time and more attention now helping organizations with including and engaging with the neurodivergent people in their workforces and trying to involve those workers in ethics compliance, and that’s been fascinating work as well.”

“And to me, Tom, this debate feels like a debate at the core of ethics and compliance because this is an example of some core values.”

Resources

Jason Meyer on LinkedIn

The Eight Mindsets Podcast on Spotify

Tom Fox

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

LinkedIn

Categories
Daily Compliance News

August 12, 2022 the Boston Wants Data edition

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • Robinhood must face the music. (Reuters)
  • City of Boston to require diversity data in private construction projects. (Bloomberg)
  • Food prices as a compliance risk. (WSJ)
  • China investigates chip manufacturers for corruption. (FT)
Categories
Blog

Farewell to Lt. Uhura

The Star Trek world and family lost one of its dearest members on Sunday with the passing of Nichelle Nichols, Lt. Nyota Uhura. George Takei spoke for many of us when he wrote on Twitter, “For today, my heart is heavy, my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend.” The role of Lt. Uhuru was truly ground-breaking for television in the 1960s; a black woman was an officer of a naval ship (well OK combined services); manning a key role on the executive leadership team of the Starship Enterprise. For a television show which premiered only a couple of years after the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, her role was almost revolutionary.

Indeed, as noted by Jake Tapper on Twitter, perhaps her biggest fan was Dr. Martin Luther King. After the first season of the show, she was considering leaving but reconsidered after meeting Dr. King at an NAACP fundraiser. She said he introduced himself as a fan and grew visibly horrified when she explained her desire to abandon her role, one of the few non-servile parts for Blacks on television. Nichols told Entertainment Tonight, “Because of Martin, I looked at work differently. There was something more than just a job.” As reported in The Hollywood Reporter, “He told me that Star Trek was one of the only shows that his wife Coretta and he would allow their little children to stay up and watch,” she recalled. “I thanked him and I told him I was leaving the show. All the smile came off his face and he said, ‘You can’t do that. Don’t you understand, for the first time, we’re seen as we should be seen? You don’t have a Black role. You have an equal role.’ “I went back to work on Monday morning and went to Gene’s office and told him what had happened over the weekend. And he said, ‘Welcome home. We have a lot of work to do.’ Said Roddenberry in the documentary, “I was pleased that in those days, when you couldn’t even get Blacks on television, that I not only had a Black but a Black woman and a Black officer.””

Adam Bernstein, writing in the Washington Post, said, “Nichelle Nichols, an actress whose role as the communications chief Uhura in the original “Star Trek” franchise in the 1960s helped break ground on TV by showing a Black woman in a position of authority and who shared with co-star William Shatner one of the first interracial kisses on American prime-time television.” He went on to say, “On the bridge of the starship Enterprise, in a red minidress that permitted her to flaunt her dancer’s legs, Ms. Nichols stood out among the otherwise all-male officers. Uhura was presented matter-of-factly as fourth in command, exemplifying hopeful future when Blacks would enjoy full equality.”

On the subject of that kiss, the first inter-racial kiss went to Sammy Davis, Jr. and Nancy Sinatra but was simply a “peck on the cheeks.” Her kiss with Shatner was anything but a peck on the cheek. Bernstein wrote, “Her most prominent “Star Trek” moment came in a 1968 episode, “Plato’s Stepchildren,” about a group of “superior” beings who use mind control to make the visiting Enterprise crew submit to their will. They force Kirk and Uhura, platonic colleagues, to kiss passionately.” But if you watch the episode, I as recently did for its upcoming treatment on my podcast series Trekking Through Compliance, you will see that it is something very different than a passionate kiss, as it was forced onto the characters of Kirk and Uhura by beings who controlled their minds. In rewatching the entire episode, it is a troubling episode with this kiss perhaps the most troubling seen.

The Hollywood Reporter said of that kiss, “When NBC execs learned about the kiss during production, they feared stations in the Southern states would not air the episode, so they ordered that another version of the scene be filmed. But Nichols and Shatner purposely screwed up every additional take. Finally, the guys in charge relented: ‘To hell with it. Let’s go with the kiss,” Nichols wrote in her 1994 book, Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories. “I guess they figured we were going to be canceled in a few months anyway. And so the kiss stayed.”

Even though Star Trek, the Original Series went off the air in 1969, “Nichols’s continued association with Uhura at Trekkie conventions led to a NASA contract in 1977 to help recruit women and minorities to the nascent space shuttle astronaut corps.” Nichols said of that recruiting effort, “I went everywhere. I went to universities that had strong science and engineering programs. I was a guest at NORAD [the North American Aerospace Defense Command], where no civilian had gone before. “At the end of the recruitment, NASA had so many highly qualified people. They took six women, they took three African-American men … it was a very fulfilling accomplishment for me.”

In many ways, the fight for equality that Nichols participated in is still ongoing. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is under attack in many states across the nation, with states such as Florida and Texas considering legislation which prevents companies from DEI initiatives such as those by pioneers such as Nichols.

Sunday, we lost another pioneer in the fight for DEI and social justice but from a very different world from Nichols. That pioneer was Bill Russell, and his world was sports. Please join me tomorrow when I pay tribute to Russell.

Categories
Innovation in Compliance

Compliance Insights from Traliant: Episode 3-Maggie Smith with a Spotlight on DEI


Welcome to a special five-part podcast series on compliance insights, sponsored by Traliant. Over this series, we will discuss key issues that Traliant is helping to lead and define the online training industry going forward. Over this five-part series, I will visit with  John Arendes, CEO of the company, on what is new at New Traliant and what the DOJ has communicated to the compliance community regarding its expectations around online training and communications; Maggie Smith, Vice President of Human Resources at Traliant on the role of DEI in your corporate ESG program; and Scott Schneider, Head of Content Development at Traliant on your Code of Conduct and anti-corruption training. In this episode 3, I visit with Maggie Smith, VP for Human Resources at Traliant and we discuss the intersection of diversity equity inclusion  and compliance. Highlights include:

  • DEI is much more than anti-discrimination/anti-harassment.
  • How do you bring in inclusion to an organization and why is it so important?
  • It’s all about trust to drive a speak-up culture.
  • The role of DEI in ESG.

Resources
Traliant Website
Maggie Smith on LinkedIn

Categories
Blog

DEI and Compliance

Welcome to a special five-part blog post series on the New Traliant, sponsored by Traliant, LLC. Over this series, we will discuss key issues that Traliant is helping to lead and define the online training industry in going forward. I will visit with John Arendes, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), on what is new at Traliant and what the Department of Justice (DOJ) has communicated to the compliance community regarding its expectations around online training and communications; Maggie Smith, Vice President of Human Resources, on the role of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in your corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) program; and Scott Schneider, Head of Content Development, on your Code of Conduct and anti-corruption training. In Episode 3, I visit with Maggie Smith to discuss the intersection of DEI and compliance.
Smith began that DEI in the workplace is a step past non-discrimination and it is seen as taking things beyond simply “checking the box” to follow the law. She believes the business argument for DEI is that a diverse team allows for better problem solving, better decision-making, more innovation, creativity, and ultimately more success. It is also about ensuring that your organization is about “accepting diverse workers and making them feel included.”
She sees inclusion as one step beyond diversity. She described it as “we’re having this party, we will invite you to the party, but inclusion is, do you want to join us and dance at this party?” A company can have this type of approach to creating a diverse and inclusive culture by considering all the processes that DEI touch. At Traliant one of the ways the organization does so is making sure that we hire not for just a culture fit, and by bringing in different people and then making sure that we’re giving them a voice throughout the process throughout their entire employment. Smith went on to explain that DEI goes beyond a ‘culture fit’ by creating a ‘culture ad’. She noted that culture fit could really be a mirror of our biases, as we are comfortable around people who share our demographics, our same socioeconomic background identities. It could be termed as a “mini-me”. Culture ad moves you to considering “what can this person add to our culture instead of simply asking do they fit into our current culture?”
Smith went to say that by using such an approach you can also facilitate a true speak-up culture at your organization. The power is that you get so many great ideas that may be overlooked. But you have to build trust. Your organization must really work hard to consistently create a psychologically safe workspace where people will feel comfortable speaking up. You can begin with an anonymous inbox, where employees could message through a website that preserves their anonymity with any questions. From there you can move to town hall meetings where employees are trustful enough to raise questions.
If questions are raised, the HR Department or compliance function needs to promptly review and potentially investigate a matter. From there, you should take corrective actions when needed and you absolutely must close the feedback loop with employees. Even if the response to a suggestion is that it cannot be implemented now, employees will respect your speak-up process. Smith termed it “closing the feedback loop.”
It is this entire system of feedback, from employee to employer and back, creating a system of trust which can be such a powerful driver of culture in an organization, through embracing DEI. This system of trust allows someone to literally raise their hand and speak up. From there, employees trust that their comments will be fairly evaluated and trust the company to use that information. Whether it is an investigation or looking at doing something a different way, an employee has trusted that the people who were told will get back to them in some form. This creates a dialogue that can be ongoing to benefit the entire organization.
Join us for our next episode where we look at Code of Conduct training.
Check out the full podcast with Maggie Smith here.

Categories
Great Women in Compliance

Ann Sultan – Diversity as a Regulatory Issue

Welcome to the Great Women in Compliance Podcast, co-hosted by Lisa Fine and Mary Shirley.

Today Lisa speaks with Ann Sultan, Partner and Practice Lead for the Europe-Caucasus-Asia Practice Group at Miller & Chevalier. Ann helps multinational companies build their compliance programs and conduct global investigations to support their anti-corruption, anti-harassment, and anti-discrimination objectives.

Ann has spent most of her career in law firms and talks about how she built her practice and career, noting how the support of more senior women at Miller & Chevalier was impactful in her career growth. Lisa and Ann also discuss the topic of diversity as a regulatory issue, and how the NASDAQ guidance on this topic and the UK FCA statements make this even more clear.

Ann also contributed to “Sending the Elevator Back Down: What We’ve Learned From Great Women in Compliance,” (CCI Press 2020), and Lisa and Mary will be guests at the Seven Elements Book Club on May 11 on Zoom to discuss the book. Please message them if you would like to know more.

Are you attending Compliance Week’s annual conference? The GWIC team of Lisa, Tom, and Mary will all be speaking and look forward to saying hello to listeners of Compliance Podcast Network listeners in DC!

Corporate Compliance Insights is a much-appreciated sponsor and supporter of GWIC. You can subscribe to the Great Women in Compliance podcast on any podcast player by searching for it and we welcome new subscribers to our podcast.

Join the Great Women in Compliance community on LinkedIn here.

Categories
This Week in FCPA

Episode 299 – the Yankees Cheated and Lost edition


The Yankees cheated and lost. The Astros and Red Sox cheated and won. What’s the lesson? Tom and Jay are back to look at some of the week’s top compliance and ethics stories.
 Stories

  1. More on using behavioral psych to make compliance changes. Vera Cherepanova in the FCPA Blog.
  2. Tackling money-laundering in real estate transactions? Ella Hawkins in GAB.
  3. Archegos founder indicted for fraud. Jaclyn Jaeger in Compliance Week. (sub req’d)
  4. Testing culture. Dylan Tokar in WSJ Risk and Compliance Journal.
  5. Renewed need for Board oversight of compliance. Mike Peregrine in CCI.
  6. Economic sanctions now national security issue. Dylan Tokar in WSJ Risk and Compliance Journal.
  7. Why compliance is a competitive advantage. Navex’s Risk and Compliance Matters.
  8. Toll Holdings and export control compliance failures? Matt Kelly in Radical Compliance.
  9. Boards making decisions under a stakeholder model. Robert Miller in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance.
  10. What to measure in DEI. Ngozi Okeh in practicalESG.

 Podcasts and More

  1. How can baking cookies get your through grief? Find out on this episode of The Hill Country Podcast as Kerrville Cookie Lady, Julia Cardoshinsky talks about her lifelong love affair with baking cookies.
  2. What is the only podcast dedicated to the intersection of Compliance and ESG? It’s the Compliance ESG Podcaston the CPN. Check out this week’s episode with Travis Miller and Jared Connors of Assent Compliance on the role of Supply Chain in ESG. For your added viewing pleasure check out the video pod on YouTube.
  3. This month on the Compliance Life, I visit with Susan Divers, Director of Thought Leadership at LRN. In Part 1, academic life and early professional career. In Part 2, she moves to the corporate world. In Part 3, Susan moves into the CCO chairs at AECOM. In the final episode this month, Part 4, Susan details her move to and work at LRN.
  4. Why should you attend Compliance Week 2022? Find out in this podcast series featuring speakers at CW 2022. Listeners get a $200 discount to CW 2022 with the discount code TFLAW $200 OFF. Registration and agenda here.
  5. From the Editor’s Desk welcomes the new Compliance Editor in Chief, Kyle Brasseur to the podcast. Check out Kyle’s inaugural episode here.

Tom Fox is the Voice of Compliance and can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com. Jay Rosen is Mr. Monitor and can be reached at jrosen@affiliatedmonitors.com.

Categories
Great Women in Compliance

Hemma Ramrattan Lomax – The Art of Compliance

Welcome to the Great Women in Compliance Podcast, co-hosted by Lisa Fine and Mary Shirley.

One of the interesting things about ethics & compliance as a field is that we look at ethical decision-making and policies and working to be innovative and approachable.  In today’s episode Lisa speaks with Hemma Ramrattan Lomax,  Senior Corporate Counsel, Integrity and Compliance at Snap, Inc.   As you may have heard last week with Nicole Diaz, Snap is doing exactly with their Code of Conduct and how they center so many things around their core value of kindness.   Hemma elaborates on this and the career she has built through the art of integrity.

When she was younger, Hemma’s goal was to be the first female Secretary General of the UN (which still has not happened), and Hemma talks about how this brought her into law as she grew up in the UK, to deciding to come to the US to work for the SEC, and eventually to Snap.  She mentions how her work now relates to her earlier goals, and that radical curiosity is what keeps her career and interests evolving.

To Hemma, the “art of integrity” has guided her career interests, and how we can all do that to make impactful changes, whether it is in our communities, in DEI, or in other ways.

The Great Women in Compliance Podcast is on the Compliance Podcast Network with a selection of other Compliance related offerings to listen in to. If you are enjoying this episode, please rate it on your preferred podcast player to help other likeminded Ethics and Compliance professionals find it. You can also find the GWIC podcast on Corporate Compliance Insights where Lisa and Mary have a landing page with additional information about them and the story of the podcast. Corporate Compliance Insights is a much appreciated sponsor and supporter of GWIC, including affiliate organization CCI Press publishing the related book; “Sending the Elevator Back Down, What We’ve Learned from Great Women in Compliance” (CCI Press, 2020).

You can subscribe to the Great Women in Compliance podcast on any podcast player by searching for it and we welcome new subscribers to our podcast.

Join the Great Women in Compliance community on LinkedIn here.

Categories
The ESG Report

The Business Case for DEI with Kuma Roberts


 
The need for diversity, equity, and inclusion is obvious, but what does that mean from a corporate perspective? Tom Fox sits down with Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Kuma Roberts for a conversation about DEI in organizations and the all-round benefits that these values offer. 
 

 
The Business Advantages of DEI 
“Companies absolutely understand the business case for diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Kuma states, citing the rise in the CEO Action Network, as well as smaller chambers of commerce pushing to join the fight, as well. She believes that the corporate world has transitioned from it being the right thing to do, to being the smart and most profitable thing to do. 
Defining DEI
Everyone understands diversity; it’s all the ways we differ. Equity refers to the access and opportunity for people who have been most disadvantaged. For Kuma, inclusion is when a variety of people have voice, power, and decision-making authority. 
DEI Insurance Policy 
We think of safety in organizations as something inherent and traditional. When considering diversity and inclusion as part of your organization’s culture, you create an insurance policy that ensures you will remain relevant, valuable, and sustainable for years to come. 
Utilizing Soft Skills 
Kuma gives a lot of credit to soft skills in her personal life. She speaks, from a corporate perspective, about the necessity of actively working with students to help them to understand important skills that will benefit them later on in the world of work. 
The Significance of Data 
When seeking out inequities across their communities, Kuma’s clients make use of various sources to aid them in understanding where there’s inequity, and how their organization can make an impact. ‘Learn to leverage data as a flashlight,’ is a phrase she loves, preferring to highlight areas where there are opportunities for improvement, rather than using data as a way to punish or vilify. 
RESOURCES 
Tom Fox’s email
Kuma Roberts | LinkedIn | Twitter