Tag: ESG

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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

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Compliance Into the Weeds

COSO Framework for Sustainability Controls and Reporting

The award winning, 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, join Tom and Matt as they discuss a new sustainability framework that companies can use to improve their sustainability efforts. The document emphasizes the importance of data governance and using a recognized control framework for effective financial reporting, similar to COSO. The hosts explore the challenges of collecting and managing sustainability data, while highlighting the need for organizations to have a Chief Data Governance Officer and an in-house data committee. They discuss the importance of competent leadership, effective communication, and the role of vendors offering sustainability supporting solutions. Tune in to discover how the right oversight mechanisms can save organizations money by streamlining IT vendors and why sustainability data reporting is the new challenge of achieving Sarbanes Oxley compliance in the 2000s.

 Key Highlights

·      COSO Internal Control Framework for Sustainability Disclosures

·      Comparing Sustainability and Ethics/Compliance Frameworks

·      Challenges in Sustainability Data Collection

·      Importance of Data Governance in Large Enterprises

 Notable Quotes

1.     “ESG and sustainable business information, on the other hand, tends to be longer term and more qualitative.”

2.     Revenue numbers are in dollar returns and carbon emissions are not.

3.    Radically different sorts of disclosures and data there, but you have to think through.

4.    You’re going to have to make sure that the data governance mechanisms you have? Do you have a Chief Data Governance Officer? Some organizations do. Do you have an in house data committee to think about are we collecting all of this data?

 Resources

Matt  on LinkedIn

Matt on Radical Compliance

Tom

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From the Editor's Desk

March and April 2023 in Compliance Week

Welcome to From the Editor’s Desk, a podcast where co-hosts Tom Fox and Kyle Brasseur, EIC at Compliance Week, unpack some of the top stories which have appeared in Compliance Week over the past month, look at top compliance stories upcoming for the next month, talk some sports and generally try to solve the world’s problems.

 From the Editor’s Desk, hosted by Tom Fox and Kyle Brasseur, is the perfect podcast to stay informed on the dynamic events of March 2023. They discuss the Department of Justice’s changes in the ECCP and the CCO compliance officer as well as look into the SEC and banking regulator’s roles during the SVP Bank failure. Kyle previews the upcoming long-form Compliance Week case study, which will take a deep dive into ESG in one company and conclude with a look into sports by reviewing the madness of 2023 March Madness, the issues surrounding Ja Morant, and Kyle’s deep appreciation for the World Baseball Classic, noting its ability to add diversity to the game and its positive impact on the baseball community as a whole.

 Highlights Include:

·      The Role of the Chief Compliance Officer in 2021: Navigating Changing Regulations and Increased Pressure.

·      Financial Regulatory Oversight In the Wake of the Dodd-Frank Act

·      The Role of the Chief Risk Officer in Risk Management

·      The Practical Uses of ESG Disclosures in Real Life

·      The Ups and Downs of March Madness: Unprecedented Success for Small Schools.

·      Reporting on Personal Hardships in Sports: The Case of Ja Morant and Josh Hamilton

·      The Power of Unity in Baseball: A Discussion on the Global Impact of the World Baseball Classic

·      The Appeal of the World Baseball Classic

 Kyle relates some of the upcoming Compliance Week 2023 Conference highlights from May 15-17 in Washington, DC. Listeners of this podcast will receive a discount of $200 by using code TF200 on the link below.

Resources

Compliance Week 2023 information and registration here

Kyle Brasseur on LinkedIn

Compliance Week

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Data Driven Compliance

Vince Walden on a Data Driven Approach to Sanctions and ESG

Data Driven Compliance, hosted by Tom Fox, is a podcast featuring an in-depth conversation around the uses of data and data analytics in compliance programs. In this episode, host Tom Fox visits Vince Walden from Kona AI to discuss data driven compliance and new areas of risk, such as trade AML and trade sanctions. Vince provides an example of a heavy equipment manufacturer using RFIDs on their products to monitor movement, and Tom warns of heavy fines for companies who fail to comply with prevailing sanctions. The conversation continues as Vince and Tom touch on topics such as ESG compliance, financial implications of green initiatives, and consortiums for sharing data. They also discuss how data analytics and text analytics can be used to track inventory and the importance of tracking energy spend to identify ESG-compliant vendors.

Key Highlights

·      Sanctions & trade compliance are the new FCPA.

·      Data-driven compliance for sanctions & trade compliance.

·      Data-driven ESG?

·      The cost of meeting ESG standards.

·      Economic benefits of sustainability.

·      Research with MIT and Integrity Distributed on the data sharing consortium.

Notable Quotes

“It’s not hard. Now they have to put the chips on, which is a variable.”

“You really have to mine the supply chain and use, you know, text analytics, text mining beyond just traditional accounting tools. To get into the weeds in that supply chain to find out where risks are located.”

“It’s funny. This is why I love our profession that we’re all in. It’s compliance and any fraud professionals, there’s always something new, always something changing.”

 “With a much broader overview. So you can see the big picture.”

 Resources

Vince Walden on LinkedIn

KonaAI

Categories
The ESG Report

Gareth Evans on Energy Transition

The ESG Report podcast is hosted by Tom Fox. In this episode, Tom is joined by Gareth Evans, founder of Veckta. Gareth Evans had always planned to be a fast jet pilot, but decided to pursue an environmental science degree instead. After working in the oil and gas industry for many years, he found himself in Iraq, doing liability assessments in areas with massive environmental issues. This experience inspired him to become the CEO of Veckta, an energy transition platform. He works to help businesses become more sustainable, reliable, and profitable by developing their own onsite energy systems. He encourages companies to respect the energy transition process and believes that by 2030 there will be a shift to a more distributed and secure form of energy.

Key Highlights

1. How can businesses use energy transition to become more profitable and sustainable?

2. What strategies can businesses use to reduce emissions and increase reliability, resilience, and security of their energy systems?

3. How can businesses leverage technology and brokering relationships to maximize their energy transition investments?

Notable Quotes

1.     “We can actually be sustainable and profitable these days with these systems. Having people who are thinking strategically about the long-term sustainability of their business and also ensuring that they are maintain and grow their profitability and have a differentiated position in their market is key.”

2.     “You can actually be sustainable and profitable these days with these systems.”

3.     “It’s not something that we can change overnight. We do need to really adapt with purpose and there’s ways of doing that and ensuring that we do drive that sustainable outcome.”

4.     “It’s important that we’re thinking about what is the worst-case scenario? What does it cost us? How do we factor that into our decision making?”

Resources

Gareth Evans on LinkedIn

Veckta

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The ESG Report

Luke Jacobs on Uncovering the Business Benefits of ESG Compliance

The ESG Report podcast is hosted by Tom Fox. In this episode, Tom is joined by Luke Jacobs, an expert in environmental and safety compliance and one of the founders of Encamp. Jacobs is a rising star in the Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) and ESG industry. In this episode, they discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with EHS and ESG compliance. Luke explains how Encamp provides technology solutions to help companies understand and comply with complex environmental regulations. Looking ahead, Luke outlines their plans to expand the platform to encompass global coverage over the next seven years. Tune into the ESG Report to learn more about the latest trends in EHS and ESG compliance.

Key Highlights

·       Managing Environmental Regulations for Businesses [00:03:57]

·       The Overlap Between EHS and ESG [00:07:40]

·        Regulatory Impact of Chemical Plant Explosions [00:11:13]

·       The Business Opportunities of Complying with RCRA and EPCRA [00:14:55]

·       Making Environmental Regulation Compliance More Efficient and Sustainable [00:18:25]

·       Compliance with US Regulations: A Look Ahead at the Next 7 Years[00:22:25]

Notable Quotes

1.     ” I think importantly to think about how we actually help our customers really is to understand the complexity of the problem that they face.”

2.     “It’s really a report that’s trying to make sure that anyone in the community knows what could actually pose a hazard in an emergency disaster response scenario from locations that are, you know, in their in their general area.”

3.     “I’d say particularly as far as implementing a systematic solution that allows for businesses to actually have an ongoing process, allows for long term business continuity and risk mitigation on required compliance events, and then ultimately having to pay the cost of potentially stoppage time at locations and really, you know, all of the negative press that could come about from having some sort of known violation.”

4.     “And then as far as ESG, I do think organizations that have goals that are tied to broader sustainability, waste minimization, increasing their ESG metrics  have the opportunity to mine into some of their environmental data to find opportunities to actually decrease their waste increase their recycling or their process efficiency so they actually can save money literally on not buying new product.”

Resources

Luke Jacobs on LinkedIn

Encamp

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The ESG Report

Towards a Unified Data Model for ESG with Luke Jacobs

Compliance with environmental regulations is not just a cost of doing business, but a business opportunity. This is the view of Luke Jacobs, the CEO and co-founder of Encamp, a software company that helps businesses track and manage ESG reporting needs. In this episode of the ESG Report, Jacobs explains how his company is creating a unified data layer that could revolutionize environmental reporting and ESG compliance in the next decade.

Luke Jacobs is the co-founder and CEO of Encamp, a software platform that helps companies maintain compliance with environmental regulations. With over a decade of experience in environmental compliance, Luke has a deep understanding of the challenges faced by businesses when it comes to regulatory compliance. Luke is committed to building a unified data layer that makes it easy for organizations to collect, aggregate and report on environmental data to regulatory bodies, with a long-term vision to expand Encamp’s reach to international jurisdictions. Under his leadership, Encamp is creating opportunities for businesses to turn regulatory compliance into a business advantage.

 

Key insights and takeaways:

  • Environmental compliance is a complex issue with federal, state, and local regulations adding layers of nuance.
  • Encamp’s software platform helps users track regulated facilities and compliance tasks, streamlining the compliance process.
  • By automating compliance data tracking and reporting, environmental teams can free up time to focus on sustainability goals and emerging regulations.
  • The data collected by EHS professionals can be a valuable asset for broader ESG reporting and analysis.
  • EHS professionals play a key role in any ESG solution and have the opportunity to increase the value they can drive into broader business initiatives.
  • ESG provides a holistic approach to business efficiency by looking at a company in a more comprehensive and data-driven way.
  • Tier 2 reporting is a set of regulations that mandates organizations holding hazardous materials over reporting quantities to collect, aggregate, and report data about their material inventories each year. It is filed by hundreds of thousands of facilities in the US each year and is used by first responders in emergency disaster response scenarios.
  • The end-to-end waste reporting system helps companies understand the waste they are producing across their entire organization at any given moment. It also enables companies to comply with regulations more easily and quickly, increase business efficiency, and align with sustainability goals.
  • Compliance with environmental regulations can be turned into a business opportunity, as it allows companies to increase efficiency and seize more market opportunities without being slowed down by antiquated processes.
  • In the next five to ten years, Encamp aims to build a unified data layer that sits between regulated organizations and regulatory bodies to make it easy to have a unified data model of environmental data. The company will also explore ways to tackle the reporting problem within ESG as ESG regulations continue to emerge and solidify.

 

KEY QUOTES:

“I do think part of this is actually turning what is viewed as a cost of doing business right now, which is maintaining compliance with your environmental regulations and using systems and technology to actually unlock efficiencies in that, so that you’re not only able to comply with all those regulations more easily and more quickly, you can actually serve the business more effectively as well.” – Luke Jacobs

 

“An emerging value driver in businesses that EHS teams are actually tapping into, is the data they’re working with is often actually some of the most useful data.” – Luke Jacobs

 

“Our end-to-end system more or less helps companies understand at each site in real-time what waste they are producing at that location.” – Luke Jacobs

 

Resources

Luke Jacobs at LinkedIn | Twitter | Email

Encamp

Categories
Daily Compliance News

February 23, 2023 – The Self-Disclosure 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 of Daily Compliance News:

  • US states seek to block ESG investing rules. (Reuters)
  • Judge allows Wexner subpoena by mail in Epstein lawsuit. (FT)
  • Ohio speaker alleged to have used bribes money to pay for physical assaults. (Ohio Capital Journal)
  • US attorneys want more self-disclosure. (Bloomberg)
Categories
The ESG Report

Practical ESG with Lawrence Heim

What is the role of ESG in shaping a sustainable future? Tom Fox and his special guest, Lawrence Heim, take an insightful journey into the principles and practice of ESG in this week’s show. Lawrence is a true advocate for ESG and shares his unique perspective and deep understanding of ESG and its role in shaping a sustainable future. 

Lawrence Heim is the editor of Practical ESG. He is a seasoned professional in the field of environmental sustainability; with a background in environmental compliance, technical consulting, non-financial auditing, and risk management, Lawrence has been at the forefront of the industry for over 30 years. His expertise and dedication have earned him a reputation as a leading voice in the ESG community. 

 

You’ll hear Tom and Lawrence discuss:

  • Practical ESG is a resource for ESG practitioners and the corporate community, providing practical and candid content analysis, and helping them understand complex issues.
  • Contributions cover a range of ESG topics, including climate issues, investor perspectives, and corporate culture management.
  • Lawrence is working on a blog about the recent SEC proposed rules for climate disclosure risk.
  • The ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board) just announced the creation of a working group with multiple regulatory agencies, including the SEC. The goal of the working group is to align ISSB standards with existing national frameworks.
  • Adoption of ISSB standards is not automatic; it must go through legal and administrative processes in each country. In the US, FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) is responsible for the convergence process.
  • The SEC proposed rules have received over 6000 public comments, most of which are form letters or from concerned citizens. Stakeholders are concerned about the complexity of the proposal and need more time to evaluate it.
  • There are three different categories in the proposed framework for measuring greenhouse gas emissions: Scope One (direct emissions from the company’s own equipment), Scope Two (emissions from energy purchased from third parties), and Scope Three (emissions embedded in the company’s supply chain).
  • The proposed SEC framework does not specify how to collect the data or interact with suppliers. Other established frameworks, such as Conflict Minerals, can be used as a reference to think about how to approach the collection of the data and interaction with suppliers.

 

KEY QUOTE:

“…just because IFRS adopts a standard or develops a standard, that doesn’t mean that it is automatically established as a regulatory standard. These countries, as with anything else, individual countries have got to go through their legal and administrative processes to implement them and make them enforceable within their own boundaries, their own jurisdiction.” – Lawrence Heim

 

Resources

Lawrence Heim on LinkedIn | Email

Practical ESG

Categories
FCPA Compliance Report

Alastair Parr on New Developments in TPRM

Welcome to the award-winning FCPA Compliance Report, the longest running podcast in compliance. In this special episode, I am joined by Alastair Parr, SVP of Global Products & Delivery at Prevalent to discuss developments in third-party risk management.

In this episode we consider:

  • Why is a comprehensive 3rd risk management solution not simply a nice to have but a must to have now?
  • Why is 3rd party risk management so much critical after the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
  • Improving the UX for TPRM.
  • Why has simplifying the UX for TPRM eluded most providers so far?
  • How can the UX be improved so the information which is the most vital and most relevant is captured and more importantly can be actioned?
  • How can the process of obtaining TPRM information to implementing controls to manage the risk be improved?
  • How can companies automate data gathering by using a single targeted assessment by building in targeted compliance mappings for legal or regulatory requirements?
  • Other areas of compliance such as modern slavery and human trafficking?
  • Do you see continued evolution of 3rd party risk management into 2025 and beyond?

Resources

Alastair Parr on LinkedIn

Prevalent

Being a Compliance Officer is Awesome on Amazon.com