Tag: ESG

Categories
The ESG Report

Why Compliance Should Lead the Corporate ESG Effort with Kristy Grant-Hart

What does remodeling a home have to do with ESG? In this episode of the ESG Report, Tom Fox and Kristy Grant-Hart discuss the role of compliance in leading the ESG initiative within a corporation. Kristy, the founder of Spark Consulting, explains how compliance professionals can expand their role to lead the E, S and G components of ESG. She also shares her personal experience of remodeling her new home with her husband and how it relates to ESG.

Kristy Grant Hart is a well-known figure in the compliance field. She is the founder and CEO of Spark Consulting, a global compliance and ethics consultancy that recently celebrated its 6th anniversary. Spark Consulting now has locations in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and London. The company also recently released a business simulation game called Compliance Competitor, which has been picked up by many companies. Kristy has over 15 years of experience in compliance and governance, working with clients across multiple industries. She is also the author of four books, including How To Be A Wildly Effective Compliance Officer and The Compliance Entrepreneurs Handbook, which was written with Kirsten Liston and Joseph Murphy.

 

You’ll hear Tom and Kristy talk about:

  • ESG is a bridge between compliance, governance, and board relationships.
  • ESG can be a huge driver for change and reputation enhancement.
  • CCOs are skilled at bringing together people and putting programs into a framework, and this lends itself well to running a successful ESG program. 
  • The renewed focus on G (Governance) is a positive development, as better governance leads to more ethical behavior and compliance. Compliance has a relationship with the board, the Audit and Risk Committee, and it makes sense for compliance to expand its remit of reporting and talk about different stakeholders in different ways for better board management.
  • The push for gender diversity on boards is a step towards greater perspective and understanding of different stakeholders.
  • Supply chain management is an important aspect of the compliance function.
  • The June 2020 Update to the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs from the Department of Justice emphasizes the importance of institutional justice and fairness within corporations, which ties into ESG principles.
  • The compliance function and CCO must have access to all corporate data, not just compliance data, in order to effectively lead ESG efforts.
  • The S in ESG, which stands for social, encompasses issues such as diversity, equity and inclusion, and responsible sourcing in the supply chain.
  • The evolution of supply chain compliance and its integration into ESG efforts has been growing in recent years.
  • Compliance professionals already have a wide range of skills and experience that can be applied to leading E efforts within ESG. They have an important role to play, even if they are not experts in the field.
  • Remodeling a home can also be a valuable learning experience: her personal experience of learning new construction skills aligns with the idea that compliance professionals can learn and lead the E component of ESG.

 

KEY QUOTE: 

“I think that the more that we see diversity on boards, the better companies will do, but also the opportunities become more expansive and that’s something that I’m passionate about and feel that’s incredibly important. I also think compliance should have much more of a seat on boards.” – Kristy Grant Hart

 

Resources:

Kristy Grant-Hart on Website | LinkedIn | YouTube  

Kristy Grant-Hart books

Spark Compliance

Categories
Innovation in Compliance

Why Sustainability is the Business Opportunity with Richard Blundell

Tom’s guest on this week’s episode of Innovation in Compliance, Richard Blundell, discusses the risks and opportunities associated with growth in the insurance industry. They talk about how to finance a company’s growth by understanding its risks. Business financing is trending towards sustainability, and Tom and Richard explore how companies can access capital by implementing sustainable practices and strategies.

A global environmental services and technology consultant with over 35 years of experience, Richard Blundell has extensive experience in senior executive management and consulting. Mergers and acquisitions, corporate and market development, and operations management are among his areas of expertise. His experience includes launching new businesses and managing growth-stage businesses around the world. He is also an advisor to the Prince of Wales Accounting for Sustainability charity.

 

Here are some key points Tom and Richard talk about: 

  • Richard talks about his professional background and current role as an advisor on sustainability.
  • Richard believes that sustainability in business leads to lower costs, less waste, more resource efficiency, better quality jobs, better employee engagement, and more access to capital.
  • In addition to improving access to capital, sustainability can also improve performance in public markets, lower capital costs, and lower debt costs.
  • Richard highlights that materiality is a way for companies to determine priorities and goals for sustainability, decarbonization, and ESG by considering what is important for both the corporation and its stakeholders
  • Quoting Paul Wellman, Richard tells Tom that working toward social, environmental, and economic outcomes can invigorate and energize an organization.
  • Sustainability can be a life insurance policy for the planet.
  • Companies without decarbonization plans may not have access to financing from banks and other financial institutions as they do not understand the risks associated with growth and may not be seen as providing a benefit to society, Richard tells Tom.
  • Richard believes that the circular economy aims to eliminate waste by keeping inputs and outputs at their highest utility throughout their life cycle.
  • Companies like Interface and Nike are committed to sustainability and continue to innovate and stretch their targets as they learn more about driving efficiency and process in the decarbonization journey.

 

KEY QUOTE:

“If I am going to finance a company’s growth, I want to finance a company that’s in the insurance industry as well. I want to finance the company’s growth by understanding the risks associated with that growth.” – Richard Blundell

 

Resources 

Richard Blundell | LinkedIn

Categories
The ESG Report

Data Privacy and ESG with Dan Frechtling

Tom’s guest in this episode of the ESG Report is Dan Frechtling of Boltive, a company that helps keep the Internet safe from invasive media and enforces data privacy. Data privacy and cybersecurity are ESG issues because they are significant drivers of business risk and a growing concern among investors and CEOs. The public costs of poor corporate cybersecurity management are increasingly viewed as market failures.

Dan is the CEO of Boltive. His career began as a marketer, and he has spent years learning the power of marketing. Having experienced a significant event that changed his perspective about hyper-targeting and information sharing, he transitioned to cybersecurity where he learned about data privacy issues. 

 

Here are some key points Dan and Tom talk about:

  • Dan talks about his professional journey and background and his role at Boltive.
  • Dan defines invasive media and describes the protection his company provides against it. 
  • Dale explains how Boltive’s solution for invasive media protects the audience from malware, redirects, and other malicious behaviors, by replacing them with revenue-generating ads.
  • Compliance with terms of service and user experience is key in order for these solutions to work, Dan tells Tom.
  • In cybersecurity, the intermediaries and third parties are often creating noncompliant and bad user experiences. Boltive solves this by creating a synthetic user experience so each step is recorded and traceable to see what went wrong.
  • Knowing and identifying if your inventory is sensitive and understanding the flow of data makes complying with ever-changing privacy regulations easier. 
  • Dan explains why the digital ad ecosystem is so convoluted and the potentially harmful effects on customers.
  • Dane highlights some of the compliance issues with online marketing. 
  • GDPR is the gold standard when it comes to privacy and data protection, but state laws should also be followed when they are more stringent than GDPR.

 

KEY QUOTE:

“Invasive advertising can really be many different forms and we see our role to protect brands and publishers and technology platforms so those ads don’t get inadvertently served, because the world of programmatic advertising is very lawless and algorithm-driven.” – Dan Frechtling

 

Resources 

Dan Frechtling LinkedIn | Twitter 

Boltive

Categories
Daily Compliance News

January 19, 2023 – The Oliver Stone Goes Nuclear 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:

  • Oliver Stones goes nuclear at Davos. (NYT)
  • Deutsche Bank names new CCO. (WSJ)
  • Jury seated in Musk ‘funding secured’ trial. (Reuters)
  • EU Parliament member cuts deal in Qatargate scandal. (NYT)
Categories
Everything Compliance

Episode 109, The New Year’s Edition

Welcome to the only roundtable podcast in compliance as we celebrate our second century of shows. Everything Compliance has been honored by W3 as the top talk show in podcasting. In this episode, we have the quintet of Jay Rosen, Jonathan Armstrong, Jonathan Marks, Tom Fox, and Matt Kelly, all discussing issues they are looking at as we begin 2023. We conclude with our fan-fav Shout Outs and Rants section.

  1. Matt Kelly looks at some of the ESG issues he will be following in 2023, including SEC rules around ESG, potential audit requirements, who will hold this function internally, and the new role of the ESG Controller. He rants about Zulily and its SOX compliance failures which allowed an employee to embezzle over $300,000.

2. Jonathan Marks looks at corporate governance issues in 2023, including board structure and guidance, recent Board failures, and Board oversight and monitoring. He shouts out to the NFL to cancelling the game between the Bengals and Bills.

3. Tom Fox shouts out to the 50th anniversary of School House Rock and lists his top five.

4. Jonathan Armstrong gives us a preview of 5 key issues he is following for 2023: ESG, GDPR fines, ransomware, supply chain risk issues, and crypto scams. He rants about the mistreatment of Prince Harry’s dog and asks if the dog was traumatized when Prince William knocked his brother (Prince Harry) down and broke the dog’s food bowl.

5. Jay Rosen reviews acronyms that drive him crazy. He shouts out to EMS personnel in Cincinnati for training and being prepared when Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during the Bills game and saved his life.

The members of Everything Compliance are:

•       Jay Rosen– Jay is Vice President, Business Development Corporate Monitoring at Affiliated Monitors. Rosen can be reached at JRosen@affiliatedmonitors.com

•       Karen Woody – One of the top academic experts on the SEC. Woody can be reached at kwoody@wlu.edu

•       Matt Kelly – Founder and CEO of Radical Compliance. Kelly can be reached at mkelly@radicalcompliance.com

•       Jonathan Armstrong –is our UK colleague, who is an experienced data privacy/data protection lawyer with Cordery in London. Armstrong can be reached at jonathan.armstrong@corderycompliance.com

•       Jonathan Marks is Partner, Firm Practice Leader – Global Forensic, Compliance & Integrity Services at Baker Tilly. Marks can be reached at jonathan.marks@bakertilly.com

The host and producer, ranter (and sometime panelist) of Everything Compliance is Tom Fox, the Voice of Compliance. He can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com. Everything Compliance is a part of the Compliance Podcast Network.

Categories
The ESG Report

Jared Connors Looks Into 2023

In this episode of the ESG Report, Tom Fox discusses the regulatory movement towards mandatory climate disclosure requirements. Guest Jared Connors explains why product liability, previously viewed as a negative for sustainability, is now viewed as a positive.

Jared Connors is on the regulatory team at Assent. In his role, he supports and analyzes the market, engages standards and framework makers and regulatory agencies to help understand what companies will face and how they can comply.

 

  • Jared says that product compliance depends on how certain jurisdictions approach sustainability. 
  • Consumers make an impact on upstream corporation supply and demand, and that impact is shown via downstream companies who produce the products.
  • Companies have to do a better job at being proactive about knowing their supply chain and the stance of the suppliers that they work with.
  • Organizations need to be able to show that their suppliers have no connection to modern day slavery. 
  • Jared stresses the point of transparency as opposed to sustainability. When companies, suppliers and stakeholders are transparent, business becomes more ethical. 

 

Resources

Jared Connors on LinkedIn

Assent

Categories
The ESG Report

Assent Webinar on the ESG Regulatory Year in Review & 2023 Forecast

On this special edition of the ESG Report, I repost a recent webinar hosted by Assent. In this webinar, top Assent SMEs looked back at key ESG, supply chain and sustainability topics from 2022 and into 2023. Speakers included Cally Edgren, Director, Regulatory & Sustainability Experts; Dr. Bruce Jarnot, Regulatory & Sustainability Expert, Product Sustainability; Jared Connors, Regulatory & Sustainability Expert, ESG & Responsible Sourcing and Travis Miller, General Counsel.

Topics covered include:

  • Events in 2022 that impacted supply chain sustainability and global product market access;
  • What Assent’s regulatory experts see on the horizon for 2023 and beyond;
  • Steps manufacturers must take to protect their market access in 2023; and
  • Developing programs to address increasingly complex supply chain sustainability requirements.

Resources:

For more on Assent, click here.

For the full webinar click here.

Categories
Innovation in Compliance

The Disability Navigator with DeeJae Durante

Tom Fox’s guest on this week’s show is DeeJae Durante. DeeJae is a livestream strategist and coach, helping individuals with disabilities get their messages out through marketing tools like podcasts and livestreams. She joins Tom to talk about creating accessibility for disabled individuals in the corporate world, and the true meaning of inclusion.  

DeeJae’s Mission

Tom asks DeeJae what started her on the path of disability advocacy. DeeJae gives an anecdote about watching her father navigate life after a traumatic brain injury. It sparked the advocacy within her. She is very passionate about helping businesses realize the importance of providing diversity options for people with disabilities, as well as being open and considerate of everyone. 

 

The True Meaning of Inclusion 

There is no inclusion without accessibility. It is impossible to be inclusive or diverse in an organization if there is no consideration for disabled people. DeeJae talks about helping businesses create systems that accommodate disabled people and building different types of accessibility. “That’s why I really focus on accessibility and understanding what that concept is, because that will lead to inclusion,” she tells Tom. Creating different options for individuals within the organization to access information is another key component of accessibility. “Communication is so fundamental, and accessibility to information is communication.”

 

Accessibility Builds Loyalty 

“By having a policy of accessibility and inclusion for disabled employees, you not only create a very loyal workforce, but you can actually make your business better,” Tom remarks. This holds true for every aspect of business. Accessibility builds up social worth in your employees. Taking the initiative to be observant about the processes in your businesses and making sure that they are accessible to everyone is going to enhance your business. There is no excuse anymore, and there is no other option than to be accessible. “It’s something that we really need to implement into our businesses and our processes as soon as possible. The sooner that we do that, the better off we’re going to be and the more beneficial it will be to our business,” DeeJae stresses. 

 

Resources

DeeJae Durante | LinkedIn | Twitter

Categories
The ESG Report

Simplifying ESG with Mandi McReynolds

Tom Fox welcomes Mandi McReynolds to this episode of the ESG Report. Mandi is the Head of Global Environment, Social and Governance at Workiva, a company whose ESG program allows them to communicate with internal and external stakeholders. In this conversation, she and Tom talk about Workiva’s role in ESG compliance.

The Backbone of ESG

Internal controls are the backbone of ESG, so including them in your framework will make your ESG program run more efficiently. This takes the collaborative effort of your compliance, finance and sustainability teams. In order to meet the needs of investors and stakeholders, these teams must collaborate and agree on the systems and processes they should use.

 

The Business Process

Risks can be managed more effectively with an ESG program that is well-implemented. It is important to understand this when thinking about the business process of ESG. “[However], you can’t be so ESG-woke that you take your company broke,” Mandi cautions Tom. You need to strike a balance between making sure that your company is operating and behaving ethically, and also delivering on its promises to its stakeholders. Investors need to see how you’re keeping your promises and commitments through transparent reporting, so you can demonstrate your commitment. These are all part and parcel of the business process of ESG. 

 

Looking Ahead

Tom asks Mandi what technological components of ESG will be more prevalent in the future. “We’re going to see more advancements in scenario planning,” she says. Companies are going to be thinking about tools and simulations they can use with data to shape their future direction. In the coming years, these tools will only continue to advance, and they’re going to be crucial in making sure companies live up to the standards they have established for themselves. “In order for companies to deliver on their commitments, they have to start telling consumers and stakeholders about where they are, where they’ve been, and where they’re going. In order to do that, I think we’re going to see incredible advances in technology in a very short amount of time,” Mandi remarks. 

 

Resources

Mandi McReynolds | LinkedIn 

Workiva

 

Categories
Innovation in Compliance

The Meta Contract with David Simon

David Simon is a Partner at Foley & Lardner in the firm’s litigation department and a member of their Government Enforcement/Compliance/White Collar Defense Practice Group, Antitrust Practice Group, and Health Industry Team. He specializes in investigations, corporate governance, and government enforcement defense law. He and Tom Fox discuss David’s article “The G in ESG” and the role of compliance in ESG, specifically in the governance aspect of compliance.

The Meta Contract, Governance & Company Culture

An organization’s meta contract represents what the company is truly about to the public. David tells Tom the meta contract is what the company does, who the company is, and what the company isn’t. Governance comes into play by keeping the company on the right track and making sure that it operates in the way it said it would. Culture informs the way an organization adheres to its meta contract, and it starts from the corporate level. Who you hire, who you promote, policies, and internal protocols and procedures all play key parts in this.  

 

Being Authentic 

“One of the things that I see that I’m a little skeptical of is every organization trying to fit itself into the same ESG vision or model,” David remarks. Every organization is different so there’s no one-size-fits-all ESG model. A company’s meta contract sets the expectations on how they present themselves to the world. True value lies in “being authentic and maintaining integrity over how you’re presenting your organization, and what your values are, and who your stakeholders are, and how you rank them in terms of priority,” David remarks.  

 

ESG and Compliance

One of the great things about ESG is it allows compliance to broaden its thinking. A lot of times compliance is only focused on regulatory compliance, but David tells Tom that needs to change. “Compliance professionals need to think more broadly than just the laws and the regulatory framework, to more about what their organizational meta contract is, and they need to take steps to protect their organizations from violating it because it can be disastrous when they do,” David says. 

 

Resources 

David Simon on LinkedIn

The G in ESG