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Great Women in Compliance

Great Women in Compliance: Mary Inman and Jane Norberg on Current Developments in Whistleblower Laws and Practice

Welcome to the Great Women in Compliance podcast with Hemma Lomax and Lisa Fine, sponsored by Corporate Compliance Insights.  Over the past few months, the Department of Justice put forth the Whistleblower Pilot Program, and the update to the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs.  It was the perfect time to focus on how these impact whistleblower laws. Jane Norberg, who is a partner at Arnold & Porter and the former Chief of the Office of the Whistleblower and Mary Inman, who is a founding partner of Whistleblower Partners. Mary is also an advocate for the power of whistleblowers and is known for representing Facebook Files whistleblower Frances Haugen and Theranos whistleblower Tyler Shultz.

They provide insight into what makes a credible and legitimate whistleblower, how the SEC reviews tips from whistleblowers and what we as compliance professionals can do to build effective programs. All focused on the review of all concerns that are raised, regardless of the source. They provide some thoughts about how to handle different situations before, during, and after an investigation, providing practical advice.

The group discusses the new DOJ Whistleblower Pilot program and where it follows the past programs like the SEC program and where it is filling new gaps. One part of the program includes the 120-day requirement for reporting an issue, and they focused on what that would mean for organizations. Mary and Jane share their views on the requirements and the best practices and reference how most compliance professionals are using the DOJ Evaluation of Corporate Compliance to develop their programs, which means that an issue is investigated. In practical terms, following the ECCP requirement to investigate, and the pilot program has a “race to report,” is a challenge, and this is discussed in depth.

Mary and Jane both provided “one thing you should know” to conclude the discussion. Both points are significant ones for anyone who is dealing with any point of the whistleblower or building a strong speak up/anti-retaliation culture.

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Great Women in Compliance

Great Women in Compliance: Jane Norberg – What’s New with Whistleblowing

In today’s episode, Lisa Fine speaks with Jane Norberg, a partner at Arnold & Porter. Jane is also the former Chief of the Office of the Whistleblower at the SEC, and she is one of the people who built that office into what it is today, both as Chief and before that, Deputy Chief. She is one of the leading voices on the whistleblower process, and an advisor to organizations in building best practices for organizations to address concerns.

In March, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced a pilot program to compensate whistleblowers who report “significant corporate or financial misconduct” of which the DOJ was not aware. Jane talks about the SEC program and how it has succeeded. She also explains the similarities and differences between the not-yet-enacted DOJ program and the SEC program. Jane provides her perspective and insight as to why she thinks there is a delay from the DOJ as the initial 90 days have passed and how funding, staffing and other factors may contribute.

Jane and Lisa also discuss the SEC reporting process, how tips come in globally from over 100 countries, and the importance of the Whistleblower program to deter and stop wrongdoing.  This goes along with the statistics that indicate that 80% of whistleblowers raise concerns internally, most frequently to the person’s manager most often go to management, not to the Ethics and Compliance teams or the helplines. To that end, Jane provides practical advice to make sure that E&C teams are providing the right training for managers to identify issues and raise them appropriately.

Supporting ethical decision-making is critical for every organization, but providing training to those who may hear concerns is a key component of that. While practitioners think about this for company culture, Jane provides insight on the larger picture of how our internal work is related to the larger scope of whistleblower reporting.

Topics Include:

  • Jane’s integral role as Chief of the SEC Office of the Whistleblower
  • The DOJ pilot whistleblower program and the SEC program and the distinctions
  • Global Impact of the SEC Whistleblower Program
  • Practical advice for E&C professionals building and managing hotlines

Resources

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Great Women in Compliance

Jane Norberg – The Whistleblowing Guru

Welcome to the Great Women in Compliance Podcast, hosted by Mary Shirley and Lisa Fine.  The Great Women in Compliance podcast has covered speaking up from many angles over the last several years because it’s such an important and perennial topic that Compliance Officers need to keep thinking on to maximize effectiveness.

This week’s unique speak up angle comes from the former Chief of the Office of the Whistleblower at the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Jane Norberg is now a partner at Arnold&Porter and shares some insightful observations and advice that leverage off her knowledge from receiving whistleblower tips over nine years.  She tells the #GWIC audience how the Office of the Whistleblower focuses their priorities and how the SEC typically works with whistleblowers.  Jane talks about the well-known phenomenon that many whistleblowers do make an attempt to report internally before they turn elsewhere and Mary asks her about some of the specific areas of opportunity that companies have to avoid missing the gift of a whistleblower tip – you won’t want to miss this.

You can find the Great Women in Compliance Podcast on the Compliance Podcast Network where you can find several other resources and podcasts to keep you up to date in the Ethics and Compliance world. You can also find the GWIC podcast on Corporate Compliance Insights where you can learn more about the podcast, stream prior episodes and catch up on Mary’s monthly column “Living Your Best Compliance Life.”

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). If you enjoyed the book, the GWIC team would be very grateful if you would consider rating it on Goodreads and Amazon and leaving a short review.  Don’t forget to send the elevator back down by passing on your copy to someone who you think might enjoy reading it when you’re done, or if you can’t bear parting with your copy, consider it as a holiday or appreciation gift for someone in Compliance who deserves a treat.

If you enjoyed the book, the GWIC team would be very grateful if you would consider rating it on Goodreads and Amazon and leaving a short review.  Don’t forget to send the elevator back down by passing on your copy to someone who you think might enjoy reading it when you’re done, or if you can’t bear parting with your copy, consider it as a holiday or appreciation gift for someone in Compliance who deserves a treat.

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.