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
