We received another glimpse into the Securities and Exchange Commission’s thinking about whistleblowers on Friday—although as usual with SEC, details are sketchy and the primary thought is “we support whistleblowers as expansively as possible.” Compliance officers, take note. The glimpse came in the form of a $3.5 million whistleblower reward issued on Friday. To whom?…
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I have always been a believer in paying my credit card balances in full, every month. So when Mrs. Radical Compliance had a few minutes last Saturday afternoon, I was happy to see that she decided to do the same with a personal credit card she has, too. This credit card is affiliated with one of…
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Last month I wrote a post about what should be included in a chief compliance officer’s dashboard—that is, which metrics convey the most useful information that helps CCO decision-making. The column was heavily circulated on LinkedIn and I received great ideas from compliance professionals, so today we’re going to have a follow-up based on those…
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You gotta love goodwill. It seems like such a simple concept in financial reporting, yet somehow it can drive corporate accountants, compliance officers, auditors, senior executives, and financial analysts all crazy. For the non-accountants out there (and we’ll explain why goodwill matters to you shortly), goodwill is the value a company assigns to the intangible…
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Not long ago I heard the story of a CEO who was the victim of attempted “spear phishing”—where some outside hacker impersonates the boss, and via email asks employees at the company to reply back with valuable information. In this specific case, the hacker posed as the CEO and contacted a junior member of the…
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Special alert for compliance and audit executives in New York, fearful that your business is being targeted by money launderers and related thieves! An executive roundtable is happening next month to let you meet peers and talk about how you’re fighting the threat. The forum will happen on the morning of Wednesday, May 11, sponsored…
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There we were—me, the Lawyer from a large law firm in the United States, and the Ethics Consultant who works with large companies here and in Europe. We were talking about the Yates Memo, and its possible consequences for companies under investigation by the Justice Department. First, a refresher for anyone unfamiliar with the Yates…
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First let me assure you that today’s post will not be yet another column castigating BP, its board, and its CEO for runaway executive compensation. We could spend lots of time talking to that point, certainly. What happened at BP’s annual shareholder meeting last week was appalling. In 2015 BP racked up the largest loss…
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Yes, technology moves fast, but sometimes you come across an old chestnut of guidance about tech that still applies today. That happened to me as I stumbled across a collection of essays about Big Data that offer a bundle of insight about how to use Big Data and cloud computing for better GRC management. The…
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I just love the casino business. Every thinker and observer of corporate compliance issues should. Really, where else can you find such a perfect blend of internal control and corporate culture concerns, plus all those whacky casino names? The enforcement examples you find here always straddle hard-edged financial controls and business practices that make you…
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