Posts Tagged ‘anti-corruption’
FirstEnergy and Domestic Corruption Woes
Compliance professionals are already well-acquainted with the seedy mechanics of overseas bribery. Now FirstEnergy Corp. in Ohio has given us a full frontal view of how domestic corruption happens right here in the United States, too. You might recall the case from last year. Larry Householder, the now-former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives,…
Read MoreBiden Puts Anti-Corruption Centerstage
President Biden issued a policy memo Thursday vowing to make anti-corruption a pillar of U.S. national security — with numerous potential implications for corporate compliance programs that we can barely begin to understand right now. First, we should be clear about exactly what the president did here. He did not issue an executive order, which…
Read MoreDomestic Corrupt Practices & Compliance
Compliance professionals got a lucky break this week. Twice in a matter of days, we saw major scandals break involving corporate misconduct and corrupt domestic government officials here in the United States — demonstrating, yet again, that tying corporate compliance on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act alone is tremendously short-sighted. First we had a case…
Read MoreNew Zealand Tops TRACE Anti-Bribery List
TRACE International has posted its latest annual ranking of bribery risk in countries around the world, and good news if you’re working in New Zealand — Kiwi Country poses the lowest risk that government officials there will hit your company with a shakedown. Every year TRACE publishes the TRACE Bribery Matrix, a ranking of 200…
Read MoreReport: 2016 Was Good Year for Anti-Corruption
TRACE International has published its latest review of global anti-corruption enforcement, touting a dramatic increase in enforcement last year, led by U.S. authorities. Enforcement activity essentially doubled last year, according to the organization’s annual Global Enforcement Report. There were 255 investigations into bribery of foreign officials conducted by 29 countries as of Dec. 31, 2016.…
Read MoreSix Compliance Events to Watch in 2017
Welcome back to the grind, everyone! Before we all go back to audit committee meetings, anti-corruption training, and committing your travel budget before the CFO implements a freeze, let’s take a look at what events in 2017 will carry big consequences for the compliance community. The arrival of the Trump Administration in particular sets up…
Read MoreFrench Anti-Corruption Legislation Hits Obstacles
I am hearing multiple reports this week that Sapin II, the proposed French anti-corruption law meant to drag that country up to modern compliance standards, has run into political trouble. The sticking points seem to include the powers of a proposed new French anti-corruption agency, as well as requirements for companies to perform due diligence…
Read MoreCompliance Tech Challenges: The T&E Example
There we were last week, 14 of us, sitting around a large restaurant table to enjoy lunch and talk about data analytics tools to help compliance officers do their jobs. One participant vented about his company’s software to track travel and entertainment expenses. “I don’t like it,” the person said. “You get training on how…
Read MoreMore on Compliance, Audit, and Supply Chain Fraud
Deloitte today published some fresh research confirming what many compliance officers probably already suspect: supply chain fraud continues to be a serious problem for many companies, and one that most organizations aren’t terribly adept at fighting. The fundamental problem is how to fit modern anti-fraud procedures into global corporations’ convoluted payment approval process. We have…
Read MoreThree Lessons From Qualcomm FCPA Settlement
Nothing beats a good “princeling” case under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for tough, teachable moments that a compliance officer should study. We have that example today, since Qualcomm just paid $7.5 million in fines and penalties to the SEC for its princeling offenses. So let’s take a look. The facts are straightforward. Qualcomm makes…
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