The Art of Compliance Program Assessment

One of the many sessions I attended at the Society of Ethics & Compliance conference last week was about how to perform an assessment of your compliance program. The discussion was great and I took lots of those notes. So today let’s run through those notes on this important task for compliance officers.  We can…

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Justice Dept. Cuts Compliance Break for M&A

Justice

The Justice Department is extending yet another olive branch to companies to encourage stronger compliance programs, saying it typically will not prosecute companies that self-disclose issues at acquisition targets if the company makes that disclosure within six months of closing the deal.  So said deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco on Wednesday, speaking at the Society…

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Tips for Compliance and Data Analytics

data analytics

The other day I had the great fortune to moderate a webinar on data analytics in compliance programs with Kirsten Liston, founder and CEO of Rethink Compliance. We had a great time and Liston certainly knows her stuff on data analytics, so I took lots of notes. Let’s review the major themes that arose from…

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Stretching Your Compliance Budget

The other week I moderated a webinar on how compliance officers can stretch their budgets for maximum effect. As usual the discussion was fascinating, and since tight budgets are pretty much a universal challenge for corporate compliance programs, I took plenty of notes.  First, what struck me most was that most of the conversation did…

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Is Cyber Driving the CCO-Board Relationship?

cybersecurity

We begin this week with yet another compliance benchmarking report, this time from Navex: a deep look at how compliance officers engage with senior management, and whether cybersecurity concerns, rather than anti-corruption, might be driving the board’s attention to compliance these days.  Navex published the report late last week. It polled more than 1,300 compliance…

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Working With Middle Managers

middle managers

The other week I had the good fortune to moderate a webinar on how compliance officers can work with middle management — those assistant vice presidents, department heads, regional managers, and other executives so crucial to the success of a corporate compliance program. I took lots of notes, and pass them along now since this…

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Musings on Messaging Apps

messaging

Compliance officers have a lot to ponder in the Justice Department’s recent updates to its guidance for corporate compliance programs. The most demanding issue, however, might be how the department wants companies to handle employees’ use of messaging apps. It’s going to be quite the challenge. Clearly messaging apps are a priority for the Justice…

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Suggestions for Small Compliance Programs

compliance

At some point in their careers, most compliance officers will spend time working at or running a small compliance program. So when I had the chance earlier this month to moderate a webinar on that subject, I took detailed notes. I suspect many of the frustrations and issues voiced by those small-company compliance officers will…

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Deep Dive Into DOJ Compliance Guidance

guidance

Last week the Justice Department released new guidance on effective corporate compliance programs, to incorporate the department’s new stance on compensation clawbacks and disciplinary procedures that it wants companies to embrace. Let’s take a close read of those changes to see what’s going on. The updated guidance comes after numerous speeches by Justice Department officials…

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Pointers on Data Analytics

The other day I had the good fortune to moderate a webinar on data analytics in the compliance function. Considering the pressure corporate compliance programs are now under to develop strong analytics capability, let’s review some of the main points and themes that emerged from the discussion. For starters, compliance officers should take another look…

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