Corruption Crime & Compliance

Does compliance training have to be boring? Our guest explains how your organization can make compliance training engaging and fun for your employees.Maria D’Avanzo is the Chief Evangelist Officer at Traliant. Maria provides key insights on corporate ethics and compliance training programs. Maria describes how to take your training program to the next level and tailor the content to deliver training on important issues based on your company’s risk assessment..

Financial institutions are rapidly moving their operations to the cloud. In response to this development, and the increasing risks of cyber breaches, legislators and regulators are gearing up to impose significant cybersecurity requirements.Carlo Massimo is a journalist who covers Cyber Security and International Tech Policy. Carlo was a former contributing editor at the Wilson Center's Quarterly, writes Citizen Techs information week monthly policy column, and contributes to the Dark readings profile as a Features Writer.In this episode, Carlo talks about the implications of financial institutions moving to the cloud, and the response by lawmakers and regulators to this significant trend.Join us as we discuss:Carlos's perspective on possible designation of financial institutions operating in the cloud as "critical infrastructure"Are global financial institutions ready for new cybersecurity regulations aimed at mitigating the risks of a data breachThe perspective from both the United States and the European Union on this important issue     Carlo’s article on Information Week: Legislators Gear Up to Regulate Cloud Resiliency

The Biden Administration promised a new, aggressive approach to corporate crime. Well, the Justice Department just delivered a new, comprehensive policy that raises a number of issues, some of which are likely to be controversial. The new policy incorporates reforms announced last October that largely centered on prior corporate criminal and civil records; appointment of independent compliance monitors and expanding review of responsible persons in an internal investigation.The Justice Department's new Corporate Enforcement Policy ("CEP"), however, expands on earlier policy changes but includes some new and far-reaching reforms that are intended to increase individual accountability and promote corporate culture through financial incentives and deterrence policies. This last idea is a significant expansion of DOJ's CEP and is sure to reverberate through the business and compliance community. Chief compliance officers face a new requirement for their companies -- creating an effective system of carrots and sticks to punish misconduct and increase rewards for ethical behavior.DOJ's new CEP also lays the groundwork for further consideration of corporate responsibility for preserving electronic messaging, ephemeral services and other electronic data. DOJ's discussion in this area reflects DOJ's frustration with corporate internal investigation that omits access to electronic data, especially in those situations where employees use personal devices for business-related communications. The revised CEP provides guidance to prosecutors and the business community to ensure individual and corporate accountability through the evaluation of various factors, including: (1) Corporate History of Misconduct; (2) Self-Disclosure and Cooperation; (3) the Strength of a Company's Compliance Program; (4) the Use and Monitoring of Corporate Monitors (including their selection and scope of a monitor's work). 

The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission reached a $41 million settlement with GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. ("GOL") to resolve criminal and civil foreign bribery charges. GOL entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement ("DPA") with DOJ in exchange for payment of a $17 million criminal penalty. DOJ credited $1.7 million of that penalty against a $3.4 million fine that GOL agreed to pay law enforcement authorities in Brazil to resolve charges in Brazil. In a separate resolution, GOL agreed to pay $24.5 million over two years to the SEC. The SEC's initial settlement calculation was for $70 million, but it was reduced to $24.5 million based on GOL's financial condition.In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the DOJ and SEC FCPA settlement actions.

Corporate culture is all the rage now, meaning it is an often used topic to signal commitment, sensitivity to issues of employee concern, and an awareness of governance trends. In practice, as we all know, culture is not just about words -- it is about action. As the often repeated phrase goes -- talk is cheap. In this Corporate Culture Roundup Episode, Michael Volkov examines some culture-related issues involving: Culture + Action Steps; Civility in the Workplace and What Happens when HR and Compliance are Disconnected. 

As the leading hotline provider in the global market, NAVEX is in the unique position of collecting and analyzing employee reporting trends. Each year, NAVEX issues an important report on current trends in employee reporting, whistleblowers, internal investigations and potential retaliation. NAVEX's database consists of 1.37 million reports made in 2021 at organizations around the world. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the key findings from the 2022 report.Here is a link to the report.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district judge's post-conviction dismissal of FCPA counts against Lawrence Hoskins, a former Alston executive, for his involvement in bribery scheme to secure a $118 million energy contract in Indonesia.  The Hoskins FCPA case has had a long and tortious path through the court system, and the Second Circuit's decision, which was decided by a 2 to 1 majority, ended with a fractured court decision that raised more questions than provided answers. The majority decision appeared to reflect a pre-ordained decision searching for legal and factual arguments to support the resolution. Indeed, the dissent presented a cogent and more defensible position.In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the Second Circuit's decision.

Chief compliance officers have access to a vast amount of data generated by their compliance programs. CCOs have to establish effective monitoring processes. A critical part of this process is to build a compliance program dashboard. This is a practical issue of real importance. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews this important issue.

In a bipartisan success story, the House recently passed The Enablers Act, which is a far-reaching reform bill aimed at reducing AML and corrupt financial activity in the United States.Scott Greytak, Advocacy Director at Transparency International USA, and Erica Hanichak, Director of Government Affairs, from the FACT Coalition, join Michael Volkov for a discussion of this legislative accomplishment and the implications for the battle against corruption.

LRN has released a new and informative report on Assessing Corporate Culture. LRN's report provides invaluable guidance and practical steps for corporate boards to lead in the management, oversight and monitoring of corporate culture. A link to the report is below, along with an earlier LRN report on Benchmarking Ethical Culture.In this Episode, Michael Volkov interviews Ty Francis, Chief Advisory Officer at LRN, concerning LRN's recent report on Assessing Corporate Culture.LRN Report Assessing Corporate Culture -- https://pages.lrn.com/-a-practical-guide-to-improving-board-oversight-tapestryLRN Report on Benchmarking Ethical Culture -- https://blog.lrn.com/introducing-the-benchmark-of-ethical-culture-report