Corruption Crime & Compliance

Haiti continues to suffer from significant corruption.  In Transparency International's recent Corruption Perception Index, Haiti ranked 157 out of 180 countries on the corruption perception index. Angelo Viard, a longtime expert in business development in Haiti sees a different picture -- business opportunities in Haiti are present but corruption risks have to be acknowledged and addressed.  Angelo Virad provides practical insights on how to navigate corruption risks in Haiti.

Companies continue to face significant risks from their third parties.  In response, companies are implementing sophisticated due diligence and third party risk management systems.  FCPA enforcement risks are only one of several risks created by a company's third parties.  Companies have to screen and review their third parties for corruption, sanctions, money laundering, antitrust, human trafficking, child labor and reputational risks. In this three-part series, Michael Volkov describes the law and enforcement risks, basic requirements for a third-party management system, and a problem-solving approach to difficult third-party risk issues. In Part I, Michael Volkov discusses the law and government expectations for a third-party risk management system. In Part II, Michael Volkov discusses the building blocks for an effective due diligence system. In Part III, Michael Volkov discusses solutions to common due diligence problems.

Companies continue to face significant risks from their third parties.  In response, companies are implementing sophisticated due diligence and third party risk management systems.  FCPA enforcement risks are only one of several risks created by a company's third parties.  Companies have to screen and review their third parties for corruption, sanctions, money laundering, antitrust, human trafficking, child labor and reputational risks. In this three-part series, Michael Volkov describes the law and enforcement risks, basic requirements for a third-party management system, and a problem-solving approach to difficult third-party risk issues. In Part I, Michael Volkov discusses the law and government expectations for a third-party risk management system. In Part II, Michael Volkov discusses the building blocks for an effective due diligence system. In Part III, Michael Volkov discusses solutions to common due diligence problems.

Companies continue to face significant risks from their third parties.  In response, companies are implementing sophisticated due diligence and third party risk management systems.  FCPA enforcement risks are only one of several risks created by a company's third parties.  Companies have to screen and review their third parties for corruption, sanctions, money laundering, antitrust, human trafficking, child labor and reputational risks. In this three-part series, Michael Volkov describes the law and enforcement risks, basic requirements for a third-party management system, and a problem-solving approach to difficult third-party risk issues. In Part I, Michael Volkov discusses the law and government expectations for a third-party risk management system. In Part II, Michael Volkov discusses the building blocks for an effective due diligence system. In Part III, Michael Volkov discusses solutions to common due diligence problems.

The FCPA includes a specific requirement that a public company maintain an adequate set of internal controls.  A company's compliance program is one component of a company's internal controls.  Sarbanes-Oxley expended and reinforced this important requirement. The Department of Justice and the SEC have aggressively enforced the internal controls requirement.  The SEC, in particular, has expansively enforced the internal controls requirement even where a failure to implement adequate controls or circumvention of controls was not coupled with evidence of bribery or fraud. Given this situation, companies have to take more care in the design and implement their internal controls, recognizing that the controls themselves may be used by government prosecutors to charge companies and individuals who may circumvent the controls. In this episode, Michael Volkov discusses the internal controls law, enforcement practices and describes a new approach to the crafting of a company's internal controls.

In an unprecedented action, on February 2, 2018, the Federal Reserve restricted Wells Fargo's ability to grow its business until it implements comprehensive improvements to its board governance and risk and compliance systems.  Citing Wells Fargo's poor record of governance and risk management resulting in the community banking sales incentive scandal and continuing problems at the bank, the Federal Reserve imposed detailed governance and risk management and compliance enhancements. In this episode, Michael Volkov reviews the Federal Reserve's unprecedented action against Wells Fargo.

In January 2018, the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission announced criminal and civil fraud and conspiracy charges against five KPMG and a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board employee arising from sharing of confidential audit inspection information by PCAOB employees with KPMG audit partners.  A sixth defendant, a KPMG official and former PCAOB employee plead guilty and agreed to cooperate with the government investigation.  The five defendants are charged with multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy. In this episode, Michael Volkov outlines the scheme and describes details of the conspiracy.  

The growth in ethics and compliance has had a dramatic impact on corporate actors, including the CEO, chief compliance officers, internal audit and chief financial officers.  The corporate board's role in compliance continues to be deficient.  Corporate boards are in for a rude awakening -- a new era of accountability for ethics and compliance is beginning. In this episode, Michael Volkov outlines the issues surrounding this new trend and the importance of board accountability. This episode is a companion to Michael Volkov's new e-book: Pointing the Finger: How Corporate Boards are Dodging Accountability and What Compliance Officers Can Do About It -- download Here.  

Tom Fox rejoins Corruption, Crime & Compliance for a 2017 FCPA Review.  Tom discusses important trends and events from 2017 in FCPA enforcement and compliance. Tom is the thought-leader on FCPA and compliance issues.  He maintains the popular blog, FCPA Compliance & Ethics, the Podcast Network and is a prolific author of numerous books, articles, and e-books.

As more companies implement ethics and compliance programs, chief compliance officers are increasingly focusing on the need to test and evaluate their compliance program.  An effective testing program provides important information that compliance officers can use to improve thier respective compliance programs. In this episode, Michael Volkov and Jacqui Merrill, Senior Counsel at the Volkov Law Group, discuss how to test and evaluate your compliance program, how to implement a testing program, and current methodologies to test your compliance program.