Compliance

FTI Consulting’s George Saitta and Melissa Kiernan highlight why the time is now for public and private companies alike to revisit their procurement processes and internal controls. Some of the most important internal controls at any company are the ones around procurement, the process by which a business obtains the goods and services to carry out its mission. In the...

Eversheds Sutherland partners with Smarsh to focus on enforcement actions in key areas that are already presenting significant challenges to firms with mandated work-from-home policies caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 is not just creating a health crisis around the world, it will also create a crisis for firms that get sanctioned for failing to properly consider prior disciplinary actions...

Confronting the Root Causes of Misconduct is the focus of LRN's annual Ethics & Compliance Program Effectiveness Report for 2020 and reflects the input of ethics and compliance professionals from around the world, filtered through insights gained over the last 25 years. The research and survey results behind the 2020 Ethics & Compliance Program Effectiveness Report affirm that the most...

Businesses are beginning to pursue meaningful avenues of collaboration to ensure industry-wide response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide critical resources to affected communities. Morrison & Foerster attorneys discuss how to avoid violating antitrust laws. Collaboration and cooperation among businesses – even competitors – in various forms may be necessary and beneficial for the greater good in responding to...

As health care and cleaning products fly off the shelves, the DOJ is taking action. Cozen O’Connor’s David Reichenberg discusses how its new directive is affecting everyday business and what organizations can do to maintain compliance. In the wake of this global pandemic, competition law and associated compliance are likely not the first topics that come to people’s minds. Nonetheless,...

The proliferation of ephemeral messaging poses unique challenges when it comes to e-discovery. Buckley LLP’s Scott Sakiyama outlines those challenges, highlights recent case law and provides guidance for companies to follow. Howard Baker’s quote – “it is almost always the cover-up rather than the event that causes trouble” – has taken on significance in recent cases involving e-discovery and electronic...

Character is magnified in a crisis. As the coronavirus crisis has unfolded, we’ve seen lots of heroic efforts, but also lots of selfishness. Calvin London offers some takeaways for the compliance practitioner from these troubled times. Australia, like many other countries in the world, is in a long battle with an invisible foe: COVID-19. As infection rates climb and the...

Whatever “flavor” of compliance incentives you offer, they need to be reassessed regularly. Jeff Kaplan and Rebecca Walker discuss what to take into account. The Sentencing Guidelines provide, in relevant part: “the organization’s compliance and ethics program shall be promoted and enforced consistently throughout the organization through … appropriate incentives to perform in accordance with the compliance and ethics program….”...

The COVID-19 outbreak is drastically changing American life, seemingly overnight. While certain industries have been hit especially hard already, it is likely this pandemic will have an impact on every business sector. Employment attorney Alyson Brown looks at this evolving situation and its impact on employers. The recently passed Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) makes some major changes for...

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many financial services firms are implementing work from home policies using collaboration tools. Theta Lake’s Marc Gilman provides background on regulatory responses and requirements, as well as practical advice about compliance considerations. As individuals and organizations aggressively invoke business continuity plans in the wake of coronavirus, a rapid uptick in the use of...

Because leadership dynamics are changing, so too should the old “command and control” function of compliance. Tom Fox offers guidance to help CCOs adapt to the changing times. Given the paucity of leadership coming out of Washington during this crisis, I thought it would be a ripe time to consider some innovations in compliance leadership. While many compliance departments may...

It often happens that a person’s career is over when he or she blows the whistle. Charles Middleton posits that if increasing compliance and minimizing fraud is the goal (and it is), then blackballing whistleblowers is counterproductive. Secrecy is essential to corporate fraud. Destroy the secrecy and you destroy the fraud. So why are honest companies doing the one thing that...