Compliance

Whistleblower award programs had record-breaking years in 2018, with more than $243 million in award payouts. Attorneys Michael Filoromo and Zac Arbitman entreat compliance professionals to be among those stepping forward, as the law entitles them to rewards and protection from retaliation when they do. Whistleblower award programs established by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission...

About this time each year – when the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) releases its annual Examination Priorities – we are reminded of how complex compliance can be for SEC-registered firms. As Duff & Phelps’ Chris Lombardy explains, this year is no exception. In its 2019 Examination Priorities, issued on December 20, 2018, OCIE has outlined six...

Adlib Software has been transforming the way enterprise organizations overcome unstructured data challenges for over 15 years. Integrating with various business applications, Adlib enables digital preparation of documents for improved migration, compliance, privacy and security, digital transformation, capture and classification. The company's document enrichment solutions allow over 5,500 customers globally to elevate their content and derive the insight that is...

The failed Fyre Festival of 2017 serves as a cautionary tale to any who’d ignore warnings from trusted advisers and key stakeholders. Sandra Erez discusses how the Fyre Festival went so disastrously wrong – and the lesson compliance practitioners should take away. The recent Netflix documentary "Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened" revealed the 2017 fiasco to be a...

Setting the tone at the top for any new compliance program can be a daunting and challenging issue – even more so when you are a woman looking to implement a “Western”-inspired compliance program in a Middle Eastern organization managed by men who don’t necessarily see the value in it. Nothing a little elegant truth-telling and diplomatic convincing can’t resolve....

Steve Durbin, Managing Director of the Information Security Forum (ISF), discusses some of the key risks to organizations today and provides guidance on how to steer clear of them while becoming more resilient. Until recently, leading executives at organizations around the world received information and reports encouraging them to consider information and cybersecurity risk. Yet not all of them understood...

Fenergo’s Kevin O’Neill discusses how asset management firms and other financial institutions are being scrutinized more by regulatory bodies with respect to AML/KYC compliance and what can be done to rectify the problem. A recent report found that regulators over the past 10 years have issued over $26 billion in AML/KYC and sanctions-related fines (and rising). This staggering number shows...

Regulating web use for employees via compliance handbook and URL filters for blacklisted (bad) and whitelisted (good) online resources has failed to improve compliance. Authenic8’s John Klassen discusses how firms can ensure compliance without sacrificing productivity or risking an internal backlash. Pressure from the SEC and state authorities has increased over the past two years to remediate areas of cybersecurity...

What a difference a year makes — The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) announced two sanctions settlements in the beginning of 2019, a stark difference from 2018 when OFAC announced its first enforcement action in June 2018. Michael Volkov provides specifics on sanctions violations from Kollmorgen and the cosmetics company ELF. ELF Cosmetics On January 31, 2019,...

Knowing how to engage in competitor interactions is often more art than science. There are few clear lines of conduct to guide information exchanges made for legitimate business reasons. But broad principles do exist to help you consider your options carefully. Vedder Price’s Brian McCalmon discusses. Throughout the country, sales managers, supervisors and executives attend antitrust trainings with varying degrees of...

Artificial intelligence could contribute multiple trillions to the global economy in the coming decade, but even while poor data quality becomes increasingly detrimental to businesses’ bottom line, AI is not yet being widely incorporated. Heidi Maher of CGOC discusses the widespread need for AI and machine learning. According to a recent study by PWC, artificial intelligence (AI) could contribute up...

The SEC is considering a rule change that would effectively introduce a floor and a ceiling for whistleblower awards. As Phillips & Cohen Partner Sean McKessy explains, they seem to be instating a solution to a nonexistent problem. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has long hailed its whistleblower program as a success, with the former SEC chair, Mary Jo...