CCI staff share recent news, surveys, reports and analysis on risk, compliance, governance, infosec and leadership issues. Share details of your survey with us: editor@corporatecomplianceinsights.com.
LRN: The Gen Z paradox: Youngest workers more likely to consult code of conduct — and bend the rules
Generation Z employees are more likely to consult their employer’s code of conduct than are those in older generations, but paradoxically, they are also more likely to say it’s acceptable to bend the rules if it means getting the job done, according to data from LRN, an ethics and compliance advisory and training provider.
LRN’s 2024 report on codes of conduct shows that 63% of Gen Z workers said they are likely to use their employer’s code of conduct as a resource, while just 49% of Baby Boomers said the same. Disturbingly, though, while Gen Z workers are likely to consult corporate rule guides, they’re also the most likely of any generation to say it’s OK to break the rules if needed to get the job done (29% vs. 12% of Boomers), according to the company’s report earlier this year on ethical culture.
Other notable findings from LRN’s codes of conduct report:
- Training and usage is clearly correlated: Employees in India and China, where code of conduct training was most prevalent among respondents (97% and 91% of employees, respectively), are the most likely to engage “very often” with their code of conduct (47% and 40%, respectively), while those in the Netherlands, where respondents were least likely to have had training (64%), are the most likely (35%) to say they “never” engage with it.
- Leadership disconnect persists: A notable gap continues to exist between how senior leaders, middle managers and front-line employees perceive the importance and use of the code of conduct. While 90% of senior leaders believe that the code is followed, this confidence drops to 81% among middle managers and just 69% among front-line employees.
“This points to the need for more focused training and awareness on why following the code is important — not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because it helps the company, work teams and individual employees to be better at their jobs, which leads to more success and rewards for everyone,” said Jim Walton, the report’s lead author and LRN’s director of advisory services.
Transparency awards: Intel best overall, NextEra Energy has best code of conduct
Computer chip manufacturing giant Intel has the most transparent corporate statements among the top 250 of the S&P 500 index, according to Labrador’s 2024 transparency awards, based on an analysis of proxy statements, Form 10-Ks, ESG/sustainability reports, investor relations websites and codes of conduct.
The investor communications firm’s annual awards evaluate companies across more than 200 categories, with Intel taking the top spot this year, followed by Dow and Mastercard, which also make up the top three. Other honors included best code of conduct, which went to NextEra Energy, the Florida-based energy company, and best ESG report, which went to Ecolab, the Minnesota-based chemicals company.
In addition to handing out honors to specific companies, Labrador’s report also tracks trends in corporate statements, including:
- 70% of proxy statement governance sections referenced the board’s approach to diversity, up from 56% last year
- Executive compensation is an increasingly detailed topic, with 87% of executive compensation reports offering rationale for annual incentive plans, up from 75% last year
- 42% of companies’ codes of conduct include a human rights policy, an increase from 26% last year
Survey: 61% of finance leaders say data security & privacy are high priority
The pressure of new cybersecurity disclosure requirements and the rising threats of cyber warfare and extortion have pushed data security and privacy to the top of the priority list for finance leaders, according to a new survey by consulting firm Protiviti.
The firm’s annual survey on global finance trends found that 61% of CFOs and finance leaders rate data security and privacy as a high priority in the coming year, followed by financial planning and profitability analysis and strategic planning.
Protiviti’s survey, which included responses from more than 950 global finance leaders, also found that generative AI is being employed by one in three finance organizations, with process automation and financial forecasting representing the most common uses of the technology.
“In previous survey years, many would have raised their eyebrows at CFOs partnering with CISOs on security and privacy data concerns, as these would have fallen in the CISO’s purview,” said Christopher Wright, a managing director at Protiviti. “Now, new cybersecurity disclosure and reporting requirements, along with customers’ and vendors’ growing expectations for organizations to keep data private and secure, also require the CFO’s hands on the wheel to remain compliant and maintain high data governance standards.”
Other notable findings:
- Among finance organizations employing generative AI (34% of all respondents), 58% have achieved meaningful and measurable progress in their cost optimization efforts. In addition, 44% of public organizations are employing generative AI in finance, whereas only 29% of private organizations are doing the same.
- ESG reporting also continues to be a priority for finance leaders, with 59% of publicly held organizations indicating a high level of preparedness for ESG reporting, compared with 47% of private organizations.
Report: Bot attacks on social media skyrocketed in Q2
Automated bot attacks on social media skyrocketed during the second quarter of 2024, according to an analysis of global transactions by ID technology provider AU10TIX, which found that social media accounted for just 3% of attacks in the first quarter of 2024 but rose to 16% in the second.
The report also found the APAC region was especially vulnerable to bot attacks targeting the payments sector, which included a focused mega-attack comprising over 5,000 fraudulent onboarding attempts. APAC has become particularly vulnerable to financial-related identity fraud, driven partly by the emergence of AI-powered Fraud-as-a-Service (FaaS) companies enabling large-scale attacks. In addition to the Q2 mega-attack, the region is now grappling with a 1,530% increase in deepfake incidents and a fraud rate that increased 24% between 2022 and 2023, the company said.
On a positive note, AU10TIX’s analysts said INTERPOL’S HAECHI IV and First Light operations of Q4 2023 and Q1 2024 targeting online financial crime and social engineering fraud disrupted criminal networks operating in the payments industry as the company witnessed a 17% decline in attacks targeting the payments sector in Q2.
