No Result
View All Result
SUBSCRIBE | NO FEES, NO PAYWALLS
MANAGE MY SUBSCRIPTION
NEWSLETTER
Corporate Compliance Insights
  • Home
  • About
    • About CCI
    • CCI Magazine
    • Writing for CCI
    • Career Connection
    • NEW: CCI Press – Book Publishing
    • Advertise With Us
  • Explore Topics
    • See All Articles
    • Compliance
    • Ethics
    • Risk
    • FCPA
    • Governance
    • Fraud
    • Internal Audit
    • HR Compliance
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
    • Financial Services
    • Well-Being at Work
    • Leadership and Career
    • Opinion
  • Vendor News
  • Library
    • Download Whitepapers & Reports
    • Download eBooks
    • New: Living Your Best Compliance Life by Mary Shirley
    • New: Ethics and Compliance for Humans by Adam Balfour
    • 2021: Raise Your Game, Not Your Voice by Lentini-Walker & Tschida
    • CCI Press & Compliance Bookshelf
  • Podcasts
    • Great Women in Compliance
    • Unless: The Podcast (Hemma Lomax)
  • Research
  • Webinars
  • Events
  • Subscribe
Jump to a Section
  • At the Office
    • Ethics
    • HR Compliance
    • Leadership & Career
    • Well-Being at Work
  • Compliance & Risk
    • Compliance
    • FCPA
    • Fraud
    • Risk
  • Finserv & Audit
    • Financial Services
    • Internal Audit
  • Governance
    • ESG
    • Getting Governance Right
  • Infosec
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
  • Opinion
    • Adam Balfour
    • Jim DeLoach
    • Mary Shirley
    • Yan Tougas
No Result
View All Result
Corporate Compliance Insights
Home FCPA

Proactive Monitoring: A Sound Approach to Compliance

Compliance Strategies Under the Benczkowski Memo and New DOJ 2018 Policy Announcements, Part 5

by Jay Rosen
February 12, 2020
in FCPA, Featured
men's shoes standing at crossroads between proactive and reactive

Jay Rosen explores proactive monitoring, which demonstrates the benefits of using a third party to fulfill the compliance mandates laid out by the DOJ.

I have been looking back at some Department of Justice (DOJ) announcements over the past several years, as well as the FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy, announced in November 2017, to consider what strategies companies can use based upon these documents. Over this series, I have explored what companies can do both internally and externally to incorporate the Benczkowski Memo (“the Memo”) and other DOJ guidance into their corporate compliance programs.

Here, I discuss proactive monitoring, which is directly in the wheelhouse for every compliance program’s three key prongs: prevent, detect and remediate. It is interesting to note: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in a keynote address in late November 2018:

Money spent on an effective compliance program is “money well spent,” while the lack of such an investment is a “missed opportunity.”

When you think about it, that sort of speaks volumes to what this new guidance is all about: to help companies take a serious look at their own compliance programs.

If your organization does not have the capability to do an honest and deep program assessment, you should consider bringing in an outside third-party professional – a compliance company that is independent and neutral and does not have biases – to perform an internal review to look at a compliance program. The Idea is to bring in an outside entity with knowledge and experience.

In a nutshell, it’s proactive monitoring to avoid an imposed monitor.

The Memo and other DOJ announcements in 2018 lay out a discrete roadmap for how organizations can avoid the imposition of a monitor. The independent monitor is conflict-free, performs a comprehensive assessment and then helps lead the company through the recommended remediations. The proactive monitor is focusing the company on whatever deficiencies might exist within their program; it might be fixing the root cause problems by implementing controls and processes.

Equally importantly, the independent monitor does this over time. It can look at a company’s efforts to implement those changes and then maintain them. This is validating the efforts that the company is making to fulfill a compliance mandate.

One of the strengths of a good monitor is assessing what the company is doing and saying to determine what’s real. The proactive monitor does not come into an assignment with preconceived notions. There are no judgments or biases; it is truly is a blank slate. The words “objective” and “professional” come to mind. The independent third-party comes in without preconceived or preordained conclusions, resulting in an honest and fair assessment. So, the upside of bringing in an independent monitor is expertise, professionalism, experience and efficiency.

This final point is very much a business positive: The company itself does not have to recreate the wheel to assess itself, as the tools are already created. An outside, independent third party allows the company to continue its business while the independent third-party monitor is on the outside, looking in on the company while it continues its operations. Monitoring can be a distraction if performed internally. One of the benefits of an external monitor is that it allows the company to do its work while the expert does the assessment.

Additionally, the expertise of the independent monitor can reveal problems the company may have never even been aware of.

To conclude, I want to clearly articulate the differences between a proactive monitor and one imposed by regulators as part of an agreed settlement. A proactive monitor comes to a company not necessarily when the company is in trouble or when there is something going on, but when the company desires to assess their compliance program. Obviously, this can be an effective tool.

Conversely, an imposed monitor brings a different perspective: They are an imposed resource whose mandate is not necessarily to look at all aspects of a compliance program; usually, their mandate might be an agreed-upon or specific issue to consider.

So, while the Memo may well portend less imposed monitors, the costs for putting your organization in a position where one is mandated by the government can be quite high. Not only is the better approach to compliance a proactive approach, it is by far the more cost-effective approach. Finally, the Memo and other DOJ pronouncements in 2018 not only further articulate the DOJ’s expectations, but also demonstrates how a company can move through the enforcement process to receive a full declination under the FCPA Corporate Enforcement Program.

 


In case you missed the earlier installments of this ongoing series, please see the links below.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Monitors But Were Afraid to Ask

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5

Potential Issues in Corporate Monitorships

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5

Suspension and Debarment in Monitoring

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5

Monitoring in the Health Care Sector

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5

The Basics of Corporate Culture

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5

Monitoring in an M&A Context

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5

Affiliated Monitors: 15 Years of Independent Monitoring Excellence

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5

Compliance Strategies Under the Benczkowski Memo and New DOJ 2018 Policy Announcements

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4


Tags: DOJFCPA Enforcement ActionsMonitoring
Previous Post

Top 10 Risks for 2020

Next Post

All in the Family: Protect your Business by Avoiding These Succession Planning Blunders

Jay Rosen

Jay Rosen

Jay Rosen is Vice President, Business Development and Monitoring Specialist at Affiliated Monitors, Inc., the first company in the U.S. to focus on providing independent integrity monitoring and assessment services across a wide range of regulated industries and professions. Jay previously headed up Merrill Brink’s FCPA Investigations and Ethics and Compliance translation group. He has over eight years of experience assisting clients on cross-border investigations, as well as helping them localize their code of conduct and other mission-critical English documents for their global colleagues. For almost three years, Jay has co-hosted the #1 weekly FCPA podcast, “This Week in FCPA,” with Tom Fox. Tom and Jay recently launched a second podcast, “Popcorn and Compliance,” and Jay is also a commentator on the biweekly podcast, “Everything Compliance,” with Jonathan Armstrong, Tom Fox, Sarah Hadden, Matt Kelly and Mike Volkov.

Related Posts

doj distorted

FCPA Enforcement Back on at DOJ — With a New Look

by Jennifer L. Gaskin
June 18, 2025

After a shorter-than-expected pause, officials with the DOJ have formally renewed the department’s enforcement of the FCPA. CCI’s Jennifer L....

doj exterior sign

How to Use the DOJ’s ECCP to Build (or Fix) Your Compliance Program

by Susan Divers
June 5, 2025

Corporate compliance programs face increasing scrutiny as the DOJ applies its evaluation framework across industries and company sizes, from multinational...

doj sign front

Assessing the Business Risks of the Trump Administration’s ‘Total Elimination’ Strategy

by José Cortina and Jennifer Christian
May 20, 2025

As cartels increasingly participate in mainstream economic activities, traditional due diligence practices become inadequate to address new material support risks

doj sign and sculpture

DOJ’s New CEP Proposes Guaranteed Declination for Some Self-Reporters

by Jennifer L. Gaskin
May 13, 2025

The Trump Administration continues reshaping its approach to corporate crime, with the DOJ issuing major revisions of its corporate enforcement...

Next Post
miniature people on wooden steps, concept of succession planning

All in the Family: Protect your Business by Avoiding These Succession Planning Blunders

No Result
View All Result

Privacy Policy | AI Policy

Founded in 2010, CCI is the web’s premier global independent news source for compliance, ethics, risk and information security. 

Got a news tip? Get in touch. Want a weekly round-up in your inbox? Sign up for free. No subscription fees, no paywalls. 

Follow Us

Browse Topics:

  • CCI Press
  • Compliance
  • Compliance Podcasts
  • Cybersecurity
  • Data Privacy
  • eBooks Published by CCI
  • Ethics
  • FCPA
  • Featured
  • Financial Services
  • Fraud
  • Governance
  • GRC Vendor News
  • HR Compliance
  • Internal Audit
  • Leadership and Career
  • On Demand Webinars
  • Opinion
  • Research
  • Resource Library
  • Risk
  • Uncategorized
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Well-Being
  • Whitepapers

© 2025 Corporate Compliance Insights

Welcome to CCI. This site uses cookies. Please click OK to accept. Privacy Policy
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • About CCI
    • CCI Magazine
    • Writing for CCI
    • Career Connection
    • NEW: CCI Press – Book Publishing
    • Advertise With Us
  • Explore Topics
    • See All Articles
    • Compliance
    • Ethics
    • Risk
    • FCPA
    • Governance
    • Fraud
    • Internal Audit
    • HR Compliance
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
    • Financial Services
    • Well-Being at Work
    • Leadership and Career
    • Opinion
  • Vendor News
  • Library
    • Download Whitepapers & Reports
    • Download eBooks
    • New: Living Your Best Compliance Life by Mary Shirley
    • New: Ethics and Compliance for Humans by Adam Balfour
    • 2021: Raise Your Game, Not Your Voice by Lentini-Walker & Tschida
    • CCI Press & Compliance Bookshelf
  • Podcasts
    • Great Women in Compliance
    • Unless: The Podcast (Hemma Lomax)
  • Research
  • Webinars
  • Events
  • Subscribe

© 2025 Corporate Compliance Insights