Compliance Perspectives

Post By: Adam Turteltaub

In 2019 the European Union introduced a set of common whistleblower rules for its member countries. As Andre Bywater, partner at Cordery Compliance explains in this podcast, previously there was a bit of a hodgepodge of country by country rules.

The EU directive sets out rules about anonymity, routes for whistleblowing, retaliation prevention as well as privacy, which remains a tricky area. Organizations are likely going to need to conduct impact assessments, watch how they respond to subject action requests and keep their eyes out for how they balance the directives requirements against GDPR.

So, how can organizations move forward? Andre offers several recommendations:

* Chose your helpline provider wisely

* Be straightforward with employees

* Encourage employees to be judicious when naming names

* Handle whistleblowing data securely

* Stay on top of notification requirements

* Be mindful of record retention policies

* Train your workforce

Listen in to learn more and get the details about how your organization can best comply with GDPR and the EU whistleblower directive.

Post By: Adam Turteltaub

Keeping up with the latest sanctions requirements is very difficult. Names of individuals and organizations are added and removed frequently, and there are multiple prohibited persons and entities lists to track. The US Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) list is but one of several to consult, and just because a company isn’t on the US list doesn’t mean it’s not on the list of another country that can claim jurisdiction over your organization.

So how do you determine who you can do business with? Christian Focacci, Vice President of Offering Management at Steele suggests in this podcast you begin with an appreciation of the challenges of data and determining the risk: is this an entity I need to know everything about or which only requires a cursory assessment?

The answer to that question will determine how much research you need to do. But even that is only a start. For example, hen reviewing news sites, especially outside of your own country, it’s important to assess how reliable that source is. And, while machine learning offers advantages, it’s far from perfect and human judgement is most definitely still needed.

 

Post By: Adam Turteltaub

Most everything available today is digital, with one exception far too often: imaging records. In a recent survey, reports Matt Michela, President & CEO at Life Image, 25% of patients still receive their images on film.

That’s a problem both from a care and compliance perspectives under new rules promulgated by the Office of National Coordinator for Health Information. It’s also a problem during the time of pandemic when people would rather not have to handle physical items.

In this podcast Matt discusses the challenges when it comes to the United States Core Data for Interoperability. He also discusses the path forward and benefits for providers and patients when all the relevant data, including imaging, is readily available and easily transportable.

Post By: Adam Turteltaub

The value of good risk management, both in compliance programs and even our personal lives, has never been more important. These days we find ourselves recalculating everything from the compliance risk of a new business partner to the risk of going to the store.

In this podcast, Beth Colling, Chief Compliance Officer at CDM Smith and Greg Triguba, veteran compliance consultant, share the process they went through in selecting the risk sessions at the 2020 Compliance & Ethics Institute (CEI). It will be taking place virtually September 14-16.

The risk-focused sessions, they explain, cover both how to conduct a risk assessment as well as some of key risk areas such as anti-corruption, antitrust, and even social media.

Listen in as they share what to expect at the CEI, as well as strategies you can employ to help manage the fast-changing environment we ae now working in. Resiliency is key, they report, as compliance professionals find new ways to work and respond to changing business needs.

Post By: Adam Turteltaub

NOTE: This podcast was recorded prior to the conversion of the Compliance & Ethics Institute to a virtual program. Some of the sessions and their tracks may have changed.  Be sure to visit the website to see the latest agenda.

While travel is much more difficult these days, you can still span the globe of compliance issues at the 2020 Compliance & Ethics Institute (CEI).

Brazil-based Shin Jae Kim (SCCE/HCCA Board Member and Partner at TozziniFreire Advogados) and UK-based Jonathan Armstrong (partner at Cordery) serve as chairs of the Multi-National/International Track at the  CEI and explain that their aim was to be truly international and to look at the heart of what’s concerning compliance professionals around the world.

Session on the agenda include:

* The Practical Who, What, When, Why and Hows of Third-Party Risk Assessment and Due Diligence

* Latin America: How to Survive Doing Business in our Region

* Building an International Speak-Up and Compliance Culture

* How to Conduct Independent Investigations on Foreign Operations

* Asia, State of the Union: Compliance Relations in Asia

In this podcast we address what’s on the agenda at the CEI as well as what’s going on now for global compliance programs.  Current issues include dramatic shifts in supply chains, finding alternatives to face-to-face training, replicating in-office controls when people are at home, and avoiding corrupt payments while sourcing PPE in a hurry.

Listen in to get the latest on multi-national/international compliance challenges.  Then join us for the 2020 Compliance & Ethics Institute.

Post By: Adam Turteltaub

Careem operates across the Middle East, in Africa and South Asia. Now a part of Uber, its technology enables ride hailing, food delivery and other services.

Not surprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected different countries differently, and that poses a challenge for the company, reports Tomell deSilva Ceasar, head of Group Compliance. The company has to comply with a wide range of local laws and regulations that vary considerably.

So what should compliance teams do? In this podcast Tomell advises knowing the local rules, but also keeping an eye on the big picture. That means ensuring that the entire compliance program, not just the pandemic-related elements, are functioning appropriately, even as the team rapidly evolves to the fast-changing environment.

The compliance team also needs to be willing to innovate. Compliance at Careem is working closely with the business team, he reports, to help the company evolve.compliance, ethics, governance, tone at the top, compliance training, pandemic, COVID-19 That includes adjusting the risk assessment to reflect changing business offerings and needs, keeping business teams aware of the risks, and also adjusting compliance resources accordingly.

Listen in as he shares more lessons learned, including making compliance present and relevant both to leadership and the workforce.

Post By: Adam Turteltaub

NOTE: This podcast was recorded prior to the conversion of the Compliance & Ethics Institute to a virtual program. Some of the sessions and their tracks may have changed.  Be sure to visit the website to see the latest agenda.

Staying on top of what’s new in data privacy is tough. As Robert Bond, Partner and Notary Public at the UK-based law firm Bristows explains, over 100 countries have drafted or implemented new data privacy laws in 2019.

To help sort it out Robert sits down with us for this podcast and also shares what attendees to the 2020 Compliance & Ethics Institute will find at the Privacy & Data Security track. It will cover everything from privacy 101 to emerging laws and regulations, as well as deeper dives into CCPA, data security and cyber risks. Sessions include:

* Our Brave New World: International Privacy and Data Security Challenges for US Based Organizations

* California Consumer Privacy Act Enforcement Update

* Learn More from your Data While Improving Data Security

Keeping up with what’s new is essential in this fast-evolving compliance risk area. As Robert explains, the European Commission in June issued a new report on the effectiveness of GDPR and identified the need to improve the exercise of data subject rights. It also called for greater cross-border regulatory cooperation and enforcement.

He also notes that data security practices need to evolve to meet the new business reality, with so many people no longer in the office but working from home. Suddenly, documents that were kept securely on a corporate server may be duplicated in laptops and in printed files, making it difficult to account for and safeguard them.

Listen in to learn more about what’s happening in privacy compliance and what to expect at the 2020 Compliance & Ethics Institute.

Post By: Adam Turteltaub

Jim Nortz, founder and president of Axiom Compliance & Ethics Solutions, has had a long career in compliance and ethics. What’s surprising in this podcast, is that rather than crowing about the profession’s success, he’s more than a bit skeptical of the impact of compliance programs. He observes that there is very little data that it has stemmed corruption and that survey data shows only one in five people say that they work in a firm with a strong ethical culture.

The solution, he argues, is to begin with an honest assessment of the role of compliance. He also argues that organizations need to realize that they cannot achieve a compliant, ethical culture through controls. Instead, leadership must be deeply involved, and to gain their support compliance teams must do the long hard work of amassing the data that demonstrates the value of compliance.

Listen in to hear more of his provocative take on what compliance has and hasn’t achieved, and how compliance programs could do more.

Post By: Adam Turteltaub

NOTE: This podcast was recorded prior to the conversion of the Compliance & Ethics Institute to a virtual program. Some of the sessions and their tracks may have changed.  Be sure to visit the website to see the latest agenda.

Selecting sessions for the General Compliance/Hot Topics track at the Compliance & Ethics Institute is a tough job, since there are so may more sessions proposed than there is space for.

This year Michael Levin, Vice President Compliance & Ethics, Freddie Mac and Eric Hinton, Director, Rowling Center for Business Law & Leadership at Southern Methodist University (and former CECO at 7-11) joined me in taking on that task.

In this podcast they share some of the wide range of sessions that made the cut, including:

* Building Best-in-Class Compliance Programs in Small Organizations

* Change Management: Transforming a Long-Established Compliance Program

* Unconscious Bias, Cognitive Errors, and the Compliance Professional

* Keep Calm, Eat Chocolate, and Never Let Them See You Sweat

* Building an Effective Policy Management and Governance Program with Intentionality

* Return on Investment or Really Obscure Idea? Demonstrating the Value of Compliance to the Board, Executive Management, Employees and Every Other Stakeholder in Your Organization

Listen in as we review these sessions and more, as well as what’s going on in compliance, including effectively managing through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.  It is changing everything from training to risk profiles.

Post By: Adam Turteltaub

When it comes to battling corruption, different countries in Latin America (and elsewhere for that matter) have different capabilities from an enforcement perspective.

As Geert Aalbers, Partner at Control Risks explains in this podcast, to provide a better understanding of the picture, Control Risks and America Society and Council of the Americas recently published The Capacity to Combat Corruption (CCC) Index. Rather than measure perceived levels of corruption, it ranks countries based on their ability to effectively combat corruption.

Not surprisingly there is an enormous range, and ratings change over time.

Since 2014 there has been an anti-corruption wave throughout the region with notable efforts such as Operation Lava Jato (carwash) in Brazil. Of late, though, he points out, that wave is losing force in some countries due to factors ranging from fatigue to a backlash by the political class.

In addition, like elsewhere the pandemic is posing challenges in Latin America, and setting lose forces that are ripe for corruption. Governments are spending heavily and quickly, intermediaries are being used, and transactions are often not as transparent as many would like. In addition, governments may be moving funds around to pay for pandemic-related costs, reducing budgets for enforcement.

Listen in to learn more about what’s going on across the region and some of the country-by-country comparisons on the fight against corruption.