Compliance Perspectives

By Adam Turteltaub

Compliance success in a heavily-regulated industry likely means working hand in hand with the regulatory team.  Kasey Ingram, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of ISK Americas, a global chemical company, knows this well.  Few industries are as regulated as the chemicals business.

As he explains in his latest podcast, success for him and his compliance program begins with understanding what compliance and regulatory each can do best.  He focuses on looking at the big culture controls while the regulatory department, which has the very specific knowledge of all the details, deals with the day-to-day activities.

To help ensure collaboration with regulatory, he advises that compliance be present, make sure people know who you are and are comfortable talking to you.  That way you go from the compliance guy to a person.  Second, build controls based on what people do and that both minimize interference and are easy to perform.  Finally, he advises that you do your best to know the rules:  if you can't understand them you won't have any credibility.

Listen in as he also provides a process for building a regulatory compliance program that recognizes the risks, has proper controls in place and enjoys the support of key business leaders (even the ones who initially weren’t happy about it).

By Adam Turteltaub

Managing economic sanctions compliance is a hot topic these days.  The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC) just released a new Framework for OFAC Compliance Commitments.  At the same time, the picture for Iranian sanctions seems to be changing daily.

To help understand the issue, we sat down for a podcast with Kevin Braine, Kroll’s Regional Managing Director EMEA, Compliance Risk & Diligence.

He explained that both the US and EU have been active in issuing sanctions, but that the US has proven a more active regulator, with very severe economic consequences possible for those who run afoul of sanctions regimes.

Making matters more complex is that the sanctions may apply both to individuals (people and companies) and entire sectors.  In addition, there can be differences in sanctions regimes between the US and EU, with the EU (when we recorded this but that may have changed by the time you listen) taking a softer stance on Iran.  France has even offered to compensate French companies for doing business with Iran if fined by the US.

To get a handle on the issue, understand where the US and EU stand on Iran and Russia.  In addition, know the sanctions regimes of other countries where your firm does business, Braine warns.  It’s also crucial to know who is the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) of organizations you do business with.  That can be a great challenge in many countries, where ownership is opaque either intentionally or due to paper-based systems.

Bottom line:  listen in, and tread carefully in the realm of sanction.

By Adam Turteltaub

Managing economic sanctions compliance is a hot topic these days.  The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC) just released a new Framework for OFAC Compliance Commitments.  At the same time, the picture for Iranian sanctions seems to be changing daily.

To help understand the issue, we sat down for a podcast with Kevin Braine, Kroll’s Regional Managing Director EMEA, Compliance Risk & Diligence.

He explained that both the US and EU have been active in issuing sanctions, but that the US has proven a more active regulator, with very severe economic consequences possible for those who run afoul of sanctions regimes.

Making matters more complex is that the sanctions may apply both to individuals (people and companies) and entire sectors.  In addition, there can be differences in sanctions regimes between the US and EU, with the EU (when we recorded this but that may have changed by the time you listen) taking a softer stance on Iran.  France has even offered to compensate French companies for doing business with Iran if fined by the US.

To get a handle on the issue, understand where the US and EU stand on Iran and Russia.  In addition, know the sanctions regimes of other countries where your firm does business, Braine warns.  It’s also crucial to know who is the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) of organizations you do business with.  That can be a great challenge in many countries, where ownership is opaque either intentionally or due to paper-based systems.

Bottom line:  listen in, and tread carefully in the realm of sanction.

By Adam Turteltaub

Conflicts of interests have likely been around as long as there have been people.  When mankind learned to use fire, there was probably a guy who made blankets who criticized fire as too dangerous as a source of warmth, not realizing he was conflicted, or hoping others wouldn’t figure it out.

Despite the timelessness of them, businesses can’t afford to not manage conflicts of interest.  Brian Beeghly, co-founder, and CEO of Informed360, explains in this podcast that most companies today have at least a conflict of interest policy.  There, however, the paths diverge.  Some have no mechanisms for tracking conflicts, others rely on paper-based methods and some have moved to automated tools and processes.

Brian argues that companies have to look at the disclosure process itself, starting with the timing.  Is it an annual event across the company or is it more personal and timed to when an employee starts working with a new customer or vendor, or assumes a new position in the company?

Also, examine how easy it is for the employee to disclose their conflicts.  Not only should the actual process be simple, but employees should also have the training to understand what conflicts are.

Listen in to learn more about how your organization can better manage conflicts of interest.

By Adam Turteltaub

Conflicts of interests have likely been around as long as there have been people.  When mankind learned to use fire, there was probably a guy who made blankets who criticized fire as too dangerous as a source of warmth, not realizing he was conflicted, or hoping others wouldn’t figure it out.

Despite the timelessness of them, businesses can’t afford to not manage conflicts of interest.  Brian Beeghly, co-founder, and CEO of Informed360, explains in this podcast that most companies today have at least a conflict of interest policy.  There, however, the paths diverge.  Some have no mechanisms for tracking conflicts, others rely on paper-based methods and some have moved to automated tools and processes.

Brian argues that companies have to look at the disclosure process itself, starting with the timing.  Is it an annual event across the company or is it more personal and timed to when an employee starts working with a new customer or vendor, or assumes a new position in the company?

Also, examine how easy it is for the employee to disclose their conflicts.  Not only should the actual process be simple, but employees should also have the training to understand what conflicts are.

Listen in to learn more about how your organization can better manage conflicts of interest.

By Adam Turteltaub

Is your hotline ringing enough or too much?  Are you getting too many calls in one risk area or country?  Not enough in another?  And is the telephone-based helpline really all you need anymore?

To help answer these questions UK-based hotline provider Expolink recently released its fourth annual Whistleblowing Benchmarking Report.  In this podcast, Expolink Chief Executive John Wilson discusses some of the highlights with us.

Notably, the data shows that picking up the phone, as opposed to using online channels, has declined considerably through the years.  And, while actual calls now account for less than half of all reports, there is still great value to them.  People often prefer and can be more forthcoming when there is another person on the other side of the line.  In addition, they are less likely to be anonymous.

Listen in as we discuss this issue as well as additional findings including:

* Whether the fear of malicious reports through anonymous channels is warranted

* The number of calls that are HR-related rather than compliance-focused

* The impact of the #MeToo movement on helpline contacts

* The often substantial variations by country in the types of reported violations, use of anonymous vehicles and reporting methods

* The rise in confidential reporting

By Adam Turteltaub

Is your hotline ringing enough or too much?  Are you getting too many calls in one risk area or country?  Not enough in another?  And is the telephone-based helpline really all you need anymore?

To help answer these questions UK-based hotline provider Expolink recently released its fourth annual Whistleblowing Benchmarking Report.  In this podcast, Expolink Chief Executive John Wilson discusses some of the highlights with us.

Notably, the data shows that picking up the phone, as opposed to using online channels, has declined considerably through the years.  And, while actual calls now account for less than half of all reports, there is still great value to them.  People often prefer and can be more forthcoming when there is another person on the other side of the line.  In addition, they are less likely to be anonymous.

Listen in as we discuss this issue as well as additional findings including:

* Whether the fear of malicious reports through anonymous channels is warranted

* The number of calls that are HR-related rather than compliance-focused

* The impact of the #MeToo movement on helpline contacts

* The often substantial variations by country in the types of reported violations, use of anonymous vehicles and reporting methods

* The rise in confidential reporting

By Adam Turteltaub

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) poses an interesting conundrum for compliance and ethics professionals.  Both CSR and compliance are, or should be, firmly grounded in an organization’s values.  But from there things start to diverge.  Compliance is charged with doing what is required, typically by law.  CSR, though, has a broader mandate.

As Alison Taylor, Managing Director, Sustainability Management at Business for Social Responsibility explains, CSR is a series of processes to ensure that corporations pay attention to existing and emerging social concerns about the environment and other issues, including human rights.

This may seem a bit abstract, but in practice many CSR issues – think anti-corruption and human trafficking/modern slavery – become compliance issues over time.

In her podcast with us, she provides her thoughts about what CSR is and isn’t, some of the challenges it has, and how CSR and compliance teams can and should work together.

She also shares insight into the hot CSR topics that may soon be compliance issues.

Listen in to better understand what every compliance professional should know about CSR, and potential emerging compliance risk areas.

By Adam Turteltaub

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) poses an interesting conundrum for compliance and ethics professionals.  Both CSR and compliance are, or should be, firmly grounded in an organization’s values.  But from there things start to diverge.  Compliance is charged with doing what is required, typically by law.  CSR, though, has a broader mandate.

As Alison Taylor, Managing Director, Sustainability Management at Business for Social Responsibility explains, CSR is a series of processes to ensure that corporations pay attention to existing and emerging social concerns about the environment and other issues, including human rights.

This may seem a bit abstract, but in practice many CSR issues – think anti-corruption and human trafficking/modern slavery – become compliance issues over time.

In her podcast with us, she provides her thoughts about what CSR is and isn’t, some of the challenges it has, and how CSR and compliance teams can and should work together.

She also shares insight into the hot CSR topics that may soon be compliance issues.

Listen in to better understand what every compliance professional should know about CSR, and potential emerging compliance risk areas.

By Adam Turteltaub

An engaged compliance committee can be a dramatic and positive influence on a compliance program.  Danette Slevinski (Chief Compliance Officer of University Hospital) and Judith Marber Fox (founder and CEO of JF Real Compliance Solutions) have seen it firsthand.

So how do you get there?  In this podcast, which is focused on healthcare entities but has easily extractable lessons for all organizations regardless of industry, they share their experiences and lessons learned.

Listen in as they discuss:

* The value of senior leaders, and how to engage them

* The importance of voices on the committee that come from outside of senior leadership

* Comprehensive meeting preparation and how to do it

* The role of the committee charter and how it should be structured

* Conducting the meeting effectively