Compliance Perspectives

By Adam Turteltaub

Conducting an internal investigation is never an easy task.  Doing so with the President, Attorney General, Congress, the press and public all watching is even more difficult.

Michael Horowitz lives that reality each day.  He has served as the Inspector General at the US Department of Justice since April 2012.  He also serves as Chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, an organization comprised of all 73 federal Inspectors General.

The Inspectors General community is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary and it posts the results of its investigations online.

During his time as the IG at the Department of Justice, Michael has led a myriad of investigations and at two which have grabbed headlines:  Fast and Furious as well as the FBI’s handling of the Clinton email investigation.

While the focus of those investigations is far removed from what most compliance professionals face, the process of the investigations would likely look familiar to any compliance officer.  That’s something Michael knows first hand, having conducted several investigations as outside counsel for multinational companies.

In a two-part podcast, we gain Michael’s deep and extraordinary insights into how to conduct an investigation fairly and thoroughly, whether you are in the media spotlight, or toiling away quietly in an organization.

In part one he discusses:

* The history of the IG’s office: its history, role, and responsibilities

* How to set objectives for the investigation

* How to begin the investigation

* The challenges of staying on task and avoiding mission creep

* Collecting documentary evidence

* Conducting interviews

Listen in to gain some of his wisdom.  One warning, though, before you do.  If you are listening to this podcast hoping for fresh insights into the Clinton email investigation or any other of the IG’s  investigations, you will be disappointed.  Our goal is to take a look at the investigations he has led from the perspective of a compliance officer and to benefit from his deep experience in conducting large scale, high profile investigations.

By Adam Turteltaub

With a recently revised and much abbreviated Code of Business Conduct, the compliance department at AT&T saw an opportunity.

In the past, explained Susan Bounds, who is Director, Compliance at the company, the model had been to train everyone, everywhere every year with a great deal of web-based training.  There were individual courses on every topic, which made for a lot of clicking through web pages for employees.  The company realized it was hard to maintain employee interest, and it was time to do something different.

As Susan reveals in the podcast, they decided to shake things up to reflect the updated Code but also a much more mobile workforce.

Their strategy was to develop new training that was more of an ongoing tool, not something to click through once and then put away.  The new training had to be interactive, more engaging, and more accessible for their workers.

They also looked beyond the web, adding live training and traveling to fifteen different locations to offer it.

Listen in to learn what they did, how it’s working and how the new training better enabled them to track learning and strengthen their compliance program.

And, to hear more, plan on attending her session at the 2018 Compliance & Ethics Institute.

By Adam Turteltaub

With a recently revised and much abbreviated Code of Business Conduct, the compliance department at AT&T saw an opportunity.

In the past, explained Susan Bounds, who is Director, Compliance at the company, the model had been to train everyone, everywhere every year with a great deal of web-based training.  There were individual courses on every topic, which made for a lot of clicking through web pages for employees.  The company realized it was hard to maintain employee interest, and it was time to do something different.

As Susan reveals in the podcast, they decided to shake things up to reflect the updated Code but also a much more mobile workforce.

Their strategy was to develop new training that was more of an ongoing tool, not something to click through once and then put away.  The new training had to be interactive, more engaging, and more accessible for their workers.

They also looked beyond the web, adding live training and traveling to fifteen different locations to offer it.

Listen in to learn what they did, how it’s working and how the new training better enabled them to track learning and strengthen their compliance program.

And, to hear more, plan on attending her session at the 2018 Compliance & Ethics Institute.

By Adam Turteltaub

The relationship between the board of directors and the compliance team is both an important and still-developing one.  Approximately half of compliance departments report directly to the board, a recent survey of the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics and Health Care Compliance Association revealed.

Having a strong relationship is increasingly important, according to Gabe Imperato, a past president of the SCCE and HCCA, who serves as the managing partner in the Fort Lauderdale office of the law firm Nelson Mullins Broad & Cassell.  The US government has grown more specific about requirements for boards when it comes to oversight of compliance programs.  There is direction in the US Sentencing Guidelines and the DOJ Fraud Section’s compliance program evaluation questions.  There is also strong direction in settlements, frequently calling for greater board involvement in compliance.

In this podcast Gabe discusses what compliance officers should be reporting to the board, what they should be asking from the board, and how to get a board that still doesn’t get it to understand the importance of compliance.

Listen in to learn more, and start thinking about whether you should bring a member of your board to the upcoming SCCE Board Audit Committee Compliance Conference.

By Adam Turteltaub

The relationship between the board of directors and the compliance team is both an important and still-developing one.  Approximately half of compliance departments report directly to the board, a recent survey of the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics and Health Care Compliance Association revealed.

Having a strong relationship is increasingly important, according to Gabe Imperato, a past president of the SCCE and HCCA, who serves as the managing partner in the Fort Lauderdale office of the law firm Nelson Mullins Broad & Cassell.  The US government has grown more specific about requirements for boards when it comes to oversight of compliance programs.  There is direction in the US Sentencing Guidelines and the DOJ Fraud Section’s compliance program evaluation questions.  There is also strong direction in settlements, frequently calling for greater board involvement in compliance.

In this podcast Gabe discusses what compliance officers should be reporting to the board, what they should be asking from the board, and how to get a board that still doesn’t get it to understand the importance of compliance.

Listen in to learn more, and start thinking about whether you should bring a member of your board to the upcoming SCCE Board Audit Committee Compliance Conference.

By Adam Turteltaub

Kim Brandt is a familiar voice and face for the compliance community, having worked at both CMS and in the Senate for well over a decade.  Currently she serves as the Principal Deputy Administrator for Policy and Operations at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

In this podcast she shares the latest on what CMS is doing and what compliance professionals need to consider. Listen in as she shares:

* The emphasis on patients over paperwork

* CMS’s efforts to reduce the regularly burden, which has already led to a 20% decrease in new manual pages

* New, simplified documentation requirements

* Revised proof of delivery requirements

* How CMS is meeting the opioid epidemic

* A focus on targeted probes and education

* A new emphasis on outreach to and hearing from the provider community, including an RFI on Stark Law.

By Adam Turteltaub

Kim Brandt is a familiar voice and face for the compliance community, having worked at both CMS and in the Senate for well over a decade.  Currently she serves as the Principal Deputy Administrator for Policy and Operations at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

In this podcast she shares the latest on what CMS is doing and what compliance professionals need to consider. Listen in as she shares:

* The emphasis on patients over paperwork

* CMS’s efforts to reduce the regularly burden, which has already led to a 20% decrease in new manual pages

* New, simplified documentation requirements

* Revised proof of delivery requirements

* How CMS is meeting the opioid epidemic

* A focus on targeted probes and education

* A new emphasis on outreach to and hearing from the provider community, including an RFI on Stark Law.

By Adam Turteltaub

Compliance can’t and doesn’t go it alone in an organization, even though at times it can be a very lonely job.  Legal, audit and HR are all essential partners.

Amii Barnard-Bahn, an executive coach and leadership consultant knows this well from a career which has included extensive work in both HR and compliance.  As she explains in this Compliance Perspectives podcast, one of the challenges in the relationship between compliance and HR is that the two sides often don’t appreciate how alike they are.  They share many of the same challenges in gaining sufficient resources and getting a seat at the table.

At the same time, there are substantial differences between the two.  Compliance is just a part of the areas that HR focuses on, and the two departments have overlapping but different mandates.  In addition, often the personalities of compliance and HR personnel are different, she believes.

To help overcome the differences and work together more closely, each has to have empathy for the other and build trust.  That means compliance should invest, for example, in taking the time to understand HR, much like they take the time to learn the business.

To learn more about how to build a successful relationship with HR, take a few moments to listen to Amii’s thoughts.

By Adam Turteltaub

Compliance can’t and doesn’t go it alone in an organization, even though at times it can be a very lonely job.  Legal, audit and HR are all essential partners.

Amii Barnard-Bahn, an executive coach and leadership consultant knows this well from a career which has included extensive work in both HR and compliance.  As she explains in this Compliance Perspectives podcast, one of the challenges in the relationship between compliance and HR is that the two sides often don’t appreciate how alike they are.  They share many of the same challenges in gaining sufficient resources and getting a seat at the table.

At the same time, there are substantial differences between the two.  Compliance is just a part of the areas that HR focuses on, and the two departments have overlapping but different mandates.  In addition, often the personalities of compliance and HR personnel are different, she believes.

To help overcome the differences and work together more closely, each has to have empathy for the other and build trust.  That means compliance should invest, for example, in taking the time to understand HR, much like they take the time to learn the business.

To learn more about how to build a successful relationship with HR, take a few moments to listen to Amii’s thoughts.

By Adam Turteltaub

Much of the attention paid to the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and its impact for online marketing has been focused on safeguarding data, disclosing cookies and email communications with customers.  But, that’s not all there is to it.

As David Wright, the Director of the UK Safer Internet Center explains, the GDPR has a number of specific provisions that affect interactions between businesses and children.  And while the GDPR provides pan-European directives, it leaves room for state by state variations.  That makes living up to its requirements a bit more challenging for compliance teams.

Making matters more complex, the GDPR isn’t the only new law to worry about.  The UK government is likely to introduce additional legislation designed to safeguard children.

To better understand the challenge and what the compliance team needs to think about for everything from age verification to terms and conditions, spend some time listening to this podcast.  Then, if you’re interested in downloading the UK government’s guidance on children’s safety online that David refers to in the podcast, simply follow this link.