When was the last time you considered the health of your company’s third party management program? A good way to test that well-being is to perform a check-up on your third party program. An article entitled “Third Party Essentials: A Reputation/Liability Checkup When Using Third Parties Globally”, provided a manner for the compliance practitioner to test an “organizations health status concerning your relationship to your third parties.” The article provided seven points that you can consider in a self-assessment:

1. Do you have a list or database of all your third parties and their information? Does your company have a full list of all third parties including such basic information as name, location, type of services provided, contract files and dates, principals of the third party and primary contact, due diligence files and any other information you might need to manage the third party relationship going forward? When was the last time this list was checked or updated?
2. Have you done a risk assessment of your third parties and prioritized them by level of risk? You need to check and double-check which third party services present the greatest risk to your company by asking some of the following questions: (a) Is the third party’s service critical to your business?; (b) Is the third party’s service performed with little company supervision or oversight?; (c) Does the third party have access to any company funds, resources or assets?; (d) Can the third party fund the company contractually?; and (e) Does the third party obtain any foreign governmental licenses, certifications or other approvals for your company? When was the last time you asked these questions of the Business Sponsor or Relationship Manager.
3. Do you have a due diligence process for the selection of third parties, based on the risk assessment? You should use the information determined through the risk assessment to “tailor the level of diligence to the level of risk.” Assign a risk profile to categories, such as high, medium and low. The higher the risk, the more due diligence will be required to vet the third party. Do you receive updated due diligence reports on a quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis?
4. Once the risk categories have been determined, create a written due diligence process. Obviously you need to have a written policy and defined procedures to implement your due diligence policy. However, when was the last time it was reviewed or updated? What happens if you the compliance professional is hit by a bus coming to work? Would a substitute know what to do or would there be a written reference for your replacement? You should consider the following: (a) who is responsible for implementation; (b) list of red flags and how such red flags are to be dealt with and cleared; (c) a procedure to pay for any due diligence performed; (d) reference checks on third parties; (e) procedures for in-person interviews for third parties in a high risk category; (f) conflicts of interest checks, and (g) process for documentation and storage of all of the above information.
5. Once the third party has been selected based on the due diligence process, do you have a contract with the third party stating all the expectations? When was the last time you considered your compliance terms and conditions or reviewed all of your third party contracts to ascertain if they include compliance terms and conditions: (a) anti-corruption and anti-bribery certification; (b)requirement that the third party maintain accurate books and records and that your company has audit rights; (c) indemnity rights; (d) anti-corruption and anti-bribery training for the third party’s employees; (e) an anonymous reporting mechanism for ethics complaints; (f) require the third party to obtain pre-approval to subcontract out any of its work for your company; (g) require the third party to report any ownership change back to your company, and lastly (h) clear termination rights.
6. Relationship Managers. Just as your company would never have an employee who is not supervised, your company should not have a third party which does not have company oversight. Do you rotate Relationship Managers? What training has the compliance function provided to them as the company’s point of contact for third parties?
7. Red flags review. When was the last time you checked on your third parties for any new red flags which may have arisen after the initial due diligence was performed or completed? At what interval do you update or renew your due diligence? How about a change from the company side regarding sales, sales practices, products or services which might become high-risk?

Many companies understand the maxim “Know Your Customer (KYC)”, nevertheless, in today’s global economy this maxim may well need to be expanded to “Know Your Third Party”. The bottom is that that there is no out, no; when it comes to third party risk management and third party compliance efforts. A good place to start is with a third program party checkup.

Three Key Takeaways

1. What is the health of your third party risk management program?
2. When was the last time you reviewed and updated your third party database list?
3. Expand your KYC thinking to Know Your Third Party.

This month’s podcast series is sponsored by Opus. Opus helps free your business from the complexity and uncertainty of managing the risks associated with your customers, vendors, and third parties. By combining the most innovative Third-Party Risk Management and Know Your Customer Compliance SaaS platforms with unparalleled data solutions, Opus turns information into action so your business can thrive. Opus solutions include Hiperos 3PM accelerator, the leading platform for third party risk management. To learn more, go to www.opus.com.

 

 

 

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