In this episode, I meet with Jamie Wallisch, Regulatory & Sustainability expert at Assent - a leader in supply chain sustainability management solutions. In 2023, Jamie visited the cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo to get  a better understanding of the human side of artisanal mining. Assent developed a full three episode video series of their experience and observations (see below for link). The series aims to show how manufacturers can take proactive steps toward responsible sourcing and better understand the human side of the situation in the DRC and other covered countries.

This podcast episode features Varun's portions of the interviews in the video series, where we touch on topics such as:

1. Building an ESG program to consider risks emanating from critical minerals sourcing
2. Bringing together stakeholders to prioritize top ESG risks
3. Leveraging compliance and risk management programs to support responsible sourcing
4. How companies can support international organizations and NGOs to support the people of the DRC

Link to Assent's video series: https://www.assent.com/resources/cobalt/congo-supply-chain-risk/

In this episode, we discuss how the gambling scandal involving Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter hurt Ohtani's image as an honest, transparent superstar. From a corruption perspective, we discuss how even allegations of wrongdoing can impact a player or business's reputation. 

In this new episode, we take a look at the reasons why Shohei Ohtani's new contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers - for $700 million dollars, is potentially harmful to the game of the baseball. From a legal and business standpoint, we discuss: 

1) Changes in the business strategy of individual teams and the league
2) The labor employment challenges of increasing fairness in baseball, and
3) How marketability may be more important than winning (soon)

In this episode, we revisit the world of sports to discuss why the "Patriot Way", the culture of the vaunted New England Patriots football team, failed to take hold on other teams. Rather than examining why the Patriot Way failed for football reasons, we try to determine why, as a corporate culture, this system failed when implemented by former New England coaches like Josh McDaniels on teams like the Broncos and Raiders. 

Sources:

The Patriot Way (theplayerstribune.com)

The Patriot Way, explained - Pats Pulpit

Understanding The Importance Of Corporate Culture After The Great Resignation (forbes.com)

Meeting with Josh McDaniels, GM backfires, Jay Cutler asks Denver Broncos for trade - ESPN

https://defector.com/the-problem-was-always-josh-mcdaniels

In this episode, we turn to the world of sports to discuss how the Los Angeles of Anaheim, owned by businessman Arte Moreno, have slowly become baseball's most corrupt team. We examine how corruption within the team, its management, and its third parties have affected the team's performance on the field. The LA Angels, once destined to be a great team through the drafting of Mike Trout and signing of Shohei Ohtani, have now suffered losing seasons for 9 years straight. 

Sources include:

Will Arte Moreno's possible Angels sale remedy bad decisions? - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)

The impact of corruption on growth and inequality (transparency.org)

Northern District of Texas | Former Angels Communications Director Eric Kay Sentenced to 22 Years in Tyler Skaggs Overdose Case | United States Department of Justice

Anaheim Kills $320 Million Angel Stadium Sale Over Corruption Scandal (lamag.com)

In this episode, I'm joined by Warren Calove, an expert on Web3, cryptocurrency and NFTs. Warren is a project manager for a Web3 company called Drip (https://www.dripstudios.io/) and heads up his own Web3 company. 

In this episode, we discuss why Web3 could be the future of the internet, despite news of ethical issues related to cryptocurrency exchanges and NFTs. Topics include:

1) What is Web3, and how it differs from current and previous iterations of the internet
2) Why some people and companies want to move to Web3 
3) How Web3 can help businesses and creators monetize their works
4) Why Web3 businesses have had ethical issues, and what kind of compliance leadership is needed to steer these entities in the right direction
5) What is blockchain technology, and how does it power Web3
6) What are NFTs and do they really have value
7) How Web3 establishes communities and can help against the centralized authority imposed by Web2 companies

In this episode, we discuss why the SEC has been aggressively filing suits against crypto exchanges like Binance and Coinbase. We take a look at the SEC's recent history of utilizing "industry sweeps" to make examples of companies, in order to execute a deterrent effect across similar companies or industries.

Sources utilized for this episode include:

US tightens crackdown on crypto with lawsuits against Coinbase, Binance | Reuters

SEC sues Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao for U.S. securities violations (cnbc.com)

The SEC is suing Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange - The Verge

SEC.gov | SEC Charges 16 Wall Street Firms with Widespread Recordkeeping Failures

Financial Advisor IQ - SEC Enforcer: ‘You Bet’ There Will Be More Sweeps

In this episode, we cover how compliance and risk professionals can begin utilizing ChatGPT and whether the application's features are mature enough to help companies manage risk. We run through several real use cases to demonstrate how ChatGPT can be used and what changes need to be made for the application to be an effective tool for the compliance and risk industry.

Sources utilized for this episode include the following:

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/employers-should-consider-these-risks-when-employees-use-chatgpt

https://joshbersin.com/2023/01/understanding-chat-gpt-and-why-its-even-bigger-than-you-think/

https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2022/06/21/microsofts-framework-for-building-ai-systems-responsibly/

https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/why-were-all-obsessed-with-the-mind-blowing-chatgpt-ai-chatbot/

In this episode, we turn to the world of ESG and sustainability to discuss the newly adopted Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The CSRD potentially imposes several reporting requirements on companies in and around the European Union. In this episode, learn more about:

1) What the CSRD is and the reasons behind its enactment
2) Which types of organizations it applies to
3) What companies need to report on
4) Potential challenges to compliance and reporting

Note that this episode does not constitute legal advice on the CSRD, and is purely my take on the directive, based on my reading of it. 

In the first inaugural episode of Ethical Crossroads, we dive into the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange and try to determine the guiding ethical questions from this situation.