The Compliance Handbook

Third parties are still perceived as the most prominent high risk for companies. Other than bribery and corruption -- modern slavery/human trafficking, data privacy, information and cybersecurity, anti-money laundering, and other areas are requiring third-party integrated risk assessment and planning. 

Compliance and data privacy law thought leader Kristy Grant-Hart, CEO of Spark Compliance Consulting, offers an innovative approach and inspiring perspective in this conversation.  

Major takeaways discussed in the episode:

About Thomas Fox:

Thomas Fox, the Compliance Evangelist®, is one of the leading writers, thinkers, and commentators on anti-bribery and anti-corruption compliance. In this latest edition of The Compliance Handbook, he continues to arm seasoned compliance professionals and those new to the realm with the practical, actionable guidance and tools needed to design, create, implement and continually enhance a best practices compliance program.

The "Nuts and Bolts" for Creating a Comprehensive Compliance Plan

This chapter of this unique work lays out a succinct yet thorough one-month approach to operationalizing a company's compliance regimen. Beginning with a section on what 2020 brought to the compliance landscape, each chapter methodically outlines best practices for everything from establishing policies, procedures, and internal controls, to assessing risk, training, handling investigations, and more. Each day ends with three key takeaways you can implement at little or no cost.

Understanding Compliance Responsibility Across the Organization

The Compliance Handbook also takes a close look at all professionals' roles with compliance responsibility, from Compliance Officers and Boards of Directors to Human Resources, to Internal Audit and Internal Controls and Communications and Training professionals.

In-Depth Treatment of Hot Topics and Trends

The Handbook provides an in-depth look at the latest thinking and trends for the full range of critical compliance topics, including:

• Compliance and business ventures

• Third-party risk management

• The Board's Role in Compliance

• Continuous improvement

• Compliance innovation

• And much more

Order your copy OR copies of The Compliance Handbook: A Guide to Operationalizing Your Compliance Program. Save 25% off.

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The Human Resources and Compliance departments play a crucial role in building a healthy workplace culture to stay relevant and succeed. 

Many organizations face significant structural deficiencies that fail to bridge the gap between Compliance and H.R. In terms of structure, most often, there is a failure in defining roles and responsibilities that tends to be confusing to the management, which looks inefficient or redundant.  

Like a well-oiled machine, a company functions seamlessly if both H.R. and compliance functions are synched and compatible when power, resources, and procedures are strategically set without overlapping. 

To further explore this underutilized program, I spoke with one of the unique people in the compliance space. An executive coach, strategic advisor, and keynote speaker described by Forbes as "one of the top coaches for legal and compliance executives." 

Amii Barnard - Bahn will add transparency as an H.R. professional to the compliance function to help accelerate compliance and legal executives' success.

Major takeaways discussed in the episode:

● Compliance officers should be aware of the Human Resource functions, like recruitment, employee annual life cycle, performance reviews, and compensation. Being involved in the process ensures that the company is getting the right people and ensuring strong ethical standards. If unchecked, conflict of interests is embedded even in the employment application that goes unchecked.

● Set up a Helpline instead of a hotline which is friendlier and less scary. Doing so gives people the confidence to speak up comfortably, raise questions and report misconduct without fear. Encouraging transparency in the workplace creates a belief that the company takes action. More calls mean more confidence that organizational justice can be served. 

● Positional authority isn't the way to go and will not be useful in the future workplace. The pandemic has shown how the dynamics have changed, and good leadership and influence skills will get things done. Compliance officers should be critical of this going forward. 

● Modern workers stay long in a company that they're proud of and that they feel is doing good work. The compliance department should look at strategies and steps towards reaching out and connecting with their employees and participating if not taking a stand involving necessary and impactful causes.

DOWNLOAD the FREE Promotability Index® by Amii Barnard-Bahn. Text number is 44-222. The word is PROMOTEME. 

About Thomas Fox:

Thomas Fox, the Compliance Evangelist®, is one of the leading writers, thinkers, and commentators on anti-bribery and anti-corruption compliance. In this latest edition of The Compliance Handbook, he continues to arm seasoned compliance professionals and those new to the realm with the practical, actionable guidance and tools needed to design, create, implement and continually enhance a best practices compliance program.

The "Nuts and Bolts" for Creating a Comprehensive Compliance Plan

The chapter of this unique work lays out a succinct yet thorough one month approach to operationalizing a company's compliance regimen. Beginning with a section on what 2020 brought to the compliance landscape, each chapter methodically outlines best practices for everything from establishing policies, procedures, and internal controls, to assessing risk, training, handling investigations, and more. Each day ends with three key takeaways you can implement at little or no cost.

Order your copy OR copies of The Compliance Handbook: A Guide to Operationalizing Your Compliance Program. Save 25% off.

 http://www.lexisnexis.com/fox25

Internal Controls

Internal controls are an organization's processes, regulations, and practices for maintaining corporate governance's accuracy in fostering transparency and avoiding fraud. Internal controls may help enhance operating performance by improving the accuracy and reliability of financial statements, in addition to compliance with laws and legislation and discouraging workers from embezzling assets or committing fraud.

In another uber-treat episode of The Compliance Handbook, I've invited Karen Woody to talk about internal controls' role in compliance.

Key takeaways discussed in the chapter:

• Understand how internal controls are compared to smoke alarms that go off if there's some wrongdoing happening. 

• Dive deeper into the four keys of internal controls for compliance. Learn how to use each key in your goal to have an ethical company.

• Get the point that Internal controls can change, evolve, and grow as the bad guys get more sophisticated. Find the solution on how your organization can implement a dynamic policy.

• Wade through the COSO 2013 Internal Controls Framework and see if the same policies will work for your organization.

• Have knowledge of how the SEC views internal controls and why we have non-bribery SEC internal control enforcement actions.

About Thomas Fox:

Thomas Fox, the Compliance Evangelist®, is one of the leading writers, thinkers, and commentators on anti-bribery and anti-corruption compliance. In this latest edition of The Compliance Handbook, he continues to arm seasoned compliance professionals and those new to the realm with the practical, actionable guidance and tools needed to design, create, implement and continually enhance a best practices compliance program.

The "Nuts and Bolts" for Creating a Comprehensive Compliance Plan

The first chapter of this unique work lays out a succinct yet thorough 31-day approach to operationalizing a company's compliance regimen. Beginning with a section on what 2020 brought to the compliance landscape, the chapter methodically outlines best practices for everything from establishing policies, procedures, and internal controls, to assessing risk, training, handling investigations, and more. Each day ends with three key takeaways you can implement at little or no cost.

Order your copy OR copies of The Compliance Handbook: A Guide to Operationalizing Your Compliance Program. Save 25% off.

 http://www.lexisnexis.com/fox25

Innovation in Compliance with Ben Locwin

Companies need to be more innovative when it gets down to compliance. Thus, compliance practitioners should ensure that ethics and compliance are central to the business operation in response to today's evolving and fast-paced regulatory environment. Consequently, compliance programs should be innovative, behavior-based, yet consistent with organizational systems and policies. 

However, one loophole with many compliance officers is they have legal professional backgrounds—the majority proceeds from the general counsel's office and private practice. Frankly, innovation is not high on the charts for what most compliance officers are taught. Instead, they were familiarized with the Socratic method to read cases and learn how to argue points. 

So, how can a Corporate Compliance Officer think about an innovation strategy for any risk management program?

Ben Locwin, a well-known innovator in a wide variety of fields, is here to throw in some light about Innovation in Compliance. 

Key takeaways discussed in the episode:

• Decipher that connecting innovation and compliance is the pursuit of understanding the truth in the false positives and the false negatives.

• Come to know that there's a marked difference between innovation and invention. Innovating the compliance infrastructure is always much more straightforward than creating something from scratch.

• See through the truth that we're drowning in data but thirsting for information. Updating your beliefs with better data will always lead to better risk management outcomes. 

• Change the way you're looking at information so that you can position your company at the front edge boundary of what's accurate and correct.

• Be reminded that the paradigm is changing; companies don't stay static, people's behavior doesn't stay static. Thus, continuous monitoring leads to constant improvement.

About Thomas Fox:

Thomas Fox, the Compliance Evangelist®, is one of the leading writers, thinkers, and commentators on anti-bribery and anti-corruption compliance. In this latest edition of The Compliance Handbook, he continues to arm seasoned compliance professionals and those new to the realm with the practical, actionable guidance and tools needed to design, create, implement and continually enhance a best practices compliance program.

The "Nuts and Bolts" for Creating a Comprehensive Compliance Plan

The first chapter of this unique work lays out a succinct yet thorough 31-day approach to operationalizing a company's compliance regimen. Beginning with a section on what 2020 brought to the compliance landscape, the chapter methodically outlines best practices for everything from establishing policies, procedures, and internal controls, to assessing risk, training, handling investigations, and more. Each day ends with three key takeaways you can implement at little or no cost.

Understanding Compliance Responsibility Across the Organization

The Compliance Handbook also takes a close look at all professionals' roles with compliance responsibility, from Compliance Officers and Boards of Directors to Human Resources, to Internal Audit and Internal Controls and Communications and Training professionals.

In-Depth Treatment of Hot Topics and Trends

The Handbook provides an in-depth look at the latest thinking and trends for the full range of critical compliance topics, including:

• Compliance and business ventures

• Third-party risk management

• The Board's Role in Compliance

• Continuous improvement

• Compliance innovation

• And much more

Order your copy OR copies of The Compliance Handbook: A Guide to Operationalizing Your Compliance Program. Save 25% off.

 http://www.lexisnexis.com/fox25

Written Standards & Great Women In Compliance with Mary Shirley & Lisa Fine

The definition of a successful compliance program is not foreign for many compliance specialists. However, the challenge is to understand what it truly means for a compliance program to be effective. 

Most organizations claim that the central meaning of compliance is to define and enforce guidelines and standards that can minimize the possibility of a violation of compliance. Though, the truth remains that if misconduct exists, your attempt to highlight that your compliance policy conforms with regulatory requirements will increment your culpability score and contribute to a noticeable difference in fines and jail time.

To help you paddle through your compliance programs, I recently met two influential women in compliance, Lisa Fines and Mary Shirley. These phenomenal women will add transparency to these ethics and compliance concerns. We will dive into written compliance and touch base on #GWIC (Great Women In Compliance) and how it has become a powerful platform that supports compliance practitioners.  

Key takeaways discussed in the episode:

• Know what is written compliance inside out. Understand that everybody needs to know what the rules are. But, it should not be lawyer-written, 20 pages long. Use the simplest terms possible, break things down to the absolute essential thinking. 

• Call to mind that the code is our ethos, and the policies are the regulations to explain them. If possible, get your message across in the shortest possible time using the least words possible.

• Hark back to the truth that there is no one size fits all compliance program. Thus, make learning come to life and apply it to people's job roles. As much as possible, tell people what the expectations are and help facilitate their decision-making.

• Factor into that it's natural to maintain your relationships with former colleagues, but It's not okay and could be risky if you talk shop with them.

• Support Women Empowerment and appreciate their contributions, especially in compliance. Learn how #GWIC grew into a community of great women who share valuable resources and support compliance practitioners. 

About Thomas Fox:

Thomas Fox, the Compliance Evangelist®, is one of the leading writers, thinkers, and commentators on anti-bribery and anti-corruption compliance. In this latest edition of The Compliance Handbook, he continues to arm seasoned compliance professionals and those new to the realm with the practical, actionable guidance and tools needed to design, create, implement and continually enhance a best practices compliance program.

Incorporating Current Government Pronouncements

The Second Edition incorporates the most current government pronouncements governing best practices compliance programs, including the 2019 Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs released by the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice, and its 2020 Update; the updated FCPA Resource Guide 2nd edition; the Framework for OFAC Compliance Commitments; and the 2019 DOJ Antitrust Division's Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs in Criminal Antitrust.

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Order your copy OR copies of The Compliance Handbook: A Guide to Operationalizing Your Compliance Program. Save 25% off.

 http://www.lexisnexis.com/fox25

Effective Compliance Program Hallmark: Training and Communication with Ronnie and Ricardo

Organizations take measures to articulate their policies and guidelines realistically. Doing this ensures that they can promote their compliance and ethics programs to people with unique positions and obligations by meaningful preparation and exchanging knowledge relevant to them.

However, due to their limited understanding of the hallmarks of effective compliance, specifically training and communication, plus the amount of consideration and attention they provide to it, companies sometimes fall far short of the compliance goals.

While several companies and regulatory agencies assume that they treat the training and communication hallmark well, this is the area they sometimes curve out of their most vital point.

The reasons why most organizations struggle to fulfill the criteria of this hallmark can be:

In today's Compliance Handbook chapter, we'll dive deeper into the fourth hallmark of effective compliance frameworks: training and communication. We're joined by two experts in the compliance field, Ronnie Feldman and Ricardo Pellafone.  

Key takeaways discussed in the chapter:

• While training is valuable most of the time, it's not a tool to an end in compliance. It's a tool you use to prevent misconduct, but it's not an end in itself. It fills a unique niche within the compliance officer's means, but it's compelling when used for the right purpose. 

• Discover how not to lose trust. Note that if compliance training is boring and preachy, people are annoyed at you for making them go through the experience. As a result, they don't think well of compliance, which means they are much less likely to speak up to ask questions and report concerns. 

• Analyze who among the players in your organization had to undergo compliance training. Find answers to questions like, "Will the compliance training benefit the regular employee, or it should be those that are in the higher ends—with the authority to either create or control risk?"

• Training is good, but also consider that people need reminding more than they need instruction.

• Simplicity and utility are the keys! Your compliance framework should not be extensive and complicated. When things are designed well and they are useful, people will use them.

• Have you ever been caught in a situation where you're a manager, you have to approve an invoice from a third party. What are you looking for? That is something that pretty much no one is ever trained on what to do. This is the big difference between the traditional top-down model of training versus the training model used by Ricardo Pellafone. If you want to learn more about this training method, tune in to the chapter. 

• Comedy and entertainment principles can go along with compliance? Sure thing! We like trying new things and discover how well Ronnie blended these elements to create an effective compliance framework. 

Order your copy OR copies of The Compliance Handbook: A Guide to Operationalizing Your Compliance Program. Save 25% off. http://www.lexisnexis.com/fox25

The Board's overarching intention is to maintain a company's growth and success by overseeing its affairs while fulfilling its owners and critical parties' appropriate needs.

On a case-by-case basis, it is for the Board to judge which participants it treats as 'important' and which of its concerns is necessary to comply with, keeping in view the legislation, the relevant laws, and market considerations. A board of directors does a uniquely challenging range of obligations and obstacles in fulfilling this core objective and often faces a set of contradicting set of priorities.

These Pandora's boxes motivated Tom Fox to take a leap and do something to educate and provide valuable resources for board members and those in the same field. 

In todays' episode of The Compliance Podcast, Tom is joined by the legendary Mike Volkov of the Volkov Law Group. Tune in to the episode as Tom and Mike share a meaningful discussion about the "The Role of Boards and Compliance."

Key Takeaways Discussed in the Episode:

• Be reminded of the crucial roles of the Board as accentuated by Mike Volkov. According to Mike, at all times, the Board should;

• Promote the goodwill of clients and related stakeholders.

• Bear the accountability for overseeing the company and its operations through a management structure and entrepreneurial leadership. 

• Be mainly accountable for authorizing the organization's strategic goals and working to ensure that the human and financial capital required to achieve such objectives are made available.

• Continually evaluates the risk assessment and internal control activities of the organization through the Audit Committee.

• Recognize any weaknesses or shortcomings to accomplish its ultimate aim. Therefore, the Board is advised to reflect on specific duties that it must or intends to conduct itself and determine if the top leadership can execute further in the correct way.

• Have you heard of the "High-minded Nondisclosure Route"? If not, tune in to the episode, as this might help when things get rough. 

• Recognize the importance of having a Board of Directors' Compliance Committee and why there should be a Compliance expert on the Board.

• Hear more about what leads to a successful Board investigation and the compliance metrics a Board should look for. 

• Be informed of recent Board failures in compliance and learn from these failures to not walk on the same path.

• Explore the promising outcomes of incorporating compliance into long-term Board strategy.

• Does the Board have a role in hiring? How about in the succession planning for a CCO(Chief Commercial Officer)? YES! The Board plays a crucial role in these organizational decisions. Watch the full show or listen to the podcast if you're interested to know more about these roles. 

About Thomas Fox:

Thomas Fox, the Compliance Evangelist®, is one of the leading writers, thinkers and commentators on anti-bribery and anti-corruption compliance. In this latest edition of The Compliance Handbook he continues to arm seasoned compliance professionals, and those new to the realm, with the practical, actionable guidance and tools needed to design, create, implement and continually enhance a best practices compliance program.

Understanding Compliance Responsibility Across the Organization

The Compliance Handbook also takes a close look at the role of all professionals with compliance responsibility, from Compliance Officers and Boards of Directors, to Human Resources, to Internal Audit and Internal Controls and Communications and Training professionals.

Order your copy OR copies of the The Compliance Handbook: A Guide to Operationalizing Your Compliance Program. Save 25% off.

 http://www.lexisnexis.com/fox25

How Do You Create an Effective Compliance Program with Stephen Martin 

The compliance department is frequently viewed by companies as an afterthought. Many companies scramble to bring procedures in place only on time or after it’s too late. Worse still, the position is siloed by several companies, with the sales team seeing compliance officers mostly as too fast to respond "No!".   

Ironically, though, businesses lacking a compliance culture frequently contend with more disciplinary measures and lawsuits than their complying rivals rather than concentrating on operating a profitable company. In other terms, vital resources are saved with a successful compliance policy, covering individuals, time, and capital.

Realistically, building a compliance foundation is the most significant security for an organization to reduce risk. Thus, growing to achieve sales and creating proof of compliance with applicable laws, compliance should be recognized as an internal insurance system. With that, organizations should strive to develop a successful compliance program.

But, how do you create an effective compliance program?

Most organizations start by implementing 'StoneTurn's Global Compliance Framework'. These standards have been widely recognized and applied internationally to lead enterprises in day-to-day activities, thus aligning with national rules, regional codes, and sector best practices.

In this chapter of The Compliance Handbook, we're joined by a renowned expert in the world of compliance, Stephen Martin. Join us as we understand the essence of creating a practical compliance framework for your organization.  

Key takeaways mentioned in the chapter: 

• Realize that compliance is far beyond FCPA compliance. AML, Anti-trust, Fraud, FCA, trade sanctions. It is helping the business better return on investment and driving ethics in a much more visible way.

• The number one challenge in compliance right now is the expectation that you can use data analytics to help with your oversight and monitoring of your compliance program. Learn how to get above this challenge and set compliance systems in place so you'll never encounter the same issue in the future. 

• Take something on board to focus much on the ethics and the culture side by implementing your effective compliance program. 

• Remind yourself that, Ethical Leadership is the best compliance measure that you could put in place. But again, companies struggle with that area about how do you do it? Culture change is not easy, and cultural impact is not easy.

• The "31 Days to a More Effective Compliance Program" is the answer to all your compliance issues. Learn more about this framework straight from the expert himself, Stephen Martin.

Watch the full episode on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/14rqfEA5hg8 or catch it on your favorite podcast app.

About Thomas Fox:

Thomas Fox, the Compliance Evangelist®, is one of the leading writers, thinkers and commentators on anti-bribery and anti-corruption compliance. In this latest edition of The Compliance Handbook he continues to arm seasoned compliance professionals, and those new to the realm, with the practical, actionable guidance and tools needed to design, create, implement and continually enhance a best practices compliance program.

Understanding Compliance Responsibility Across the Organization

The Compliance Handbook also takes a close look at the role of all professionals with compliance responsibility, from Compliance Officers and Boards of Directors, to Human Resources, to Internal Audit and Internal Controls and Communications and Training professionals.

Order your copy OR copies of the The Compliance Handbook: A Guide to Operationalizing Your Compliance Program. Save 25% off.

 http://www.lexisnexis.com/fox25