Compliance Stuff

In a prior edition we discussed the Business Case for having a Compliance and Ethics  (“C&E”) program.  Here we review the Legal Case.  The legal case for having an effective C&E program is often what causes companies to initiate C&E programs. The are several pieces to this. Legal requirements In certain risk areas and/or industries the C&E elements may be legally required. Where C&E elements are mandated, not having them can itself be a legal violation, with a range of penalties, including disruptive and expensive investigations, fines, and even prison. These requirements can be highly detailed, such as those seen in the finance sector dealing with risks like anti-money laundering.  There are also requirements related to specific risks that apply across all industries, such as required harassment training.  In the US, for example, this may be imposed at the state or municipal level.  Mandated programs can seem to those in government as...

  Employee surveys have long been part of the compliance and ethics (C&E) landscape.  This post is offered as a brief introduction to practices and views relating to such surveys. Why survey Employee surveys can provide a broad array of information about many key C&E issues at a company.   Most prominently they can assist companies in understanding and addressing challenges relating to C&E culture . This can help in various aspects of program self-assessments – and thus be useful to boards and top managers, among others.   They can also help in program design and implementation in many other ways.  Among other things, survey data can play a significant role in a risk assessment. Note, too, that surveys can be used to obtain C&E information on a granular basis.  For large global companies this can be invaluable. In addition, the Department of Justice increasingly expects companies to provide data in enforcement matters . They have pushed us t...