Another Refresher on Conflicts of Interest
Managing conflicts of interest is a big part of any corporate compliance officer’s job. Today we have a fascinating glimpse of how complicated that work can be, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal and its detailed account of how the now-former Kohl’s CEO Ashley Buchanan sent company business to his girlfriend. You probably remember the original story, which first hit the headlines on May 1. That was the day the $16 billion retail chain fired Buchanan , who had arrived as CEO only four months earlier, because Buchanan had “directed the company to engage in vendor transactions that involved undisclosed conflicts of interest.” It soon became clear that the conflict was Buchanan steering consulting and business contracts to Chandra Holt — a former colleague from Walmart, an accomplished business executive in her own right, and Buchanan’s romantic partner for years. Lots of people in the ethics and compliance community have praised Kohl’s board for its commitment to ...