Compliance into the Weeds

The award winning, Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast which takes a deep dive into a compliance related topic, literally going into the weeds to more fully explore a subject. In this episode, Matt and I take a deep dive into recent decision by the Delaware Court of Chancery in the McDonald’s case creating a duty of oversight for corporate officers. Some of the highlights include:·      Why bad facts can make bad law?·      The sordid facts of David Fairhurst during his tenure at McDonald’s.·      The legal rationale.·      What is Caremark and how did it influence this decision?·      What does it mean for CCOs?·      How does this decision intertwine with the Monaco Doctrine, CCO certification and the new Corporate Enforcement Policy? ResourcesTom with a multipart series on the FCPA Compliance and Ethics BlogMatt Kelly with two posts in Radical Compliance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The award winning, Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast which takes a deep dive into a compliance related topic, literally going into the weeds to more fully explore a subject. In this episode, Matt and I take a deep dive into the recent Kenneth Polite speech announcing changes to the Corporate Enforcement Policy. Some of the highlights include:·      What are the policy reasons for the change?·      Real credit now being given for effective compliance programs.·      What about self-disclosure?·      What is the new definition of an effective compliance program?·      Is the DOJ trying to avoid 5th Amendment concerns? Will it work?·      New percentage discounts and what they really mean?·      Why does Matt have more questions? ResourcesTom cited in CCIMatt Kelly in Radical Compliance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The award winning, Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast which takes a deep dive into a compliance related topic, literally going into the weeds to more fully explore a subject. In this episode, Matt and I take a look the recent SEC enforcement action involving Steve Easterbrook and McDonald’s. Some of the highlights include:·      Matt tells the tale.·      Should Easterbrook have originally been fired for cause for violating the company Code of Conduct?·      What were the factors for the Board in not terminating for cause?·      Should Easterbrook have been awarded a golden parachute the first time around? ·      Why did the SEC issue a Cease and Desist Order against McDonalds? ·      What, if anything, should McDonalds have disclosed? ·      What does this case say about clawbacks? Corporate culture?·      What are the lessons learned? ResourcesMatt Kelly in Radical Compliance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The award winning, Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast which takes a deep dive into a compliance related topic, literally going into the weeds to more fully explore a subject. In this episode, Matt and I take a look at the recent NY state Department of Financial Services sanction involving the crypto trading platform Coinbase, which just agreed to pay $50 million to the DFS and to spend another $50 million over the next two years to improve its compliance program. Some of the highlights include:·      What was the fine and associated spending for? ·      What did the Coinbase compliance program fail on?·      How did Coinbase’s explosive growth fuel a culture of non-compliance. ·      How did Coinbase fall further and further behind? ·      Why and how did the Coinbase solution worsen the problem? ·      Why does a company need to start with solid foundation of clearly defined procedures? ·      What is the role of an effective and efficient technology?·      What are the lessons learned? ResourcesMatt Kelly in Radical Compliance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The award winning, Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast which takes a deep dive into a compliance related topic, literally going into the weeds to more fully explore a subject. In this episode, Matt and I consider a list of compliance issues and events worth watching in the next 12 months, likely to happen in the coming year that will be most consequential for corporate compliance and audit professionals. For 2023 (at least at this point) it is the following:·      SEC rules on greenhouse gases. ·      PCAOB enforcement. ·      The FTC and privacy enforcement. ·      Fallout from the Oracle FCPA enforcement action.·      New DOJ corporate crime enforcement policies.·      An ESG controller.·      Crash and burn of Elon Musk style corporate governance.  ResourcesMatt Kelly in Radical Compliance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The award winning, Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast which takes a deep dive into a compliance related topic, literally going into the weeds to more fully explore a subject. In this episode, we consider the Danske Bank AML enforcement action, the bank recently pled guilty to money-laundering violations through its Estonia subsidiaries.Some of the highlights included:·      The background facts. ·      What did the home bank know and when?·      Did a tech failure set this all in motion?·      The Bank’s attempts to hide the violations from US authorities.·      Why is the US and not Denmark bringing an enforcement action against a Danish bank?·      What about CCO certification?·      The role of the Danish monitor. ResourcesTom in the FCPA Compliance and Ethics BlogMatt Kelly in Radical Compliance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The award winning, Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast which takes a deep dive into a compliance related topic, literally going into the weeds to more fully explore a subject. In this episode, we continue the ongoing saga of Wells Fargo and its fraudulent accounts scandal. Recently an administrative law judge has affirmed that three former audit and risk management executives at Wells Fargo should face millions in penalties for their sloppy oversight during the bank’s fake-account scandal in the 2010s. The defendants were Claudia Russ Anderson, former group risk officer for Wells Fargo’s community banking division; David Julian, former chief auditor; and Paul McLinko, former executive audit director.Some of the highlights include:·      The background facts. ·      Will the fallout from the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal ever end? (Hint-When our Sun goes supernova.)·      What is failure to provide a credible challenge?·      Why are these execs trying to defend their inaction?·      Why a clear line of authority is needed in compliance.·      A root cause analysis is a basic Hallmark of an effective compliance program. Why was it separately called out?·      What are the lessons learned for compliance? ResourcesMatt Kelly in Radical Compliance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The award-winning, Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast that takes a deep dive into a compliance-related topic, literally going into the weeds to explore a subject. In this episode, we consider the ABB Foreign Corrupt Practices Act resolution. We deep dive into the case and ask three key questions: (1) How did ABB obtain such a superior resolution? (2) As a three-time FCPA violator, how did the company avoid a monitor? (3) Why was there no requirement for Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) certification?Some of the highlights included: The background facts. The corrupt supplier’s ABB used to facilitate their bribery and corruption. The convoluted self-disclosure in this matter. (Should they have used Twitter with the notation #committedbribery?) What constituted extraordinary cooperation during the pendency of the investigation? What are the implications of real-time sharing during an investigation? What were the steps which demonstrated the exception remediation? A root cause analysis is a basic Hallmark of an effective compliance program. Why was it separately called out? Did the DOJ change its policy from mandatory CCO certification to discretionary?  ResourcesTom has a five-part series in the FCPA Compliance and Ethics BlogMatt Kelly in Radical Compliance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The award winning, Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast which takes a deep dive into a compliance related topic, literally going into the weeds to more fully explore a subject. In this episode, we consider the very prescient topic of mental health and compliance officers. There is a mental health crisis in the U.S. workforce today, and that applies to compliance officers as well. Matt recently moderated a webinar, hosted by Ethico, on how mental health issues can affect corporate culture and compliance officers themselves. The panelists included Paul Liebman, head of compliance at Harvard University; and Sarah Ross, a former compliance officer at Novartis who now runs a consulting business on burnout, depression, and related issues; and Nick Gallo, co-CEO at Ethico.Some of the highlights included: How the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the issues of mental health for all workers. We had some great suggestions from the panelists and webinar participants. Understanding the difference between mental health and mental illness, is critical. Consider how your company could weave mental health awareness into training, and especially manager training. Define boundaries between work and personal life. Why find yourself a friend in your field can be a critical mental health safety check. If you feel like you have someone to speak to about stress, you’re more likely to understand and confront that stress. True for compliance officers and other employees alike. There is a strong connection between mental health and a speakup culture generally. If employees feel afraid to speak up about feeling stressed or overworked, would they be equally reluctant to speak up about misconduct.  ResourcesMatt Kelly in Radical Compliance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The award winning, Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast which takes a deep dive into a compliance related topic, literally going into the weeds to more fully explore a subject. In this episode, we consider the recent collapse of the crypto currency trading platform FTX. We look at it from a variety of angles. Highlights include:·       Where does FTX rate in terms of catastrophic business failures?·       What were the internal control failures?·       How much fraud was involved?·       FTX is domiciled outside the US. What does that mean for the review process?·       Will this lead to regulation over crypto? ResourcesMatt Levine in Bloomberg on FTX’s balance sheetMatt Kelly in Radical Compliance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices