Many business leaders still view Ethics & Compliance as a cost center rather than a cost reducer. This thinking can create quite the hurdle for CECOs looking to secure a
Continue Reading Organizational Integrity Shorts: Ethics & Compliance Program Funding
Previous installments of OIG Shorts addressed practical approaches to creating a more effective Ethics & Compliance program. The sixth installment of OIG Shorts focuses on the importance of measuring the
Continue Reading Organizational Integrity Shorts: Measuring The Efficacy Of Your Ethics & Compliance Program
Discipline is a complicated thing. Ask any parent. The fifth installment of OIG Shorts focuses on discipline as a core component of an effective Ethics & Compliance Program.
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Continue Reading Organizational Integrity Shorts: Let’s Be Disciplined About Discipline
In our decades working with complex organizations on their Ethics & Compliance (E&C) programs, my colleagues and I have seen a wide variety of structures. While we readily concede there
Continue Reading Organizational Integrity Shorts: Structure Matters
Welcome to our third installment of OIG Shorts. Ethics & Compliance programs that buck up against an employee’s reality—whether that reality is real or perceived—have less chance of succeeding. In
Continue Reading Organizational Integrity Shorts: Reality Based Ethics & Compliance Programs
Welcome back to our second installment of OIG Shorts. In this post, the Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP Organizational Integrity Group focuses on the difference between Checking Boxes and
Continue Reading Organizational Integrity Shorts: Everyone Benefits When An Ethics & Compliance Program Is Integrated Throughout An Organization
Over the course of the next few months, the Sheppard Mullin Organizational Integrity Group will be exploring a number of complex compliance matters in a series we call “OIG Shorts.”
The inattention some companies pay to their ethics and compliance program never ceases to surprise us. You’d think the frequency of DOJ press releases and prosecutions holding companies accountable for employee wrongdoing would be enough to scare any business into directing more resources at prevention. But alas, many businesses, often over the protestations of their under-resourced Chief Ethics and Compliance Officers (CECOs), continue to think they can get by with a minimalist approach to ethics and compliance. Our experience suggests otherwise.
Continue Reading DOJ’s Renewed Focus On Corporate Ethics & Compliance Programs Highlights Importance Of Organizational Integrity
Government enforcement efforts are on the rise. In December 2021, the Secret Service announced an initiative to more aggressively counter pandemic-related fraud. Empowered by new personnel, new funding, and new legislation, the DOJ has bolstered its antitrust enforcement efforts. Gurbir Grewal, the SEC’s new director of enforcement, shared his aggressive SOX enforcement plans in a recent PLI speech. Speaking at the ABA 36th White Collar Crime Institute, Deputy AG Lisa Monaco announced the DOJ would be re-energizing its enforcement of “white collar” wrongdoing. “Although we understand the costs that enforcement actions can place on shareholders and others,” she told the audience, “our responsibility is to incentivize responsible corporate citizenship, a culture of compliance and a sense of accountability.”
Continue Reading Driving Cultural Change To Reduce Corporate Risk: Lessons Learned From The Field
In 1657, mathematician Blaise Pascal commented in a letter to his church leaders “I have made this longer than usual because I did not have time to make it shorter.” More than 100 years later, another Frenchman, Napoleon Bonaparte, offered a similar remark to his valet as he prepared to head out for battle. “Dress me slowly,” he said, “I’m in a hurry.” The irony of the quotations makes people smile, but few quibble with their underlying truthfulness. Often, the more in a hurry you are, the more you need to slow down.
Continue Reading Using “Prospective Hindsight” To Identify And Mitigate Risks During A Crisis