Raising the Board's Compliance IQ: Meeting Increased Compliance Expectations

Beginning in November 2012 with the publication of A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (commonly referred to as the FCPA Resource Guide), the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities Exchange Commission have regularly been publishing useful and informative guidance on the elements of effective compliance programs and the Department and the Commission’s expectations. Following the publication of the FCPA Resource Guide, the DOJ Fraud Section published another important document in February 2017 entitled “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs”. It has been updated twice since then in 2019 and again in 2020. The FCPA Resource Guide was also updated in 2020.  These two documents are the primary desk references used by federal prosecutors to examine whether a company they are investigating has an “effective compliance program”. Because of that, it is incumbent upon board members and C-suite executives to be familiar with these documents, understand what is expected of them and to hold themselves and others accountable ensuring that the company has properly considered the risks of their unique business operations and has tailored a robust compliance program based upon a nuanced understanding of that risk. For more information visit: https://whitecollarforensic.com/