There's a new tool in the compliance officer's toolbox. And not only is it free, it also answers one of the most common questions asked by those who have to update company compliance policies: What is everyone else doing? >>
A Texas attorney has gathered 489 publicly available corporate codes of conduct, and they are now searchable through the website of the Ethisphere Institute, a compliance and ethics think tank. >>
A company's code of conduct sends a strong message to employees and federal investigators, alike—whether it's clear and instructive, full of ambiguities, or altogether void of certain policies. >>
Say you’re an in-house lawyer developing a compliance policy on gifts and hospitality for an oil and gas company. Or maybe you’re in private practice and helping a telecommunications company implement a whistleblower hotline.
Where do you turn for a benchmark?
On Tuesday, the business ethics think tank [The Ethisphere Institute] rolled out a new online database that compiles the codes of conduct and policies from the 500 largest corporations by revenue into a searchable dataset. Access to the database, which was created in partnership with attorneys
Ryan D. McConnell, Katharine Southard and Charlotte Simon, is free. >>
A coalition of 40 investment professionals, foundations, religious investors, and financial planners have come out in support of a proposal to require public companies to disclose their spending on political campaigns. >>
Among Fortune 500 companies, only 19 of those with public codes of conduct prohibit their employees from making so-called "grease payments" to foreign officials. >>
Is giving a bottle of wine a bribe? What if it goes to a government official in China? What if 10 more of your employees also gave the same official a nice gift while he was considering a contract with your company? A new anti-bribery tool from TRACE International, Inc. aims to keep corporate gifts on the up-and-up. >>
More than a year after the Dodd-Frank financial reform law expanded protections for whistleblowers from retaliation by their employers, more than 100 Fortune 500 companies have bare-bone policies on non-retaliation. >>
The Ethisphere Institute is partnering with law firms and other experts to launch the Anti-Corruption Resource Center, a collection of online tools and resources designed to share best practices and practical advice in global anti-corruption efforts. >>
DALLAS –
The Ethisphere Institute has partnered with Haynes and Boone, LLP to launch the Anti-Corruption Resource Center, a collection of online tools and resources designed to share best practices and practical advice in global anti-corruption efforts.
Haynes and Boone attorneys
Ryan McConnell and
Larry Finder, and fomer associate Katharine Southard contributed by building the Ethisphere/Haynes and Boone Non-Prosecution and Deferred Prosecution Agreements (NPA/DPA) Database. >>
Two Houston-based Haynes and Boone, LLP partners have been honored as
Ethisphere Institute 2011 Attorneys Who Matter.
Larry Finder and
Ryan McConnell were selected for inclusion based on their efforts leading the firm to “the top of the ethics and compliance world.”
“The attorneys have all risen to the top from a combination of their expertise, peer or client endorsements and high-profile cases (as well as the number of those cases successfully litigated),” Ethisphere said in announcing the 2011 list. “They are also the attorneys with the best public service, legal community engagement and academic involvement. It doesn’t hurt that they all have received plenty of awards and recognition, too.” >>
If federal Judge Roger Titus had any lingering doubts about dismissing the criminal case against the former in-house counsel for GlaxoSmithKline, he can let go of them now. Corporate Counsel has learned that even the U.S. attorney in Maryland didn't believe the evidence was strong enough to sign an indictment. >>
Roughly 60 percent of the world’s top oil and gas companies have no public policy on export controls or trade sanctions, according to a new study by Haynes and Boone, LLP. >>
Companies worried about facilitation payments in light of Britain's new Bribery Act and other similar laws may want to review their policies on the subject—that is, assuming you even have one. >>
Amid an effort by the Obama administration to improve coordination among federal agencies that regulate export controls, the Justice Department is increasingly sharing information with those agencies as it investigates foreign bribery cases. >>
Ryan McConnell suggests the biggest lesson of the Johnson & Johnson agreement is that the Justice Department may now require audits on internal compliance. >>
Most top oil and gas companies have no public policy on the small bribes known as facilitation payments, despite new laws that ban such payments, according to a new study by Haynes and Boone LLP. >>
Statistics compiled by Ryan D. McConnell, Jay Martin and Charlotte A. Simon seem to back up the government's desire to decrease its reliance on corporate compliance programs and self-disclosures as a means for uncovering fraud. >>
Some data shows foreign companies settling Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases may receive much smaller discounts off recommended fines than do U.S. companies.
Ryan McConnell suggested the disparity could be a result of U.S. companies being more attuned to the FCPA. >>
Ryan McConnell predicts the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission (which jointly enforce the FCPA) may try to take advantage of the U.K.'s tougher bribery law. >>
In the wake of Tyson Foods, Inc.'s $5.2 million in FCPA penalities,
Ryan McConnell explains a great compliance program isn't worth the paper it is written on without adequate enforcement.
The former federal prosecutor said, "A great compliance program isn't worth anything." A paper program alone isn't sufficient. "If you don't put boots to the ground and take adequate steps to make sure your compliance program is effective, you're not going to get a lot of sympathy from the Justice Department." >>
Most companies that face criminal investigation have ineffective compliance programs, according to a recent study by Haynes and Boone LLP partner
Ryan McConnell and Jay Martin, the chief compliance officer at Baker Hughes Incorporated. >>
DALLAS – Haynes and Boone, LLP has elevated four associates and two of counsel to partnership. The newly elected partners are
David Bell,
Karen Denney,
Jeff S. Dinerstein,
Trevor Hoffmann,
Yasser Madriz and
Ryan McConnell. >>
Over the past ten years, there has been a dramatic shift in the prosecution of major corporate crime cases. Ryan McConnell talked to Corporate Crime Reporter about the rise of deferred and non prosecution agreements.
>>
Ryan McConnell emphasizes the need for businesses to put anti-corruption controls in place before the regulators come knocking. >>
Ryan McConnell talked to
Corporate Counsel about the results of a corporate compliance
study he co-authored with Baker Hughes Deputy General Counsel Jay Martin and University of Houston Law Center JD Candidate Charlotte Simon. McConnell's evidence shows companies with poor compliance programs are more likely to have criminal problems, more likely to get charged, and more likely to pay a higher fine. >>
Ryan McConnell provided analysis to
Just Anti-Corruption regarding the dramatic increase in FCPA fines over the past three years. Mr. McConnell said the trend is likely to continue.
>>
A sweeping joint settlement relating to FCPA compliance reached earlier this month involving seven companies drops plenty of strong hints about what the Justice Department wants to see in an FCPA compliance program.
Ryan McConnell tells
Compliance Week the terms of the agreements represent “the floor” for an effective compliance program. >>
An all-star cast of defense lawyers representing defendants in the largest-ever foreign bribery case have adopted an increasingly aggressive pre-trial strategy, all but accusing the prosecutors and FBI agents of misconduct and withholding evidence.
Ryan McConnell tells
Main Justice he believes prosecutors withholding evidence is actually quite rare. >>
Ryan McConnell, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Texas who is now of counsel at Haynes and Boone, praised Baker Hughes' Jay Martin as a preeminent resource on corporate compliance. >>
Ryan McConnell disucsses the importance of effective internal auditing and training processes in maintaining FCPA compliance.
>>
Corporate America has been buzzing about Goldman Sachs’ recent settlement of fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Ryan McConnell reviews the provision placing Goldman’s top compliance officer in the hot seat. >>
In August 2011, the whistleblower protection rule in the Dodd-Frank act became final. >>
The holiday season is here. The 2010 U.K. Bribery Act is on the books. And enforcement of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is on the rise. >>
For most companies, employees represent the most valuable asset. They make the products companies sell. They run the business. >>
The election cycle is in full swing. Candidates are debating taxes, immigration, and foreign policy. And seeking money. >>
The information that consumers share with companies such as Google and Facebook pales in comparison to information that companies have about their employees and customers - social security, tax, and medical information. What are employers doing to protect this data? >>
For in-house lawyers, the biggest news out of the UK this spring was not the royal nuptials of Kate and William, but the UK’s long awaited guidance on the UK Bribery Act. >>
From Dodd-Frank to the UK phone hacking scandal, whistleblowers have captured the spotlight this summer. >>
On November 1, 2010, new amendments to the rganizational Sentencing Guidelines, or "Organizational Guidelines," affecting the implementation and design of ethics and compliance programs became effective. >>
The Social Network did not just tell the fascinating story of Facebook's rise to a social media power house. It showed how society is increasingly using social platforms as one of its primary channels for communication. Social media is broader than social networking sites such as Facebook or Linked-In. It encompasses all Internet-based communications, including personal blogs, microblogging sites such as Twitter, and video and photo-sharing websites like YouTube and Flickr. >>
Last week, Johnson & Johnson entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Although the agreement has been touted as novel for the reduced fine J&J received in exchange for cooperating against other companies and individuals, the agreement confirms the importance of assessing FCPA policies and internal controls. >>
In the past year the government has moved aggressively to prosecute insider trading cases - from the Justice Department’s wide-sweeping wire-tap investigations of Raj Rajaratnam and the Galleon hedge fund, and of so-called “expert network” participants, to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s civil enforcement action last week against a chemist at the Food and Drug Administration for trading on confidential information concerning drug approvals. >>