Image: British Banks are bracing for “incredible pressure” in 2015 as they implement new rules to make senior executives personally accountable to regulators. Compliance functions will help lead the creation of the new Senior Managers Regime, complete with certification overload. “Regulators will expect compliance in the spirit of the regulations, but also to the letter of all applicable laws and regulations. That’s a no-win situation,” says David Wilford of Lombard Risk. More inside.
Neil Baker
Posted inInternal Controls
How Tesco Is Taking Compliance Training to the Next Level
When he worked as a lawyer at Tesco, compliance training was all about “ticking the box and getting it done,” David Ward told a Compliance Week Europe session on e-learning earlier this month. But his attitude changed when he became the retailer’s ethics and compliance director. “From a compliance perspective, I really need people to […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Britain Plans Law to Criminalize Failure to Prevent Financial Crimes
U.S. companies with ties to Britain could face criminal charges in the United Kingdom if they fail to prevent a wide range of financial crimes—including fraud and money laundering—under new laws that the government is planning. The idea is to model the new rules on existing provisions in the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010, which […]
Posted inData Privacy
How Regulations in Europe Complicate Cross-Border Investigations
Like most multinational companies, International Paper runs a whistleblowing hotline to provide employees with an outlet to raise concerns. Often the calls are trivial, but sometimes they need investigating. The hotline is available to staff across Europe, except those in one country: “We can’t set it up in France. Or we can, but it’s very […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Some Questioning if DPAs Will Work in the United Kingdom
With the U.K. Serious Fraud Office finally able to offer companies U.S.-style deferred-prosecution agreements, lawyers expect the agency to start enforcing the country’s tough Bribery Act 2010 with much greater zeal. It’s almost four years since Britain passed one of the world’s toughest anti-bribery and corruption laws, but its main enforcement body, the SFO, has […]
Posted inAnti-Bribery
Building Regulatory Might in U.K., EU
Data privacy and corporate transparency will be two of the top European issues on the agenda for compliance executives in 2015. And even if we have to wait another year to see a big corporate enforcement action under the U.K. Bribery Act, there are other reasons to fear Britain’s white-collar crime prosecutors. The year ahead will be busy; details inside.
Posted inAnti-Bribery
Top 10 Global Compliance Trends to Watch in 2014
Expect 2014 to be a busy year, full of regulatory and enforcement developments in the European Union, China, South America, and elsewhere that will have a big effect on U.S. companies. A new European Parliament will be elected in May with a new European Commission appointed in October. Politicians, regulators, and Eurocrats will be in […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
EU Regulators: Prepare Now for New Data Protection Rules
European Union policymakers want companies to begin preparing now for the trading bloc’s new data protection regime, even though regulators are still working out central aspects of the plan and there’s a still a chance the whole project could even collapse. Speaking at the Compliance Week Europe conference this month, Peter Hustinx, head of the […]
Posted inRisk Management
Extending Anti-Bribery Compliance to Third Parties
As companies continue to pursue new customers in emerging markets, they must constantly weigh the benefits of expansion with the risks that lurk there, including bribery and corruption risks. Relying on multiple partners in countries where bribes, gift giving, and mutual back scratching are a normal part of every-day business culture can make the chief […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
EU Could Ditch Safe Harbor for Data Exportation
The European Union’s changing data protection laws could make life more difficult for companies that want to transfer information out of the 28-member trading bloc and into the United States. Currently, companies can move data between the EU countries and the United States under a formal “safe harbor” treaty between the two jurisdictions if the […]