The staff meeting ran long, but you decide to revisit the main points one last time anyway. “I cannot over-emphasize the importance of what we’ve been talking about today,” you say to the group. “The values you see on this Code of Conduct are more than just nice words; these principles guide all our activities […]
Ethics & Culture
Posted inEthics & Culture
Sex, A CFO, And A Corporate Ethical Dilemma
It is a corporate ethics dilemma made in New York City tabloid heaven. Take one Brazilian native arrested on charges of prostitution, narcotics and money laundering. Accuse her of running a brothel out of her Manhattan apartment. Let the gossip columns have a field day, printing salacious details of the “sugar daddies” providing her gifts […]
Posted inEthics & Culture
Setting The Benchmark For Compliance Programs
Benchmarking compliance efforts among companies has been one of the more prized, if elusive, ideas in corporate governance circles in the last several years. Now one professional association has shed some light on the subject. The nonprofit Open Compliance & Ethics Group has released key findings of its 2005 Benchmarking Study, based on responses from […]
Posted inEthics & Culture
Exchanges Amend Entertainment Rules, In Principle
The New York Stock Exchange and the NASD may have unveiled extensive guidance last week to clarify their rules on gift-giving and entertainment between company and client, but their advice really boils down to three words: use your head. Answering a question that has vexed compliance officers and bar-hopping traders alike, the two trading exchanges […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Survey: Economic Crime On The Upswing; More
Nearly half of companies worldwide say they’ve been a victim of some form of economic crime over the past two years, an increase of more than 20 percent. That’s according to a recent survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers of more than 3,600 companies in 34 countries, which showed the average financial damage to companies who experienced tangible […]
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Talking Six Sigma With DuPont’s Chief Ethics Officer
In the latest of our weekly Q&As with governance and compliance executives, we talk to Marjorie Doyle, chief ethics & compliance officer at $27.3 billion DuPont Corp. An index of previous conversations is available here. Describe your duties. I oversee a relatively new organization within the company called “Ethics and Compliance Central” … a group […]
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Labor Law Violation Shouldn’t Impact Ethics Programs
A ruling by a federal appeals court last month that a company violated federal labor law by implementing a workplace ethics program without union consultation might seem like bad news for companies struggling to satisfy ethics mandates. Servodidio But Thomas Servodidio, a partner with Duane Morris in Philadelphia, tells Compliance Week that companies needn’t be […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
New Fair Value Guidance On Measuring Derivatives; More
In another step along the pathway to fair value accounting, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued a proposed staff position that seeks to clarify how companies should account for unrealized gains or losses on derivatives measured at fair value. The guidance addresses a quandary regarding how companies should recognize a gain or a loss for […]
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Ethics, Compliance Officer Salaries Approach $750,000
Ethics and compliance positions are taking on increasing importance within organizations worldwide. That’s according to a survey conducted by Salary.com and the nonprofit Ethics Officer Association, which shows top ethics executives are garnering salaries commensurate to those of Chief Information Officers. The 2005 EOA Survey of Ethics & Compliance Officer Jobs shows total compensation for […]
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Bankers, Compliance Officers Laud AML Guidance
Bankers and compliance officers seeking guidance on complying with federal money laundering rules have gotten their wish. Federal banking agencies and a bureau of the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury have issued a manual to help examiners comply with anti-money laundering laws. The Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual (see box at right), issued June […]