Compliance officers hear the story all too often these days: A bank becomes the center of a Justice Department probe for sanctions violations, the press goes on a feeding frenzy, and senior management is left to pick up the pieces—and that’s just the outcome when the investigation ends without charges.

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal,...