At the Opening Session of Compliance Week 2016, Stephen Cohen associate director of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Andrew Weissmann, chief of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Fraud Section spoke about what constitutes an effective compliance program under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The majority of the discussion, however, was around the chief compliance officer position, specifically the independence of the position, the authority the CCO has in the organization, and the resources made available to the CCO.
The remarks of both Weissmann and Cohen should certainly warm the heart of any CCO as they both made clear they view CCO independence, resources, and authority of as a key indicia of a best practices compliance program. Moreover, by imbuing the CCO with these key indicators, it could go a long way toward helping a company to escape liability if an FCPA enforcement action is forthcoming for a company.
