Proposed NIST cybersecurity guide incorporates HIPAA Security Rule
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking comment on proposed guidance intended to help healthcare organizations that fall under the regulatory umbrella of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s Security Rule.
How compliance can help prevent human trafficking
There are many organizations that seek to prevent human trafficking, but their work can sometimes seem distant and detached from our roles as compliance professionals. We must consider how to bridge that gap, with a particular focus on supply chains.
IBM report: Data breach costs up, contributing to inflation
The global average cost to mitigate cybersecurity issues resulting from a data breach increased to an all-time high of $4.35 million and could be contributing to current inflation trends, according to the latest annual report from IBM.
New environmental, social issues made for ‘unprecedented’ 2022 proxy season
Companies across many industries were kept on their toes during the 2022 proxy season, with shareholders filing an extraordinary number of proposals pertaining to a broad array of environmental and social issues.
How to deal with cultural arrogance
Arrogance is an unpleasant trait to deal with in our professional careers. It is, however, perennial. Learning how and when to face it will be a long-term useful skill.
FRC 2021/22 audit inspections: KPMG praised; BDO and Mazars rebuked
Improvements at KPMG resulted in each of the Big Four returning no audits requiring significant improvement during an inspection cycle for the first time in the last five years, according to the U.K. Financial Reporting Council’s latest quality review results.
Mind your language: How small changes in phrasing make big differences
Risk and compliance professionals are tasked with trying to change attitudes and behaviors to achieve their goals. Subtle adjustments of emphasis and wording can have a significant impact on their success.
Survey: Firms early to prep for SEC’s climate-related disclosure rule
Respondents to a Compliance Week/CohnReznick survey assessing readiness for the SEC’s climate-related disclosure mandate aren’t waiting to see how the proposed rule plays out before getting their compliance house in order.
Q&A: Flex CECO Andy Powell on scorecard to measure ethical culture
Andy Powell, senior vice president and deputy general counsel, chief ethics and compliance officer at Flex, discusses with Compliance Week the company’s approach to ethics and compliance and how he sees the profession evolving.
Survey: Inflation, climate risk top audit partner economic concerns for 2022
The economy, cybersecurity, climate change, and cryptocurrency are among top concerns for the year ahead expressed by U.S. public company audit partners as part of a new Center for Audit Quality survey.
Survey: Widening remit driving cost of compliance higher, retention lower
Compliance functionality is vital to the future of financial services firms, but many are “struggling to meet their commitments while maintaining an appropriate risk and compliance culture,” according to the “Cost of Compliance Report 2022” by Thomson Reuters.
SEC’s Peirce weighs CCO enforcement case against liability framework
What would it look like if the SEC adopted a chief compliance officer liability framework? Commissioner Hester Peirce offered a preview in a statement regarding an enforcement action against the CCO of a formerly registered investment adviser.
Survey: Spending on AI, new tech to increase despite known risks
Companies are set to ramp up spending on artificial intelligence and other technologies in the coming years despite expectations of rising legal disputes over its use and implementation, according to a new survey.
Survey: Tell us about your M&A compliance
Take part in this 3-minute survey to help benchmark your mergers and acquisitions pain points against those of your peers. One lucky respondent will win a $200 Amazon gift card for completing the survey.
OCC risk report: Russian sanctions, staffing churn increase compliance challenges
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency warned banks and financial institutions about elevated operational risks caused by geopolitical tensions and a heightened compliance risk environment complicated by regulatory changes, policy initiatives, and difficulties in hiring qualified professionals.
‘Have contingency plans’: TPRM expert on confronting Russia risk exposure
Melanie Gallagher, head of third-party risk management at financial software company Intuit, offered best practices for navigating sanctions compliance risks at CW’s TPRM Summit in Chicago.
Five prevailing themes from TPRM Summit
Editor In Chief Kyle Brasseur recaps popular points of discussion across Compliance Week’s two-day Third-Party Risk Management Summit held in Chicago.
Survey: Cyber threats, remote work, financial pressures key ABC concerns for 2022
Compliance programs globally expect to shoulder more responsibilities in 2022, according to Kroll’s latest Anti-Bribery and Corruption Benchmarking Report.
Survey: Competitive jobs market pushes in-house counsel salaries higher
In-house counsel salaries across every industry bounced back in 2021 from the doldrums of the pandemic, with a competitive jobs market forcing recruiters to offer more bonuses, according to the latest compensation survey by BarkerGilmore.
Survey: Legal heavily involved in ESG strategy, less so in compliance
Less than one-fifth of global corporate legal departments in a recent survey reported heavy involvement with environmental, social, and governance compliance, though three-quarters said they had been extremely involved in drafting their companies’ ESG strategy.
Real talk: How Best Buy manages challenges of DEI goals
Two years into its diversity, equity, and inclusion action plan, Best Buy leaders attended Compliance Week’s National Conference to discuss—in a refreshingly blunt manner—the retailer’s learnings.
Report: SPACs drive restatement surge in 2021
The total number of restatements and individual companies disclosing restatements in 2021 rose to their highest levels since 2006, according to Audit Analytics’ latest annual review.
Factors to consider when implementing risk assessment technology
With the growing demands of huge data sets, an everchanging regulatory landscape, and constantly evolving typologies, the challenge of assessing, documenting, and managing financial crime risk has never been greater.
Lessons learned from Olympus compliance monitorship
Christine Gordon, chief compliance officer at Olympus Corporation of the Americas, spoke about her company’s experience working with a DOJ-selected independent monitor at Compliance Week’s National Conference.
Ten highlights from Compliance Week 2022
Editor In Chief Kyle Brasseur recaps the moments that stood out to him most from Compliance Week’s first in-person event since 2019.
Compliance execs get candid on industry challenges at CW think tank
Fifteen high-level compliance executives discussed the challenges and opportunities presented by an ever-changing compliance landscape during a first-ever executive think tank session at Compliance Week’s 2022 National Conference in Washington, D.C.
FedEx’s social mission: Diversity drives better business
FedEx’s DEI strides—including becoming a minority-majority employee company in the U.S. for the first time in its history in fiscal year 2018—are not by accident. The company’s long history of hiring a diverse workforce and promoting from within is among the keys to its success.
Growth vs. green: FedEx’s environmental balancing act
When FedEx published its first Global Citizenship Report in 2008, its greenhouse gas emissions were already top of mind. Yet, the company has struggled to strike a balance between achieving year-over-year decreases in total emissions while it has expanded in the last decade-plus.
Report: Investigation costs rising, driven by data assessment inefficiencies
More than three-quarters of respondents to a Kroll global benchmark report said they have conducted an internal investigation into fraud or corruption within the past three years and that the cost of such probes is on the rise.
‘A marathon, not a sprint’: FedEx carbon-neutral pledge tests longtime ESG efforts
In March 2021, FedEx announced an audacious goal: to achieve carbon-neutral operations globally by 2040. How did the company develop this pledge, and how will it track its progress and hold itself accountable to intermediate goals?
Desire for transparency launches FedEx on ESG journey
Since 2008, FedEx has produced detailed reports on its ESG initiatives. The company’s chief sustainability officer discusses the decision-making process behind the first report, determining materiality, and more in Part 1 of this four-part special report, published in partnership with the ICA.
Report: European AML compliance efforts remain substandard
European governments need to step up their efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing because their current capabilities are below par, according to a report by the Council of Europe’s Moneyval unit.
Tips from a project management expert on avoiding failure
Research shows more than 60 percent of projects undertaken fail. Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, considered the No. 1 project management expert in the world, shares steps to take to avoid contributing to this statistic.
Survey: Lease accounting implementation at critical point
The “2022 Global Lease Accounting Survey” from EY and LeaseAccelerator covers how public and private companies address U.S. and international accounting requirements and challenges they have had and expect to face post-implementation.
NAVEX: Whistleblowers ‘more emboldened than ever’
NAVEX’s 2022 “Hotline & Incident Management Benchmark Report” provides chief compliance officers with valuable insight into how their hotline and incident management program stacks up against their peers.
Breaking the glass ceiling in ethics and compliance
Jane Levine, chief compliance officer at DailyPay, shares three suggestions for ensuring women are empowered within the ethics and compliance profession.
Report: Pandemic fuels goodwill impairment spike in 2020
Goodwill impairment recorded by U.S. public companies more than doubled in 2020, but the total still fell short of the figure observed at the onset of the 2008 financial crisis, according to the latest annual report from Kroll.
AA study: Cybersecurity breach disclosures surge in 2021
The number of cybersecurity breaches disclosed by public companies in 2021 increased 44 percent while reports of ransomware attacks also surged, according to the latest Audit Analytics study.
Audit client turnover 2021: Deloitte, Grant Thornton lead national firms; EY, KPMG, PwC see declines
Deloitte and Grant Thornton each had net increases in new public company audit clients in 2021, but all but one of the other Big Four and global and national firms experienced net decreases or no change, according to the latest annual study.
Closing the data risk gap: How technology enables data protection
Legal and compliance teams ranked data privacy and cybersecurity threats the No. 1 biggest risk entering 2022. Further survey results reveal roadblocks to organizations’ proactive compliance.
How to prepare for SEC’s climate-related disclosure rule
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed climate-related disclosure rule would force companies that have been reluctant to initiate a self-examination of their environmental impact to do so, posthaste. Experts weigh in on where to start.
Report: Number of AML fines up, penalty totals down in 2021
The number of anti-money laundering fines assessed against financial institutions globally reached its highest amount in six years during 2021, though the penalty amounts associated with those enforcement actions dropped notably, according to Kroll’s annual benchmark report.
Compliance implications of USAA order addressing AML lapses
The consent order issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency against USAA Bank imparts lessons for compliance officers in the financial services industry on how—and how not—to maintain a Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering compliance program.
TRACE: U.S. bribery enforcement continued decline in 2021
The number of U.S. foreign bribery enforcement actions slowed notably in 2021, while the overall pace of transnational anti-bribery enforcement actions and investigations lagged worldwide, according to TRACE International’s latest enforcement report.
Advice for navigating ‘fast and furious’ Russian sanctions landscape
To help sort through the gray area of evolving sanctions and export control restrictions against Russia, chief compliance officers should consider a handful of key best practices.
Apple, Pfizer among new additions to ethical company list
Ethisphere announced the 2022 edition of its “World’s Most Ethical Companies” list, which recognized 136 companies that have demonstrated a commitment to ethical business practices.
Learning points from HSBC’s fine for AML failings
Significant investment in systems has not been fully effective in mitigating financial crime risk. A fine of nearly £64 million (then-U.S. $84 million) imposed on HSBC by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority in December is a particularly potent example.
Top 10 reasons to attend Compliance Week 2022
A keynote with two SEC commissioners; interactive sessions on global sanctions, ESG, and ethical leadership; and a new conference location and format highlight Dave Lefort’s list of reasons to be excited for CW’s first in-person event in nearly three years.
FinCEN warns financial institutions of Russian sanctions evasion
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued guidance highlighting the types of red flags financial institutions should be looking for to detect potential Russian sanctions evasion attempts.
Source of funds/source of wealth: Knowing the difference and best practices
With the similarity of their nature and how they overlap, not to mention how often they are mentioned in the same breath, it can easily lead to confusion when trying to remember which is which between source of funds and source of wealth.