The Justice Department published a revision to its document that guides its processes for evaluating corporate compliance in a criminal investigation last week. The revisions give internal audit some important guidelines for assessing the corporate compliance function. The guidance on Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs helps prosecutors ask companies the Read More
The Securities and Exchange Commission awarded a whistleblower “with compliance-related responsibilities” $450,000 for providing information that helped in a successful enforcement action. While the SEC didn’t name the whistleblower, the company involved, or provide his or her title—in keeping with its confidentiality protections—it did say in a statement that it Read More
The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that Ohio-based pharmaceutical company Cardinal Health has agreed to pay more than $8 million to resolve charges that it violated the books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). According to the SEC’s order, Cardinal’s internal Read More
It is difficult today to avoid news about allegations and subsequent investigations. First, it was a slew of high profile allegations about sexual misconduct—which continues. More recently, it’s about abuse of power in the government. And rarely a day goes by without some news of a financial fraud, bribery, or Read More
When the Securities and Exchange Commission announced last week that it was settling charges against printing and graphics company Quad/Graphics Inc., it cited multiple internal audit and compliance failures as contributing factors in securities law and bribery violations by the company. The Wisconsin-based digital and print marketing provider has agreed Read More
GUEST BLOG Compliance officers and internal auditors are natural partners and allies in the compliance governance landscape. As the compliance profession and its influence grew, compliance officers often leaned on internal auditors for help in assessing risks, uncovering financial misconduct, and assessing compliance functions and controls. Recently, however, I have Read More
The board of the Federal Deposit Corp. voted to approve changes to the Volcker Rule, which could ease some restrictions under the regulations and provide more clarity on what types of trades are and are not permitted. The Volcker Rule, which is part of the Dodd-Frank Act, generally prohibits banks Read More
Security pros know that compliance does not equal security, yet compliance continues to be a top driver for security investment. Given that compliance and audit mandates are more tangible measures for non-security executives, requesting support for tools and processes that help meet these requirements is an excellent lever to pull Read More
Facebook will pay a record-breaking $5 billion penalty, and submit to major new privacy restrictions and a modified corporate structure, to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the company violated a 2012 FTC order by deceiving users about their ability to control the privacy of their personal information. The whopping Read More
Equifax has agreed to pay at least $575 million, and potentially up to $700 million, as part of a global settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and 50 U.S. states and territories, which alleged that the credit reporting company’s failure to take reasonable steps Read More
