When corporate abuses or illegal actions force an internal investigation of a senior staff person, your number one priority is to act promptly. Learn more about whistleblowing, the pathway to a successful investigation, and attorney-client privilege and you can limit your company's liability.
In order to preserve an ethical environment at your company, your employees need to feel comfortable enough to come forward and discuss problems informally and confidentially. While formal channels like hotlines are good, they're not enough in today's corporate setting. Read on for tips on how to set up your own ombuds program and the advantages the informality of it will provide for everyone.
The last three board meetings were ugly, but at least that maverick director is gone. He was nothing but trouble, always challenging management and questioning my legal advice. What? He has filed suit to enjoin the proposed acquisition, and he wants immediate discovery of my legal advice to the board? Preposterous! That's privileged, and he is not the privilege holder, the corporation is. He's out of luck. Or is he?
What are the practical issues involved in protecting confidential information? To best protect your company you need to know trade secrets and confidential information laws. Don't forget that undisclosed information varies from state to state and country to country. Read this article to brush up on the law, but even go beyond it and take actual physical measures to protect your company's data.
Discusses five steps your organization must take to put your compliance and ethics policies to work if your organization is serious about its program.
Discusses the spider web of regulations that vary across borders, subjecting multinational companies to conflicting standards and possible multiple prosecutions for the same acts.
Recent developments have caused an increase in the frequency of internal investigations of noncompliance complaints. Sarbanes-Oxley and its progeny, the revisions to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, and best practices regarding human resources claims all involve anonymous claims reporting systems of some kind. How does your company handle it?
Discusses the lessons to be learned from the Enron scandal and the many others that have occurred.
Read John Villa's article for tips on the rules, the substance of the corporate Miranda warning and the risks associated with giving it.
Following are a few ideas to transform a “check the box” training program to one that is an effective tool in reducing your company’s ethical and compliance risks.