NEWS
I have two pieces of paper in my hand. The one is
a Copenhagen Compliance� Framework on how to implement ethics and culture
as vital components of Governance and Risk Management, which is the topic
of today's workshop. On the other hand, I have the agenda of the "8th annual
European GRC SUMMIT in Copenhagen," on September 22nd-23rd 2014 at the Confederation
of Danish Industries.
Enforcement trends show that information exchange
is receiving heightened attention from enforcement agencies with a definite
trend towards increasing prosecutions for stand-alone violation whether
or not it relates to a cartel.
Recent enforcement activities by the UK's Serious
Fraud Office (SFO) and FCPA are signaling a new era of relentless investigation
and prosecution of corrupt practices. The cases involve investigations for
individuals and companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Alstom UK, Airbus Group
NV, Sweett Group and others. In this article we review the recent bribery
and corruption cases brought against Scandinavian companies.
Global mandates and legislation on the Board of Directors
responsibility, accountability, transparency, changing stakeholder responsibilities
and reforms, suggests a number of possible steps that the board of directors
must take to ensure that they satisfy their obligation and responsibilities
to all stakeholders. This series of article examines the changing expectations
for the various committees and suggests a number of practical measures that
should be incorporated in each committee charter to ensure they meet their
obligation and that boards should consider when establishing a committee.
Simple valuation gains are again seen in the equity
markets as a prime real estate markets bear little relationship to fundamental
economic developments. The values are once again soaring, while world trade
is stagnating. US growth over the past 12 months has been less than 2%,
yet in the same period the S&P 500 stock market index, has gained about
17 %. There is scant real growth across most of the Eurozone and in Japan.
EU Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly pushes for more protection
for EU whistleblower. The EU Ombudsman has opened an investigation into
nine EU institutions, which have failed to put in place protective measures
for staff members that report corruption or malpractice.
Formula One is a sport enjoyed by many. The sport
regards Formula One Chief Bernie Ecclestone as the indispensable genius
of the game. A judge in a Munich court, probably a Formula One fan, agreed
to let Bernie Ecclestone pay a $100 million penalty in return for resolving
a criminal case of bribery that could have sent him to jail for up to 10
years.
GRC officers are accountable for key GRC policies
at all levels in the organization. They have to be sufficiently empowered
to put on the brakes on the firm's risk exposure, but their critical role
is in enabling the firm to conduct well-measured, profitable risk-taking
activities, to support the long-term sustainable success.
When directors and managers go for denial, they end
up with a wheelbarrow of varied compliance processes, duplication of efforts,
controls and manual tests that confuse even the most-basic regulatory control
that can only lead to greater compliance breakdown... it is like taking
more and more of the same medicine to cure the initial problem.
