As companies head into 2013 facing yet another year of increasing and complex compliance and ethics challenges, heres a threshold question for the Board of Directors: Does your chief compliance officer have the empowerment, independence, seat at the table, line of sight, and resources to do the job?
Following is a boardworthy sample of big developments from 2012 that should give some boards and C-suites (and you know who you are) pause:
1. Morgan Stanley Declination
Companies and CCOs have been waiting a long time to see public recognition and credit for a preexisting compliance program. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice decided not to prosecute Morgan Stanley for flagrant FCPA violations by an employee in China, citing robust compliance program elements that illustrated the firms strong efforts to prevent and detect wrongdoing. It was just like the Federal Sentencing Guidelines contemplate, and a powerful show and tell example for CCOs to discuss with management and boards. More like this in 2013, please.
