International corporate compliance programmes

Abstract

There are numerous reasons for companies to expand their compliance efforts to all of their locations and all of their employees, wherever located, and many companies have done or are in the process of doing just that. Indeed, those organisations that operate in multiple countries are under increasing pressure to implement compliance and ethics programmes everywhere they do business. There are a host of good reasons for organisations to implement global compliance programmes, including the globalisation of the world's economy, the rise of the European Union as a legal force, the continued importance of those US laws that are applicable to conduct outside the United States, and the increased importance of compliance and ethics programmes both outside and within the United States. If implemented effectively, global compliance and ethics programmes can help prevent or lead to the early detection of misconduct, and can assist in the promotion of an ethical corporate culture. There are a large number of resources that help guide companies in the creation and implementation of global compliance programmes. The general structure of a compliance programme as articulated by the US Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations is appropriate for a global compliance programme. There are, however, certain complexities that can arise from globalisation of a compliance programme of which companies should be aware, including issues of poor or no translation of compliance programme documents, culturally insensitive communication of the compliance and ethics message, the potential danger of rejection of the components of the compliance programme by works councils or their equivalent, and application of the compliance programme to third parties. In developing and implementing global compliance programmes, companies should be aware of the risks emanating from their implementation and should take steps at the outset to minimise those risks and create greater acceptance — and hence greater effectiveness — of the programme.