Era Of Compliance Research Articles

The Domains of Corporate Counsel in an Era of Compliance

This article analyzes the role of corporate in-house counsel in compliance. The rise of corporate counsel — most prominently, the Chief Legal Officer — has been accompanied by the growing demands of regulatory compliance and the emergence of the compliance profession. We examine the significant and positive influence of corporate counsel over two distinct yet interrelated domains: corporate governance and a culture of integrity. These two domains work together to establish the governance and cultural foundations of compliance within the corporation, and serve as the foundation for a pragmatic partnership between the corporation's legal and compliance functions.

The New Era of FCPA Enforcement: Moving Toward a New Era of Compliance

The DOJ and the SEC are aggressively enforcing the FCPA in what has come to be called the New Era of FCPA enforcement. Those efforts are reflected by expansive interpretations of the statute, the increasing use of industry sweeps, spiraling costs to settle corporate cases and a focus on individuals, coupled with demands for longer prison sentences. This has spawned increasing demands for amendments to the statutes. Congress has considered the question but not acted. Enforcement officials could spur compliance by amending their prosecution guidelines to include items such as a compliance defense but have not. Yet business organizations and their employees remain at risk. To avoid or at least mitigate liability, business organizations need to step-up and implement reasonable compliance systems and begin a new era of compliance.