According to a recent compliance benchmarking report from the Compliance and Ethics Leadership Council, current top priorities for managing of compliance and ethics programs are related to determine appropriate structures for overseas compliance, encourage overseas employees to report potential misconduct and develop capabilities of local compliance and ethics staff. Along the risks that pose the greatest concerns are corruption and bribery, noncompliance of external business partners, violations of financial and accounting standards, conflicts of interest, data privacy breaches, anti-trust violations and conflicting national regulations.
Indisputably, compliance is a global corporate issue, yet different countries and jurisdictions require varying elements for their audit functions. Although the mechanics of compliance programs may differ, the reasoning remains uniform:
1. Companies under government investigation can use the existence of an effective compliance program to prove good faith and thus minimize government action against the company;
2. An effective compliance program will set an ethical environment and create a corporate atmosphere that discourages wrongdoing; and
3. A compliance program can detect misconduct at an early stage, allowing the company to proactively minimize adverse consequences.
Generally speaking, policies related to gifts and entertainment, sales practices, investigation, anti-trust/fair trade and environment, health, and safety are often locally customized by country, region, or business unit.
The global compliance awareness is rapidly increasing from the 90s when the compliance function did not exist and was not an issue of concern, to today when this function is independently from the legal department, receiving separate financing and reporting to the CEO.