(ACC Docket — January/February)
Recent news headlines indicate that our society seems to be at its worst when accepting responsibility for our actions. Politicians like Sen. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Walters (D-IL) and former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex) cry “politics” when they are charged with ethics violations or criminal behavior. Sports figures like Washington Redskins Albert Haynesworth don’t think they have to fulfill their part of the bargain or answer to anyone, including those who sign their paycheck. People blame their spouses or family when they make poor life choices. And let’s not even open the corporate can of unethical and illegal worms. We might as well throw up our hands and shout as if we were at an old-time revival, “The devil made me do it.” Unfortunately, this kind of behavior infiltrates the workplace as well. Ergo, the need for companies to create compliance and ethics policies.
You tell us often that compliance and ethics are crucial areas for your legal department to manage. So, this annual issue of the ACC Docket is all about the topics that keep many of you gainfully employed.
Whether you want to learn about how Dodd-Frank will affect your company in “Stay Afloat During the Tidal Wave of FCPA Cases;” or, you need to understand how transnational corporations are impacted by FCPA in “Guilty by Association: Transnational Joint Ventures and the FCPA;” or, you want to know about possible MJP reform in “Multijurisdictional Practice: Know Your Roaming Charges,” this month’s issue of the magazine has something for you.
For those of you who take on the corporate trainer role, read “Keep it Classy: Methods for Teaching Compliance.” And, if you need to know how the usually neutral country Switzerland and its corporations handle their compliance management? Take a look at “Taking Compliance Management Seriously.”
If we still haven’t offered you enough on compliance and ethics, visit ACC’s new compliance portal resource www.acc.com/compliance. If you can’t find it with us, then you can’t find it anywhere. As for the dreadful and sad headlines: I won’t stop reading the news. And, for implementing and managing compliance and ethics programs, that necessity isn’t going away either.