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Obligations of a public company
it is vital that managers and supervisors
be involved in the communication of
compliance standards and discussion of
ethical culture.
Organizations should undertake a
data-driven approach to monitoring and
auditing their compliance program. A
company should be collecting data on
the program that includes, but is not
limited to, training, reporting, culture
assessment and knowledge assessment
and should utilize appropriate external
benchmarking tools to assess performance.
The FSG require that organizations
provide an anonymous reporting
mechanism; additionally, organizations
must ensure that open-door reporting—
and a commitment to nonretaliation—is
encouraged and properly communicated.
All organizations must ensure
that investigations and discipline
are consistent and as transparent as
possible; this reinforces organizational
justice and encourages reporting.
Organizations should also seek creative
and objective measures for performance
and incentivize ethics and compliance at
their organizations, as recommended by
the FSG.
Corporate compliance practices have
undergone enormous change in a relatively
short period of time and best practices
are continually developing. The level of
scrutiny of a board’s monitoring—or
failing to monitor—the activities of a
corporation has increased dramatically.
The challenge for boards, executive
officers and compliance officers now is to
view the increased scrutiny and enhanced
standards not merely as a host of new
legal requirements but as an opportunity
to review and enhance their corporate
governance and compliance practices,
setting a true “tone from the top.” ●
72 NYSE IPO Guide