Defining Compliance 2.0 — The CEO (Part 2 of 5)
Michael Volkov – Corruption, Crime & Compliance – November 30, 2015
Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest. – Mark Twain
We all know the obvious – a CEO’s commitment to ethics and compliance is critical to the success of a compliance program. A CEO who stands up and speaks about the company’s culture of compliance is more than a breath of fresh air – it can be the lifeblood of a compliance program.
A Chief Compliance Officer either has the support of the CEO or does not. There is no in between in this area. If you work at a company where the CEO has a signed letter in the front off your Code of Conduct and a videotaped recording of him or her talking about the importance of ethics and compliance — you do not have a CEO committed to ethics and compliance. A CEO who is committed to ethics and compliance has to back up his or her words with real actions – not just directions and orders, but personal actions.
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