Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance Final Assignment

Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance Assignment
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance Assignment
Answer 1
As the head of risk management and compliance department at Multi-Faceted Inc., I have to ensure that the corporation adheres to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The company deals with mining operations of gold, diamond, and uranium in the United States of America (USA) and other nineteen nations, spread across four continents. In the previous year, Multi-Faceted Inc. had two primary criminal penalties for violating the SOX and FCPA regulations. SOX was implemented to safeguard shareholders, workers, and the public from accounting malpractices and fraudulent financial activities. Additionally, FCPA prohibits individuals and firms in the USA from corrupting foreign officials so that they can close business deals. The three primary compliance program design issues that are crucial in addressing potential future FCPA and SOX criminal liabilities include risk assessment, training and communications, and a confidential investigation process and reporting structure.
Risk assessment is one of the most significant compliance design issues that Multi-Faceted Inc. should address to avoid potential future criminal liabilities. In particular, it entails understanding the firm’s operations from a commercial perspective and how it assesses, identifies, and defines its risk profile (U.S. Department of Justice, 2019). The compliance program is essential since it enables a company to comply with SOX. For example, without the proper risk assessment, Multi-Faceted Inc. is likely to engage in fraudulent financial practices since it deals with precious and scarce minerals. Prosecutors are advised to investigate and detect whether a firm engages in any misconduct in its line of business. The Justice Department thinks that this problem is important to address since it can foster corruption both domestically and internationally. As such, Multi-Faceted Inc. should analyze its operations and address the risks that might emanate from the mining industry, market competitiveness, regulatory landscape, political donations, foreign governments’ transactions, and payments to officials in other countries.
The second compliance program design problem that should be solved is the lack of training and communications. Although Multi-Faceted Inc. might come up with appropriate policies and procedures to avoid financial malpractices and corruption, their implementation is useless if leaders and employees do not fully understand them. Policies should be well-integrated into an organization’s culture, which can be achieved through certification and periodic training of directors, managers, employees, business partners, and other relevant stakeholders (U.S. Department of Justice, 2019). For instance, training and communications might help corporate leaders to avoid tricks of bribery that might be suggested by foreign officials, hence not violating FCPA regulations. Besides, the mining industry is highly competitive, and the company that meets the demands of a foreign government is the one that crosses the deal. The Justice Depart...