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Ethics and Compliance Training

By Susan Cutright
July 28, 2005

Experienced counsel know to report to the Board about the organization's ethics and compliance training initiatives so that the corporation is protected under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The Guidelines require that the Board of Directors be knowledgeable about the content and operation of the program, and exercise reasonable oversight with respect to program implementation and effectiveness. The operational program manager must periodically report on program effectiveness to high-level personnel, and as appropriate, to the Board or a Board Committee. In addition, the organization must take reasonable steps to periodically evaluate the effectiveness of the company's compliance program.

Reporting is also critical for the protection of the Directors themselves, whose potential exposure is starkly evidenced by the substantial settlement payments recently made by individual Directors from Enron and WorldCom. Under traditional standards of due care, good faith and loyalty, the Directors should verify that management is maintaining appropriate systems to prevent and/or detect and timely report, violations.

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