VW is being investigated by the EU’s antifraud office since November 2015, in connection with loans based, in part, on VW’s green environmental reputation. The emissions cheating scandal has cost $25 billion. And counting. May recommend that Germany charges two employees with fraud. German authorities are in on the hunt, too.
“Volkswagen Faced With New Legal Woes,” The Wall Street Journal, August 1, 2017 B3.
Who knew what when, and who failed to disclose what they knew? When it rains, it pours.
Filed under Board, Compliance, Compliance, Corporation, Duty, Employees, Governance, Inform market, Inform shareholders, Managers, To report
Uber fired the executive at the heart of the dispute with Google over self-driving cars. The exec failed to meet a deadline to comply with a court order to turn over documents in a trade secret case over self-driving cars. “Uber Fires Executive At Center Of Suit,” The Wall Street Journal, May 31, 2017 A1.
Lesson? If you hire an employee from a competitor and he’s accused of stealing his former employer’s trade secrets, try your best to look good.
What’s your process for keeping new employees, especially from competitors, from damaging your business and your reputation by bringing in your competitor’s trade secrets? Did you follow it, or is it just there for show?
Filed under Communications, Compliance, Controls, Corporation, Duty, Employees, Governance, Information, Internal controls, Management, Managers, Oversight, Ownership, Policy, Protect, Third parties, Value
“FCC Won’t Move Against Colbert for Crude Remarks,” The Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2017 A3. Remarks about Trump don’t draw a fine. The question remains, what will? What’s the impact of the regulator not even trying to enforce regulatory standards?
With
“Pakistan Investigates Social-Media Critics of Its Military,” The Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2017 A8. Twenty-seven critics investigated for “unacceptable” comments criticizing and ridiculing the military and judiciary. The FCC wasn’t consulted.
2. “U.S. Sues Chrysler Over Emissions Tests,” The Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2017 B1. Apparently VW wasn’t the only one seeking to game the emissions-testing process.
3. “Human Still Rule Machines in Insurance,” The Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2017 B1. Despite the new sources of data, and the ability of computer programs to determine how much an individual insurance policy should cost, humans are still a necessary decision-maker.
4. “Target Settles Probe Into Its 2013 Hack,” The Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2017 B3. Following the 2013 data breach, Target pays an additional $18.5 million to settle state charges.
5. “High-Ranking Chinese Regulator Faces Probe,” The Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2017 B14. Assistant chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission fired for breaking the rules. Details not available.
Filed under Accuracy, Analytics, Compliance, Compliance, Controls, Corporation, Culture, Duty, Employees, Governance, Government, Information, Internal controls, Management, Managers, Oversight, Supervision, Value
Does your radar go wild when someone suggests delaying the report of information?
“Sunrun Sales Data Seen as Skewed,” The Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2017 B1. In the run-up to the company’s IPO, some managers were told by their managers to hold off on reporting a number of canceled contracts. Reporting this information would have reduced the sales numbers, as the canceled contracts were a large percentage of total orders.
What does it say about a culture where the bosses ask managers to do this type of thing? And no one says, “No”? Was no one bright enough to connect the dots? What else is suspect? Are employees clueless as to their common law duties to report wrong-doing or deviations from company processes?
Filed under Accuracy, Compliance, Compliance, Controls, Culture, Data quality, Duty, Employees, Governance, Internal controls, Management, Managers, Oversight, Supervision, To report
Soon to be signed into law is a bill holding school administrators, superintendents, and principals criminally liable for failing to report teachers who commit “inappropriate acts” with students. The offending teachers are already potentially liable.
“Texas Measure Targets Improper Teachers, The Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2017 A3.
Surprising it wasn’t the law already. Mr. Bumble was right: the law is a ass.
Filed under Communicate, Communications, Controls, Duty, Employees, Governance, Government, Internal controls, Management, Managers, Oversight, Supervision
Another company much in the news of late: Wells Fargo. Account cramming over a period of years. To get bonuses. Shearman & Sterling report.
“Wells Investigated Whether Executives Steered Business,” The Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2017 B10. Three executives in private banking business are reportedly fired or suspended. The allegation is that some clients were channeled away from people in the bank “who may have been better equipped to handle certain client needs.” Maximizing bonuses may be at issue; apparently, the best interests of the clients were subordinate. Following internal processes and procedures apparently is also optional.
This is what we know this week. What will we know next week? How deep does the rot in ethics and compliance go? What messages are the remaining employees getting? The Board is still in place. Who’s accountable?
Filed under Controls, Corporation, Culture, Duty, Employees, Governance, Internal controls, Managers, Oversight
How do you enforce a non-retaliation policy when the CEO ignores it?
“Barclays CEO is Probed Over Bid to Unmask Whistleblower,” The Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2017 (online). CEO attempts to learn the identity of an employee who criticized the hiring of one of the CEO’s buddies. He asked his internal security folks to find out who was the author; he was rebuffed the first time (he was told it would be inappropriate), but persisted by asking them to look into it again.
Where does one start? Sounds like a law school exam question. “Analyze and discuss.”
How do you enforce a policy (or any policy) when the CEO ignores it? This time it was anti-retaliation; next time he might not hold the handrail, or violate some other company policy. What does the organization see when the CEO does this?
Here, he got a formal reprimand and will lose some bonus. How can he remain in his post? How does this discipline compare to what others have gotten for similar misconduct? Will the Board members be reelected? What message would terminating his employment send? If he violates some other policy (large or small) in the future, can the shareholders sue the directors individually for grossly negligent oversight?
Not sure how long an “A” answer would need to be.
Filed under Board, Compliance, Compliance, Compliance, Controls, Corporation, Culture, Culture, Directors, Duty, Employees, Governance, Internal controls, Management, Managers, Oversight, Oversight, Policy
Two related articles on a critical point for information governance, separated by a mere seven pages.
“Yahoo Probe Prompts Cut in CEO’s Pay,” The Wall Street Journal, March 2, 2017 B4. CEO won’t get 2016 bonus and agreed to “forego” her 2017 equity awards, as a result of management’s failure “to ‘properly comprehend or investigate’ a 2014 security breach.”
“Wells Fargo Withholds Top-Level Bonuses,” The Wall Street Journal, March 2, 2017 B11. Eight top executives lost their 2016 cash bonuses and some stock grants or options. This was to hold them accountable for the sales cramming practices where the bank opened fictitious accounts. Or the damage to the company’s reputation. Or both.
Here, companies are shown getting semi-serious over governance by penalizing senior executives for security or operational violations of policy.
As employees, the senior executives have the duty to comply with the law and the company’s policies, and to supervise the people who report to them. This also, one assumes, reduces the risk of derivative action suits against the directors individually for failing to provide the necessary oversight (read: governance). When will directors be held individually liable for failing to meet their duties?
Yes, the Oscars ceremony had its information mix-up, when Warren Beatty was given the wrong envelope. But who was (and “was” is probably the operative word) in charge of calculating and communicating the cost basis for stock?
“Morgan Stanley Gave Clients Wrong Data,” The Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2017 B9. Firm miscalculated the cost basis, and therefore the gain, on sales of stocks by the firm’s wealth-management clients for 5 years. Anticipated cost: $70 million.
How do you ensure that the right information is getting to the right place (person) at the right time? What controls do you have in place? Are those controls people, process, or technology? While it took PWC a few minutes to correct the error at the Oscars, it took Morgan Stanley five years. Who had the better process?
Filed under Accuracy, Collect, Communicate, Controls, Corporation, Duty, Duty of Care, Employees, Governance, Internal controls, Management, Managers, Oversight, Policy, Protect, Protect assets, Use
How long would it take your internet service provider to notify you that a bug on its systems was leaking your data?
“Data Leaked on Web for Months,” The Wall Street Journal, February 25, 2017 B1. Cloudfare announced it had had a bug since September 2016, affecting its webservers, and leaking data from some of its 6 million customers. Unclear what was leaked, and to whom. Cloudfare handles 10% of the world’s web traffic.
Who at Cloudfare knew what, and when, and more importantly, who should have known more, sooner, and disclosed it?
Filed under Access, Board, Compliance, Controls, Corporation, Directors, Duty, Governance, IT, Managers, Oversight, Protect assets, Protect information assets, Security, To report
infogovnuggets 