Practical Law

The Practical Law In-house Consultation Board convened recently and discussed hot topics for 2023. The discussion covered a range of topics, including: Inclusion of environmental, social and governance (ESG) clauses in standard contracts. Dealing with the reality of approaching ESG deadlines. Managing the growing burden of ESG due diligence and reporting requirements. Technology implementation. Regulatory burden. … Continue reading Consultation board round table: hot topics for 2023 →

Earlier this month I chaired a meeting of the Practical Law In-house Consultation Board focusing on environmental, social and governance reporting (ESG). Across the spectrum of industry sector and organisation size, our members agreed that the various and fast-paced developments in this area presented multiple challenges for in-house teams. 

On 20 July 2020, the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) unveiled an update to its 2013 Three Lines of Defense model for managing risk and facilitating strong governance, including a change of name to the Three Lines Model. This is an improvement on the original in each of name, structure and effect and worth noting … Continue reading The new Three Lines Model: a step forward for risk and compliance →

On 1 June 2020, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) updated its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs guidance. This guidance is used by DOJ prosecutors in assessing the adequacy and effectiveness of corporate compliance programmes, providing a window for compliance officers into the ever-developing standards expected of the programmes they create and manage. The updated … Continue reading Compliance programme review: new US Justice Department guidance →

Nearly one in three employees have witnessed some form of misconduct in the past year, but nearly half did not speak up or report it, according to the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) European Ethics at Work survey. The freedom to raise concerns is a core component of a supportive ethical culture where employees are … Continue reading IBE launches innovative app to support employees who speak up in the workplace →

Expolink’s new Whistleblowing Benchmarking Report has revealed the latest trends in workplace whistleblowing. The report analyses 18,335 whistleblowing disclosures made by the employees of more than 650 organisations worldwide. All disclosures were submitted through Expolink’s independent Speak Up service during 2018. I have picked out five key highlights for compliance teams to consider.

The Government is concerned that many organisations are still failing to meet their basic legal obligations when it comes to tackling modern slavery in supply chains. They stepped up the pressure towards the end of 2018, with the Home Office writing directly to chief executives of 17,000 organisations with a general warning that ‘continued non-compliance’ … Continue reading Modern Slavery: are you at risk of being named and shamed? →

The Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) Ethics at Work Survey 2018 report identifies a number of key findings from the UK relating broadly to culture, behaviour, speaking up and ethics programmes. The UK findings are compared in the report with the European responses from Ethics at Work: 2018 survey of employees – Europe. For those … Continue reading IBE Ethics at Work Survey 2018: a tool for the savvy ethics or compliance officer →

On 22 February 2018, Practical Law will host a webinar on corporate mindfulness for lawyers, looking at the research on factors that drive performance and presenting the case for corporate mindfulness as one of the most promising protocols for boosting efficacy in legal settings.

Competition law risk is one of the key compliance risks that a business faces and it can be challenging to educate those working within the business about this often technical area of law. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recognise this and have a number of publicly available tools to assist that are worth your … Continue reading Competition law risk: what the CMA has available to help businesses →

On 14 November 2017, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published its 2016 data on the enforcement of the Anti-Bribery Convention. Those involved with or responsible for their business’ anti-bribery programme may find this information useful in both updating 2018 anti-bribery training and re-engaging the focus in this area at executive and board … Continue reading OECD publishes Anti-Bribery Convention enforcement data for 2016 →

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), in partnership with Spend Network, has recently developed and launched a free tool to help procurers screen their tender data for signs of potential anti-competitive behaviour. For those in procurement, this will help to identify and investigate unfair practices. For those bidders working in an anti-competitive manner, this heightens … Continue reading A new tool for bid-rigging detection →

Businesses should review their competition risk assessment in light of new measures announced in March. These encourage individuals to recognise and anonymously report anti-competitive practices at both the European and the national level. If they are a success, these measures could lead to an increase in investigations and reduce the availability of leniency programmes.

I recently attended an event where the host reminded the audience in his opening that the day was being run under the Chatham House Rule. It reminded me of the first event that I attended when I started out in practice. I hadn’t understood what this rule meant, and in a time before a smartphone … Continue reading Chatham House Rule: what does it mean? →

I’ve heard recently that a number of organisations have decided to include their slavery and human trafficking statement for this financial year in their annual reports, and are now in the process of working out what these statements will say. With that in mind, I thought this was a good moment to provide an overview of … Continue reading Annual report drafting: what will your Modern Slavery Act statement say? →

In a speech at the CBI annual conference 2016 on 21 November, the Prime Minister, Theresa May, set out the Government’s vision for UK businesses including corporate governance reform. She confirmed that a green paper on corporate governance will be published later in the year that will address executive pay and accountability to shareholders. This … Continue reading Corporate Governance in the UK: key takeaways from Theresa May’s CBI speech →

On October 14, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) published a global standard ISO 37001: Anti-Bribery Management Systems. This voluntary standard is designed to assist organisations around the world implement and maintain an effective and proportionate anti-bribery programme. Organisations can choose to use it simply as an internal benchmarking tool or seek ISO 37001 certification … Continue reading ISO 37001 – The first international anti-bribery management system standard →

On 28 September 2016 the FCA published a discussion paper (DP16/4) on whether the person who has overall responsibility for the legal function (the GC) at a bank, building society, credit union or PRA-designated investment firm (a Regulated Firm) should be a Senior Management Function (SMF) and therefore subject to the senior managers regime (SMR). If a GC … Continue reading FCA discussion paper on the impact of the senior managers regime on the in-house legal function →