FCPAméricas Blog
Siemens Speaks to FCPAméricas, Part 3: Compliance Innovations
4.10.2013
More than four years have passed since Siemens settled charges of international anti-corruption violations. Now, Siemens speaks to FCPAméricas about its experiences improving its anti-corruption compliance program. This is the third post in a three part series. See Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
In the interview, Siemens’ Deputy Head for Compliance Investigations, Mark Gough, describes several notable innovations in compliance at the company. Mr. Gough explains:
Five years ago, other companies were not too interested in what we had started doing. This changed as some of them began facing investigations from various authorities. Now there is high interest. Some have even called us the “gold standard” in compliance. I am not sure about what people think when they read “gold standard”, because we cannot sit back and rest on past actions. We are very keen to promote sustainable compliance in the company – that is a big challenge.
Be public about compliance efforts
Early on, our management made a courageous decision to release information to the public, even to our own competitors, about our compliance efforts. Our Board was clear – we would make available the compliance tools we had developed to anyone who wanted access. We deliberately put our compliance officers on the road to tell others about the things we were doing. We were telling others to watch out, this is what can happen to you. That openness demonstrates a company that is confident in its ability to fix the past problems and find the right track. This is a considerable achievement for a company that in normal business keeps its business strategies very confidential.
Rotate compliance officers throughout business units
In order to improve the connections between the business and Compliance, a policy of rotation was commenced. For example, we rotate compliance officers in and out of the business units. This creates a multiplying factor. We then have experienced “business people” spreading the word about compliance – this is a much stronger message than simply coming from a Compliance Officer with little business credibility. The compliance function therefore builds relationships with trusted business partners.
Dedicate a risk team
We have a small unit that is focused full-time on risk to the business, both internal and external, and working to marry the two. They interview staff across the company, review key documents like investigation and audit reports and compare the information with other known compliance risks. For example, I have provided information derived from FCPAméricas into the process. This allows Compliance to focus on the latest areas where we think there is the highest level of risk. We are positioned to advise the business side on these issues as well.
We are also relying more and more on the business units of the company to own the risks themselves. We have used an annual survey to get feedback from staff on these modifications over the past several years. Responses are being used to retool the entire program.
Strive for efficiency
We are now focused on making compliance more efficient in terms of time, cost and people. These days, our internal conversations grapple with more advanced issues, like how to honor a valuable whistleblower in a way that has the greatest impact. How do we spread the word that this individual has protected the company, saved the company money, acted in the company’s own business interest, and contributed to improving the bottom line? Do we bring the person to headquarters in Germany and arrange a meeting with company leaders with a photo opportunity and article in the company newsletter? Or do we organize a “town hall”-like, public ceremony at our offices in their home country? We want to maximize the message that reporting something that might be harming the company means doing the right thing.
The company is clearly working to turn a reputational negative into a reputational positive by becoming a vocal leader about FCPA compliance. There might be room for some to be cynical about such efforts. By my own impression is that Siemens, and Mr. Gough in particular, are sincere in their compliance goals.
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Post authored by Matteson Ellis, FCPAméricas Founder & Editor
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