The Compliance Life

The Compliance Life details the journey to and in the role of a Chief Compliance Officer. How does one come to sit in the CCO chair? What are some of the skills a CCO needs to success navigate the compliance waters in any company? What are some of the top challenges CCOs have faced and how did they meet them? These questions and many others will be explored in this new podcast series. Over four episodes each month on The Compliance Life, I visit with one current or former CCO to explore their journey to the CCO chair. This month, my guest is Katie Smith who is the Vice President for Ethics at Assurance. She previously served as Assistant Vice President and Chief Ethics Officer for USAA and Executive Vice President and Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer at Convercent.

Katie is passionate about compliance, having worked in the field for 20 years, building high-performing teams and increasing employee engagement by up to 300%. She has proven expertise in building and promoting talent, creating a trust-based culture, anti-corruption, code of conduct, conflict of interest, marketing internal programs, training and awareness, investigation excellence, data privacy and process efficiency. She is a much sought after public speaker and contributor featured in Wall Street Journal, Time, Fortune, NBC and Compliance Week. Katie’s commitment to the compliance profession is well as she currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Ethics and Compliance Initiative (ECI).

In this second episode, we take up the some of the skills, tasks and roles that Katie used in her CCO/CECO roles. She discusses how the compliance profession and compliance professionals have evolved over the past two decades. We move into some of the challenges Ethics and Compliance functions face in the Covid-19 world. We conclude with some of Katie’s thoughts on how persons just getting into the compliance field can garner mentors.

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The Compliance Life details the journey to and in the role of a Chief Compliance Officer. How does one come to sit in the CCO chair? What are some of the skills a CCO needs to success navigate the compliance waters in any company? What are some of the top challenges CCOs have faced and how did they meet them? These questions and many others will be explored in this new podcast series. Over four episodes each month on The Compliance Life, I visit with one current or former CCO to explore their journey to the CCO chair. This month, my guest is Katie Smith who is the Vice President for Ethics at Assurance. She previously served as Assistant Vice President and Chief Ethics Officer for USAA and Executive Vice President and Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer at Convercent.

Katie is passionate about compliance, having worked in the field for 20 years, building high-performing teams and increasing employee engagement by up to 300%. She has proven expertise in building and promoting talent, creating a trust-based culture, anti-corruption, code of conduct, conflict of interest, marketing internal programs, training and awareness, investigation excellence, data privacy and process efficiency. She is a much sought after public speaker and contributor featured in Wall Street Journal, Time, Fortune, NBC and Compliance Week. Katie’s commitment to the compliance profession is well as she currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Ethics and Compliance Initiative (ECI).

In this first episode, we consider Katie’s journey to the CCO role. She talks about how her Liberal Arts degree, not a JD, facilitated her success in compliance. She details her initial corporate work in HR and moving over to the compliance field and her journey to the CCO chair.

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The Compliance Life details the journey to and in the role of a Chief Compliance Officer. How does one come to sit in the CCO chair? What are some of the skills a CCO needs to success navigate the compliance waters in any company? What are some of the top challenges CCOs have faced and how did they meet them? These questions and many others will be explored in this new podcast series. Over four episodes each month on The Compliance Life, I visit with one current or former CCO to explore their journey to the CCO chair. This month, my guest is DeAnna Nwankwo who served as Corporate Compliance Officer for Core Laboratories from 2003 May 2020. In that capacity, she led Core Laboratories ethics and compliance activities.

As CCO, DeAnna reported to the general counsel and secretary and to the audit committee of the board of directors. She was responsible for formulating and implementing Core Lab’s ethics policies and procedures, including its Code of Ethics and Corporate Responsibility and making sure they were communicated and trained upon across the company. DeAnna managed the company’s employee Helpline resources and served as a final internal resource which concerned parties could communicate after other formal channels and resources were exhausted. As Corporate Compliance Officer, she was authorized to implement all necessary actions to ensure achievement of the objectives of an effective compliance program. In her role, she collaborated with other functional departments (Internal Audit, Human Resources, Information Security, etc.) to receive and direct compliance issues to appropriate resources for investigation and resolution.

In this fourth and final episode, DeAnna discusses that as a Chief Compliance Officer, you must stand for what you believe in or you will fall for anything. She explained there were times when she did not agree with my manager on certain things like firing a group of managers in one business unit for violating the Company’s Code of Business Conduct regarding mileage reimbursement or when individuals claimed they were retaliated against. In those instances, she stood her ground and pushed back. We concluded with some thoughts about the uniqueness of DeAnna’s journey to the CCO chair and reflect that all CCOs have a unique journey.

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The Compliance Life details the journey to and in the role of a Chief Compliance Officer. How does one come to sit in the CCO chair? What are some of the skills a CCO needs to success navigate the compliance waters in any company? What are some of the top challenges CCOs have faced and how did they meet them? These questions and many others will be explored in this new podcast series. Over four episodes each month on The Compliance Life, I visit with one current or former CCO to explore their journey to the CCO chair. This month, my guest is DeAnna Nwankwo who served as Corporate Compliance Officer for Core Laboratories from 2003 May 2020. In that capacity, she led Core Laboratories ethics and compliance activities.

As CCO, DeAnna reported to the general counsel and secretary and to the audit committee of the board of directors. She was responsible for formulating and implementing Core Lab’s ethics policies and procedures, including its Code of Ethics and Corporate Responsibility and making sure they were communicated and trained upon across the company. DeAnna managed the company’s employee Helpline resources and served as a final internal resource which concerned parties could communicate after other formal channels and resources were exhausted. As Corporate Compliance Officer, she was authorized to implement all necessary actions to ensure achievement of the objectives of an effective compliance program. In her role, she collaborated with other functional departments (Internal Audit, Human Resources, Information Security, etc.) to receive and direct compliance issues to appropriate resources for investigation and resolution.

In this third episode, we consider the importance of a CCO building trust, being honest and having high ethical standards. DeAnna discusses how managing the helpline is not only so critical but also an important resource of information for every CCO. She discusses the importance of reporting facts, and not your opinion in fraud and ethics investigations. She also notes that in every investigation, there are teachable moments. Finally, although DeAnna has a QA professional background, she cautions to never forget the human factors in every investigation.

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The Compliance Life details the journey to and in the role of a Chief Compliance Officer. How does one come to sit in the CCO chair? What are some of the skills a CCO needs to success navigate the compliance waters in any company? What are some of the top challenges CCOs have faced and how did they meet them? These questions and many others will be explored in this new podcast series. Over four episodes each month on The Compliance Life, I visit with one current or former CCO to explore their journey to the CCO chair. This month, my guest is DeAnna Nwankwo who served as Corporate Compliance Officer for Core Laboratories from 2003 May 2020. In that capacity, she led Core Laboratories ethics and compliance activities.

In this second episode, we take up the some of the skills, tasks and roles that Deanna had as a CCO. She believes one of the key things that any CCO can and should do, one of which is engage in and preach integrity. It is important to understand conflict management as a every CCO will be called upon to manage conflicts. While you must be detail oriented and have good problem-solving skills, a CCO must be comfortable navigating the grey zone.

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The Compliance Life details the journey to and in the role of a Chief Compliance Officer. How does one come to sit in the CCO chair? What are some of the skills a CCO needs to success navigate the compliance waters in any company? What are some of the top challenges CCOs have faced and how did they meet them? These questions and many others will be explored in this new podcast series. Over four episodes each month on The Compliance Life, I visit with one current or former CCO to explore their journey to the CCO chair. This month, my guest is DeAnna Nwankwo who served as Corporate Compliance Officer for Core Laboratories from 2003 May 2020. In that capacity, she led Core Laboratories ethics and compliance activities.  

As CCO, DeAnna reported to the general counsel and secretary and to the audit committee of the board of directors. She was responsible for formulating and implementing Core Lab’s ethics policies and procedures, including its Code of Ethics and Corporate Responsibility and making sure they were communicated and trained upon across the company. DeAnna managed the company’s employee Helpline resources and served as a final internal resource which concerned parties could communicate after other formal channels and resources were exhausted. As Corporate Compliance Officer, she was authorized to implement all necessary actions to ensure achievement of the objectives of an effective compliance program. In her role, she collaborated with other functional departments (Internal Audit, Human Resources, Information Security, etc.) to receive and direct compliance issues to appropriate resources for investigation and resolution.

In this first episode, we consider Deanna’s journey to the CCO role, which she described as “no different than anyone else’s because it was so different. She began her professional career in QA/QC at NASA. She later moved to Core Laboratories. From there she transitioned into a compliance position and then the CCO.

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The Compliance Life details the journey to and in the role of a Chief Compliance Officer. How does one come to sit in the CCO chair? What are some of the skills a CCO needs to success navigate the compliance waters in any company? What are some of the top challenges CCOs have faced and how did they meet them? These questions and many others will be explored in this new podcast series. Over four episodes each month on The Compliance Life, I visit with one current or former CCO to explore their journey to the CCO chair. This month, my guest is Louis Sapirman, Vice President, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer and Chief Compliance Counsel for Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation. He oversees the company’s regulatory and compliance function, maintaining a culture of ethics, and ensuring all employees are upholding Panasonic’s longstanding values in their work.  

Louis previously served as Associate General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer for the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. During his tenure as CCO, the company was recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. Prior to moving in-house, Louis worked in private practice with several law firms including Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr and Buchanan Ingersoll. Throughout his career, Louis has been recognized for his work. In both 2015 and 2016, the Ethisphere Institute named him to their list of Attorneys Who Matter in Compliance and Ethics, and in 2010 he was named International Employment Lawyer of the Year by the Association of Corporate Counsel.

In this final episode, going forward Sapirman says it will all be about the data, data and more data and the metrics to go along with it. However, it is not enough to simply track data, both from the government’s perspective and from the business case, your business unit folks need actionable insights. There will be greater scrutiny of both CSR and the Supply Chain and that 3rd party compliance is not just about due diligence on your suppliers and finally the role of procurement in compliance. Sapirman believes there will be more professional in the field of compliance with schools having Ethics & Compliance. Compliance professionals will be more challenged with privacy issues, trade control challenges and economic sanctions as well the cultural realities of movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. We concluded with thoughts on the convergence of compliance and risk – the importance of compliance professionals understanding their position in an organization’s risk universe.

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The Compliance Life details the journey to and in the role of a Chief Compliance Officer. How does one come to sit in the CCO chair? What are some of the skills a CCO needs to success navigate the compliance waters in any company? What are some of the top challenges CCOs have faced and how did they meet them? These questions and many others will be explored in this new podcast series. Over four episodes each month on The Compliance Life, I visit with one current or former CCO to explore their journey to the CCO chair. This month, my guest is Louis Sapirman, Vice President, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer and Chief Compliance Counsel for Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation. He oversees the company’s regulatory and compliance function, maintaining a culture of ethics, and ensuring all employees are upholding Panasonic’s longstanding values in their work.   

Louis previously served as Associate General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer for the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. During his tenure as CCO, the company was recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. Prior to moving in-house, Louis worked in private practice with several law firms including Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr and Buchanan Ingersoll. Throughout his career, Louis has been recognized for his work. In both 2015 and 2016, the Ethisphere Institute named him to their list of Attorneys Who Matter in Compliance and Ethics, and in 2010 he was named International Employment Lawyer of the Year by the Association of Corporate Counsel.

In this Episode 3, Sapirman discusses how communications can be used to help drive a more ethical culture. Sapirman believes that communication as a driver of culture. But more than simply being a great communicator, a compliance practitioner must use skill to help others communicate the messages of ethics and compliance. He discusses the concept of 360-degree communications. He is a big fan of social media and the power of non-verbal communications. He concludes with an example of how he used training as an effective tool of communications.

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The Compliance Life details the journey to and in the role of a Chief Compliance Officer. How does one come to sit in the CCO chair? What are some of the skills a CCO needs to success navigate the compliance waters in any company? What are some of the top challenges CCOs have faced and how did they meet them? These questions and many others will be explored in this new podcast series. Over four episodes each month on The Compliance Life, I visit with one current or former CCO to explore their journey to the CCO chair. This month, my guest is Louis Sapirman, Vice President, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer and Chief Compliance Counsel for Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation. He oversees the company’s regulatory and compliance function, maintaining a culture of ethics, and ensuring all employees are upholding Panasonic’s longstanding values in their work.  

 Louis previously served as Associate General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer for the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. During his tenure as CCO, the company was recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. Prior to moving in-house, Louis worked in private practice with several law firms including Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr and Buchanan Ingersoll. Throughout his career, Louis has been recognized for his work. In both 2015 and 2016, the Ethisphere Institute named him to their list of Attorneys Who Matter in Compliance and Ethics, and in 2010 he was named International Employment Lawyer of the Year by the Association of Corporate Counsel.

In this Episode 2, we explore the qualities of thesuccessful CECO. Some of the key leadership attributes Sapirman sees as critical are Great Communication, a skill that should be practiced constantly, to ensure you remain successful. You should engage in Servant Leadership and your success lies solely in the success of others. Why you need to be flexible and even be a Chameleon. You must be innovative because if you keep doing the same thing over and over, eventually it becomes stale and is destined to fail. Success in E&C requires the ability to be creative and see the novel solutions and change necessary to keep your program successful.

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The Compliance Life details the journey to and in the role of a Chief Compliance Officer. How does one come to sit in the CCO chair? What are some of the skills a CCO needs to success navigate the compliance waters in any company? What are some of the top challenges CCOs have faced and how did they meet them? These questions and many others will be explored in this new podcast series. Over four episodes each month on The Compliance Life, I visit with one current or former CCO to explore their journey to the CCO chair. This month, my guest is Louis Sapirman, Vice President, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer and Chief Compliance Counsel for Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation. He oversees the company’s regulatory and compliance function, maintaining a culture of ethics, and ensuring all employees are upholding Panasonic’s longstanding values in their work.   

Louis previously served as Associate General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer for the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. During his tenure as CCO, the company was recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. Prior to moving in-house, Louis worked in private practice with several law firms including Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr and Buchanan Ingersoll. Throughout his career, Louis has been recognized for his work. In both 2015 and 2016, the Ethisphere Institute named him to their list of Attorneys Who Matter in Compliance and Ethics, and in 2010 he was named International Employment Lawyer of the Year by the Association of Corporate Counsel.

 In this first episode, we consider Louis’ personal and professional journey into the field of compliance. We get to know Sapirman through his family and why he is so passionate about compliance, institutional justice and institutional fairness. We learn about two experiences growing up that helped informed his views on diversity and the wider world. He talks about his experience as a member of a service fraternity in college and then moves into his professional career. His legal work as a Generalist into Employment Attorney, moving to Employment and Litigation work at D&B and then revamping the investigations process at D&B.

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