CCOS: MANAGING RESPONSIBILITIES AND LIABILITY RISKS
R&C: To what extent have the pressures and responsibilities facing chief compliance officers (CCOs) ramped up in recent months? Is it fair to say the status of the CCO function across a company’s operations has been transformed?
Moosmayer: The global pandemic has left nobody untouched, on a personal and in a professional capacity. Chief compliance officers (CCOs) are no exception. They are often involved in crisis management, which increases the workload and pressure. They have to find new ways to maintain assurance levels – just think about the topics of internal investigations, controls and monitoring in a virtual way. Last but not least, as companies are under increased economic pressure during the crisis, the budgets of CCOs may be subject to cuts as well. But on the positive side, if CCOs embrace this challenge as an opportunity, they can enhance their impact in their corporation – as a proven crisis manager, and accelerator of their digital agenda.
D’Ambrosio: The pressures and responsibilities for CCOs have ramped up significantly as companies around the globe respond to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. When working on crisis management plans, I used to say that in my 25-plus years of corporate experience, I never faced a true crisis. Many incidents, but never a true crisis. That ended in 2020 with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, our greatest challenge was speed. I do not mean ‘being nimble’, as we always discuss, but pure speed to respond to a rapidly changing situation. Decisions had to be made swiftly, new guidance that was being issued by global regulators had to be quickly assessed and policies adjusted. In these moments, my belief is always that great companies get through crises by falling back on their core values and their code of conduct and ethics. Using your values and code as guides allow you to make the best decisions possible in a chaotic environment.
Jan-Mar 2021 Issue
Novartis
Walgreens Boots Alliance