Meet Frederico Melville Novella and Christie Ippisch - Society of ...

with the support of the board members, who
have also always believed in the necessity of
this department.
AT: How standard is it for companies
in Guatemala to establish a Compliance
department?
CI: We are one of the leading Guatemalan
corporations. This is a new trend, seen today
as an actual necessity. Cementos Progreso
has been recognized and given awards by
Centrarse, which is a local entity that promotes
the social responsibility of companies.
AT: How is the compliance team structured?
CI: The compliance officer reports to the
Audit Committee. Here we call it the Risk
and Compliance Committee. There is a vice
president who is responsible for Compliance,
Legal and Risk (audit). The compliance officer
reports organizationally to him.
AT: What’s your background, and how did
you become a member of the compliance team?
CI: I have twenty-three years of experience,
mainly in banking. I was treasurer of the second
largest bank in Guatemala during early 1990s,
then I worked almost nine years for Citibank as
Country Treasurer, and then I was the Financial
Institutions and Public Sector Head.
While I worked for Citibank, we focused
on training banks, financial companies, and
the government with topics like anti-money
laundering, know-your-customer policies,
managing regulatory issues, etc. Due to my
background, I started as an advisor to the Risk
and Compliance Committee, becoming the
Corporate Compliance Officer.
AT: What is the outline of your program?
In the U.S., companies tend to follow the
Federal Sentencing Guidelines, of course.
What did you use?
CI: Basically, my role as a Corporate
Compliance Officer is to establish the mechanisms
of control and application of the code of
ethics and conduct. And I effectively manage
the mechanisms to notify us of good or bad
conduct. The hotline, emails, suggestion boxes,
and notifications are presented directly to me.
I also work to create a culture of integrity
and doing the right thing. This includes establishing
procedures and controls to identify
and manage conflicts of interests. I also monitor
that the company complies with the laws
and regulations, supported by areas such as
Internal Audit and Legal.
AT: What are some of the key compliance
challenges that Grupo Progreso faces?
CI: Trying our best, through our people,
to help change a negative view of compliance
into a winning culture and a winning
organizational compliance culture! It is a
challenging subject, since locally you need to
convince the board members that implementing
a code of ethics and all of the compliance
structure will benefit the company, and it’s
not only an extra bureaucratic process within
the company.
AT: Are these challenges typical for your
industry, or are they common for other businesses
in Guatemala?
CI: They are common for all businesses in
Guatemala.
AT: What role does the Guatemalan government
play in encouraging compliance programs?
CI: They have been proactive by starting to
implement the role of the compliance officer
in the financial system with strict anti-money
laundering controls, and all international
requirements, such as the antiterrorist laws.
The government—the Superintendent of Tax
Administration, for example—has enforced
and strengthened regulatory issues and controls
significantly. ✵
Adam Turteltaub is Vice President of Membership for SCCE. He
can be contacted at adam.turteltaub@corporatecompliance.org.
Christie Ippisch can be contacted at cippisch@hotmail.com.
Compliance & Ethics Professional May/June 2012
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