Compliance &Ethics - Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics

y Cris Mattoon, JD, CCEPAn invitation to connect:The FFIEC embraces socialmedia regulation»»Social media usage requires corporate governance.»»Enterprise risk management must encompass social media risks.»»Federal regulators will expect organizations to actively manage social media risks.»»Compliance officers can leverage current federal action to enhance governance.»»Failure to proactively address social media may impact future safety and soundness ratings.MattoonFinancial Institutions in the United Stateshave a new “friend” to contend with intheir social media circle.Given the exponential increase in theinfluence social media has had on the financialinstitution landscape in recent years,compliance professionals could haveanticipated a recent Federal Registernotice. On January 23, 2013 the FederalFinancial Institutions ExaminationCouncil (FFIEC) 1 jointly issued proposedguidance for public commentsto be received by March 25, 2013.This broad-based guidance proposesto address the applicability offederal consumer protection and compliancelaws, regulations, and policies to activitiesconducted via social media by banks, savingsassociations, and credit unions, as well as bynonbank entities supervised by the ConsumerFinancial Protection Bureau. 2 Viewed in thebroader context of enterprise risk management,the FFIEC agencies are seeking toensure that all supervised financial institutionsare effectively assessing and managingrisks associated with activities conductedvia social media. Specifically, the financialinstitutions will be expected to incorporateconsumer compliance and legal risks, as wellas reputation and operational risks associatedwith social media activities.The FFIEC’s entry into social media regulationwill likely be met with mixed reviewsby financial industry compliance professionals.While many organizations have soughtto craft policies and procedures to addressthis multifaceted communication phenomenon,other organizations have struggledwith developing a consensus around how toapproach social media governance. For organizationsthat have yet to create or adequatelyrevise social media policies and proceduresto encompass its growing importance tocommerce, the FFIEC action may providethe impetus that chief compliance officerscan leverage to guide corporate boards andC-suite executives to create a social mediagovernance structure.I read the proposed guidance with greatinterest. I had expected the FFIEC to provideguidance regarding a financial institution’sactive use of social media in its business andby its employees, both in their capacity asemployees as well as off-duty. The proposedCompliance & Ethics Professional May/June 2013+1 952 933 4977 or 888 277 4977 www.corporatecompliance.org 69