Compliance & Ethics Professional - Society of Corporate ...

The Art of Compliance Featureby Art Weiss, JD, CCEPThe consequences of EnronWeissYou can’t be around compliance professionalsmuch without hearing certainbuzz phrases—things like “tone at thetop” and “ethical culture.” One of my favoritecompliance phrases is “ethical culture.” I talkabout it all the time at my company and at SCCEgatherings. I may even mumble it inmy sleep. Just in case the Departmentof Justice has bugged my bedroom, Iwant them to know I’m ethical.But I think I insulted someone’sDad recently when I used the phraseduring a presentation. We were talkingabout the Federal SentencingGuidelines, what prosecutors look for whenmaking charging decisions, codes of conduct,hotlines…you know—compliance stuff. Thebuzz phrases were flying back and forth, andout of my mouth came a true story from whenI was hired to be my company’s first ChiefCompliance Officer. (We added “Ethics” tomy function later, after some compliance professionalI heard speak at an SCCE programstarting using the word in what seemed likeevery other sentence.)I told the group that when I first became acompliance officer, I looked on eBay for someEnron stuff for my office. I thought it wouldbe funny for the compliance guy…well, youget it. I told of finding a copy of Enron’s codeof conduct on eBay. The seller stated that thisparticular copy of Enron’s code was “Good AsNew…Never Been Opened!”I use this example when speaking aboutthings like not having a check-the-box complianceprogram and having meaningful policies.I went on to say that Enron’s code was actuallyquite comprehensive. The problem was thatno one ever opened it. This gets laughs everytime. It got laughs this time, too.“I told of finding a copy of Enron’scode of conduct on eBay. Theseller stated that this particularcopy of Enron’s code was ‘GoodAs New…Never Been Opened!’”Later I read a note from an attendeewhose father worked for Enron. The attendeeliked my presentation, but pointed out thatnot everyone at Enron was unethical. I can’timagine the personal and professional sufferingthat this attendee’s family endured. Thisillustrated to me the effect that a few culturallychallenged individuals, let loose in an environmentof looking the other way, can have on notjust a company and its shareholders, but itsemployees and their families. Ethical cultureis real. If it fails, it has far‐reaching results andconsequences that we need to keep in mind.No more Enron stories. Anyone have acopy of the WorldCom code? ✵Art Weiss is Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer at TAMKO Buildingproducts in Joplin, MO. He may be contacted at art_weiss@tamko.com.Compliance & Ethics Professional March/April 2012+1 952 933 4977 or 888 277 4977 | www.corporatecompliance.org 31