When the Spanish legal system introduced the law on criminal liability of legal entities, companies adopted organizational and management models to prevent the commission of crimes. The law was both necessary and ethically imperative. Facing a criminal charge can seriously compromise an organization’s reputation. Moreover, committing a crime which either directly or indirectly benefits a company can carry penalties including fines, suspension of activities and, in the most egregious cases, dissolution of the company.
As consultants in Corporate Compliance, our goal is to help organizations develop compliance programmes suited to their characteristics. Each plan includes regulations, procedures and tools aimed at preventing noncompliance of laws with relevance of corporate criminal offence. At Kemen Consulting our work in this area includes four phases:
Our four fases
Organizational Analysis
- Identify risks under criminal law that might affect the organization
- Prioritize risks based on likelihood of occurrence and impact on the company
- Create a criminal compliance risk map.
- Draft a map of company processes and locate criminal compliance risks within in each process.
Implementation
- Draft a manual that includes a code of ethics and the internal monitoring and control mechanisms adopted.
- Launch a complaint management system.
- Create an organizational structure to investigate complaints and make appropriate redress decisions.
Training
- Explaining implications of the penal code reform.
- Analysis of major criminal risks affecting the company.
- Explanation of the crime prevention programme
Assessment and monitoring
- Regular review of criminal risks facing the company and internal control measures
- Monitoring of legal judgments and developments that could affect the implemented programme
Technology
To implement the compliance programmes at Kemen Consulting, we worked with the business software firm, Línea informática, to develop a tool that can be adapted to all types of organizations. The tool enables companies to:
Centralize data concerning the compliance programme.
Streamline the preparation of reports for the compliance officer.
Facilitate regular assessment and monitoring of the compliance programme.