INTEGRITY COMPLIANCE PROGRAMS & MONITORING
Any company operating nationally or internationally in the absence of a viable integrity compliance program (“ICP”) is exposed to financial and reputational risks of a very serious nature. Lax internal controls can and often do lead rapidly to undesired consequences, such as law enforcement or regulatory investigations into, and prosecutions of, allegations of bribing foreign public officials. The outcome of these types of proceedings can be fatal to a company.
The ability of Pavocat Chambers’ barristers to design and implement world leading ICPs is significant. These bespoke ICPs serve to protect a company by ensuring, as far as possible, that its activities are carried out in an ethical manner. Our barristers, some of whom have acted as compliance officers at the highest international level, understand business integrity and what needs to be done to ensure that a company can conduct its affairs with the minimum of risk.
The compliance services provided by members of Pavocat Chambers are extensive and range from reviewing and improving existing compliance programs through to creating and rolling out entirely new programs that meet and exceed international standards, such as those set by the Integrity Compliance Office of the World Bank Group and the International Organisation for Standardisation (“ISO”). Our barristers can be brought in to train staff on a company’s ICP or just to reinforce certain aspects of it, such as compliance with anti-bribery and corruption laws and regulations, money-laundering and terrorist financing regulations.
Our barristers can also be appointed globally to act as Independent Compliance Monitors and, in this capacity, independently verify and report on the implementation and effectiveness of ICPs adopted by or imposed upon companies.
Given the international nature of the counter-corruption services provided by Pavocat Chambers’ barristers and their exposure to international governmental organisations, they have the ability and capacity to provide a wholly independent, objective and specialist Review and Verification of an organisation’s procedures to ensure, for example, that funding emanating from that organisation reaches its intended destination untouched and undiluted by corruption or fraud. For some organisations, including the multilateral development banks (“the MDBs”), this is a treaty obligation. Our barristers are able to give much-needed assurance to both the donor and the recipient that projects are properly protected from corruption and fraud and that project funds are being used in the way intended.
