...Ethics and Compliance David Livingston, Raul Lopez, Robert Morrison, Tyler Norwood FIN/370 Finance for Business University of Phoenix May 7, 2011 Joe Brennan Ethics and Compliance Even though there are federal rules and regulations governing work place behavior, what if there were no boundaries for ethics and compliance, would Amazon continue to follow the same procedures set by the federal laws to ensure ethical behavior within the work place. How does Amazon differ from other organizations when it comes to ethical behavior? One way is because Amazon adheres to a strict conflict of interest policy regarding customers, employees, and Amazon follows strict policies on record keeping and financial integrity. Team C will depict Amazon’s policy and procedures for ethical and SEC compliance, explain the function of monetary markets in the United States, and assess Amazon’s monetary performance for the previous two years by means of financial ratios. Team C will explain Amazon’s financial health in reference to the debt, return of equity, and daily receivable ratios. As part of their code of business conduct and ethics policies, Amazon established basic guiding principles to help steer their employees to do what is ethically and morally right to reassure their investors that they are doing what is right for the investors and the public. Of course Amazon must be in compliance with the governing (a) laws, (b) rules and (c) regulations set forth by local and federal governments...
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...Effectiveness of Compliance Programs Pradeep Parakh, Mumbai, India Why to have a Compliance Plan • Heightened scrutiny by regulators • Avoid problems before they occur • Improved effectiveness of organization The Importance of Compliance • Compliance provides stability in revenue • Compliance uncovers inadvertent errors which can be corrected before they create huge problems for the entity • Compliance allows continued service to consumers because paybacks and penalties can impact the delivery of future services • Compliance leads to a better relationship with regulators and those who have dealings with the entity Compliance Programs Must Have Substance • As evident by recent legislation, the focus of regulators is shifting from a focus on the presence of a compliance program to evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of the compliance program • Regulators asks question such as – “Can you prove that your compliance program works?” Elements of Effective Compliance Plan • Written policies and procedures • Compliance Officer • Training and education . . . including . . .governing body members • Communication lines to the Compliance Officer • Disciplinary policies • Internal audits and, as appropriate, external audits • Response and investigation Types of Compliance Programs People Measure • • • • • • • • Security compliance Regulatory compliance Listing compliance Environmental compliance Safety compliance Quality control compliance Privacy compliance Tax compliance Counts...
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...BA 3301 Legal Environment of Business Compliance Interview and Report Assignment Associate Professor Lee Usnick, JD I. ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW Virtually all business activities conducted in the United States are highly regulated, not only by governmental entities, but by professional entities as well. Compliance with all federal, state, and local laws and regulations is a prerequisite to the long term health and survival of a business. Equally important is a business's compliance with standards issued by the professional and accrediting bodies responsible for licensing and certification. Certain industries are more regulated than others. For example, health care, financial services, and public utilities are all highly regulated with extensive licensing and operational standards. When a business fails to comply with all applicable regulations and standards, the business and the individuals who manage it can face a variety of sanctions, from loss of license and program certification, to civil and criminal sanctions that include monetary penalties and prison. In this assignment, you will learn how someone in your selected industry meets the challenges of current compliance requirements. It is not necessary to address all aspects of compliance in this industry or selected company. Rather, you should educate yourself in broad terms about the kinds of governmental and industry standards covering your interviewee's business, then select a few key aspects to explore in depth with...
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...response to an assignment that has been given by the International Compliance Training for the International Diploma in Governance, Risk and Compliance. It looks at the factors surrounding financial services compliance along the industries lines of legislative, economic, industry driven, political, environmental and possible scandals relating to all of these areas. The information has been gathered from the British Virgin Islands jurisdiction from sources such as Financial Services Commission, British Virgin Islands Government and internationally, from the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the text, International Compliance Training Ltd. The research is basically theoretically driven to ascertain if the industry would be better off with regulation or left for participants to operate freely. Introduction: Scandals (such as Enron, WorldCom), the September 11 attack and financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 brought attention to loopholes of legislation that market participants have been taking advantage of for years. It was never the intention of regulation to cause market abuse, insider dealings or loss of investments or tangible properties. This paper details the shortcoming of legislation but also highlights how an effective regulatory environment can be achieved. What is Regulation? Regulation is defined according to the International Compliance Training Ltd as a set of binding rules by a public or private body...
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...cting as a “compelling event” in the adoption of new breeds of risk management and corporate compliance products and services are the recently highlighted fraudulent business practices occurring within many of America’s Fortune 1000 corporations. Governmental and regulatory investigations have identified, secured, and utilized significant amounts of incriminating evidence from within the corporate Information Technology (IT) infrastructure. Purposeful fraudulent activities aside, second-level effects are now beginning to trickle down into thousands of well run corporations that operate within highly regulated market sectors. For many, their only “questionable act” is a commitment to the deployment of technologies and business practices that promise to improve workforce productivity, client and supplier relationships, and shareholder return. The challenges for corporate entities to address the issues is often one of trying to “herd cats.” The insatiable desire for technology that enables real-time communication, as well as immediate capabilities to develop and distribute information has created a huge information management quandary. Our ability to communicate and distribute information “at will” has created potential significant corporate risk associated with failure to adhere to governmental, industrial, or self-imposed corporate compliance metrics. Although much is in place to regulate previous generations of communication and information distribution methods, recent technological...
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...Running head: CORPORATE COMPLIANCE PLAN Individual Assignment: Corporate Compliance Plan LAW/531 YOUR NAME(S) DATE NAME OF PROFESSOR Corporate Compliance Plan DATE Memo to: Riordan Officers and Directors From: YOUR NAME Re: Managing legal liability This memo implements enterprise risk management such as prevention and management strategies for Riordan officers and directors (O/D) to implement in areas of legal risk based on the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission’s (COSO) recommendations. COSO in a voluntary private organization that helps businesses establish, “more effective, efficient, and ethical business operations on a global basis.” (COSO, 2008). Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Legal Principle: ADR is an alternative form of settling legal disputes that is less costly and time consuming than courtroom litigation. (Jennings, 2006). Binding arbitration, for example, is where the dispute cannot be escalated to a formal litigation. (Jennings, 2006). Laws: Business torts include intentional, liability, and strict tort liability such as invasion of privacy, negligence—when a party does not live up to the expected standard of care, or strict tort liability—when there are few defenses to a direct violation of a federal law. (Jennings, 2006). Liability: Riordan’s O/D who will be held liable for the tort of negligence if, for example, a custom heart valve is defective causing harm or death to the patient. (UOP...
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...LITTLE THINGS Verse 1: G Your hand fits in mine G Like it's made just for me C But bear this in mind C It was meant to be Em And I'm joining up the dots D With the freckles on your cheeks C D G And it all makes sense to me G I know you've never loved G The crinkles by your eyes C When you smile, You've never loved C Your stomach or your thighs Em The dimples in your back D At the bottom of your spine C D G But I'll love them endlessly CHORUS: Am C I won't let these little things Em D Slip out of my mouth Am But if I do C It's you Em ...
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...A. Compliance Status The following executive summary focuses not only on the identified gaps in the current process, but also the corrective action plan to support compliance in the noted areas of the Communications Standards as provided by The Joint Commission, (National Patient Safety Goals, 2013). The high risk associated with surgical procedures performed on the wrong site has driven a risk mitigating approach to the processes involved for these procedures. The goal is to prevent harm to patients having a surgical procedure. The following summary is the current compliance status if the Priority Focus Area of Communication for Nightingale Community Hospital. After review of the specific areas identified in the Priority Focus Area, the following have been identified as requiring further attention: time-outs are routinely performed prior to every procedure (UP 01.03.01) and procedure site is marked (UP 01.02.01). Based on the evaluation of the Nightingale Community Hospital National Patient Safety Goals for Communications the current compliance rate related to the Universal Protocol Time-Out processes performed hospital wide indicate a 95% to 100% compliance rate for the year. The graph provided in the Nightingale Community Hospital National Patient Safety Goals Communication assessment provides limited information as these are hospital wide percentages. No unit specific evaluations of performance have been provided in the report. Upon review of the Site Identification and...
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...The Kind of Friends We Used To Be By Frances O’Roark Dowell Book Report By Ashlynn Hopstein October 15, 2010 Ashlynn Hopstein October 15, 2010 The Kind of Friends We Used To Be By Frances O’Roark Dowell The setting is at Kate and Marilyn’s school. It is in the present around Christmas time. Christmas is important because it brought people together, like Kate and Marilyn and even Marilyn’s parents who were divorced – at least for the night. The main characters are Marilyn and Kate. They were friends until the sixth grade. Now they are in the seventh grade, and they want to become friends again. Kate and Marilyn are the same in some ways. They are both in clubs. Kate is in the Creative Writing Club, and Marilyn is in Student Council. In addition, they are both nice girls. Kate and Marilyn are also very different. Marilyn is a girly-girl, and Kate is a tomboy. Marilyn is a girly-girl, because she is on the cheer squad, and she wears sparkly shoes. Kate, on the other hand, likes to play guitar and wears big black boots. Now Kate and Marilyn want to be friends again, but they just don’t know how. They want to be friends again, because all their other friends aren’t very nice people, like Flannery and Mazie. Mazie is Marilyn’s friend, and Flannery is Kate’s friend. Mazie isn’t very nice, because she bullies people. Flannery isn’t very nice, because she bullies people, also. Kate and Marilyn call each other a lot to try to be friends again. Marilyn...
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...History Wal-Mart has been selling groceries for a mere 16 years, making it a relative newcomer in the industry compared to most of its competitors. Wal-Mart’s Neighborhood Markets has huge effect on industry, Wal-Mart is traditionally known for its Supercenters, big-box stores that cover expansive square footage and offer extensive product selection. The Neighborhood Markets are significantly smaller and are intended to reach the local markets that aren’t always covered by a Wal-Mart big-box store. In many cases, these markets contain the customers that Albertsons has targeted as crucial to its success. Neighborhood Markets are strengthened by the same low prices and powerful supply chain that make the company’s Supercenters a seemingly unstoppable force. With 2,305 retail stores in 31 states, Albertsons is one of the largest retail food and drug chains in the world. Among these retail stores are 1,351 combination food-drug stores, 707 standalone drugstores, and 247 conventional and warehouse stores. Albertsons is working to reduce costs in the supply chain so that its stores can offer prices that are more competitive with Wal-Mart’s prices. It must dramatically close the profit margins if it is to become the number one grocer in the United States. Merchandise currently sells for 20 to 25 percent more on average than Wal-Mart’s product offerings. Wal-Mart’s Retail Link network pulls in point-of sale data from its retail stores every 15 minutes, giving suppliers incredibly...
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...Project: Compliance Auditing | Final DraftAdvanced Auditing | | | | | OUTLINE I. Compliance Audits a. Objective, Scope, and Methodology b. Regulations II. Features & Benefits a. Assessment of overall security b. Exposures that create the greatest risk c. Internal Controls III. The Compliance Audit Process d. Interviews and Reviews e. Preparation f. Procedural Component IV. Conclusion Compliance Auditing Compliance auditing determines whether a process or transaction has or has not followed applicable rules. If rules are violated, the auditor determines the cause and recommends ways to prevent future deviations. The rules being tested can be those created by the organization for itself through corporate by-laws, policies, plans, and procedures; can be those imposed on the organization through external laws and regulations; or can be those external standards that the organization has chosen to follow. In addition Compliance auditors gather evidence regarding fraudulent or abusive activity affecting governmental entities. Their audits are designed to detect and deter the misappropriation of public assets and to reduce future fraud risks. (Associates, 2003) Compliance auditors must have the skills to research issues effectively using authoritative materials, understand how to apply the knowledge gained to the circumstances being tested, and be able to explain to the organization...
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...Starbucks Corporation Ethics and Compliance Michelle Anderson, Deida Camacho, Michelle Garcia, Adam Orndorf FIN/370 May 28, 2012 Joseph Potts Ethics and Compliance Starbucks was established in Seattle, Washington, by Jerry Baldwin (English teacher), Zev Siegl (history teacher) and writer Gordon Bowker (Funding Universe, (n.d) Starbucks is famous for its distinctive roasted coffee flavor and its incomparable taste. Starbucks is known worldwide and based on its success more than 17,000 branches in over 55 countries (Starbucks Corporation, 2012). The following paper will review annual report data (2010 and 2011) and will also discuss the SEC filing for this corporation. This paper will also address the role of ethics and compliance for Starbuck financial environment. A description will be given on how financial markets work in the United States. This paper will also discuss the procedures the Starbucks has put in place to ensure ethical behavior and will also identify the process used to ensure that the business complies with the SEC regulations. Based on the 2010 and 2011 reporting, calculation on current ratio, debt ratio, return on equity ratio, and days receivable will be presented. Ratio movement/changes will provide business financial health information based on the two-year period. Business Ethics and Compliance Business ethics and compliance is important to Starbucks. Starbucks believes that conducting business ethically and striving to do right...
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...Ethics and Compliance Team C has chosen Lowe’s as our organization. The role of the ethics and compliance in Lowe’s financial environment will be assessed and the procedures the company has in place to ensure ethical behavior will be described. An explanation of how the financial markets work within the United States, identifying the processes that Lowe’s uses to comply with SEC regulations. Attached are the annual report and SEC filings for the past two years. With the financial information from Lowe’s, Team C will select one ratio from each of the ratio categories to include liquidity, asset management, debt management, profitability, and market value. It will be discussed the trend for each ratio and whit it says about the organization’s financial health. Lowe’s values it reputation for maintaining high ethical standards in its workplaces and around the world where ever they do business (Lowe’s, 2012). The company states that integrity is one of their core values and that every employee must comply with all governmental laws, regulations and rules while acting on behalf of the company. All employees of Lowe’s should avoid in any conduct that is inconsistent with the company’s ethical principles, even if it is legally permissible. Lowe’s also requires all vendors and suppliers to comply with their code of conduct and business ethics, failure to do so will result in termination of the business relationship. Lowe’s requires all personnel (including family members...
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...CODE OF ETHICS Compliance is the responsibility of all the Company’s directors, officers, managers, and employees.(Capital One,2011). One is responsible for learning the details of the policies, procedures, laws and regulations applicable to one's job and for seeking guidance when needed. It is important to avoid misconduct that violates the law, this Code, or Company policies, but also the appearance of impropriety. The point, which a subject is not explicitly explained in this Code, does not relieve an employee of their responsibility to maintain the highest ethical standards under all circumstances. If one has any concern about whether their actions or inactions could violate a law, it should be discussed with their manager. While no Code of Ethics can or should replace thoughtful behavior or common sense, it can help cultivate a culture that values and rewards honesty, integrity, and accountability. (Avon, n.d.). The principles detailed in the Code will guide in “doing the right thing” and in preserving the Company’s reputation for acting with integrity at all times. TRADE REGULATION Most states have enacted trade regulation laws to ensure fair competition. These laws prohibit price-fixing and other "anti-competitive agreements, deceptive acts, and unfair competitive methods." (Pension Consulting, n.d.). Some forms of joint activities are legally permissible, but others are not. Under no circumstances, should you illegally or improperly...
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...TAX COMPLIANCE: AN ANALYSIS ON TAX KNOWLEDGE AND DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS Noor Suhaila Shaharuddin (2012) & Mohd Rizal Palil (PhD). Tax Compliance: An Analysis On Tax Knowledge And Demographic Factors. ABSTRACT Empirical research on tax compliance has shown that knowledge of taxation is essential as determinants of tax behavior. In other words, to be tax compliant individual taxpayers need to possess some basic knowledge on personal taxation such as chargeability of income, exemptions, reliefs, rebates in order to compute tax liability correctly. Taxpayers are less compliant if they do not understand the basic concept of taxation. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the effect of tax knowledge in understanding the tax compliance behaviors. In addition, this study also examined three common demographic variables that may be relevant in explaining tax compliance behavior. A total of 50 questionnaires were distributed to all academicians at Faculty of Management and Muamalah, KUIS. Out of the 50 questionnaires distributed, a total of 39 usable responses were received, which represents response rate of 78 per cent. The results show about 35.8 per cent of the respondents had high level of tax knowledge, 41 per cent had medium tax knowledge and the remaining of 23.2 per cent had low level of basic tax knowledge. Findings also revealed that marital status had significantly affecting on tax compliance. However, the other two variables namely gender and age were insignificant...
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