On July 28, 2010, Michael McCartney, President/CEO of DIGITS was requested to lecture to the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission on Setting the FCPA Compliance Standard: Principles and Practices for Effective Global Third-Party Due Diligence Programs.  Some of the attendees in the audience for this three day boot camp were Charles Duross, Acting Deputy Chief, DOJ Fraud Section, Cheryl J. Scarboro, Chief, SEC FCPA Unit, Robin Gazawi, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI-HQ, Internal Corruption Unit, Charles Duross, Acting Deputy Chief DOJ Fraud Section,  as well as Partners and representatives from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Shearman & Sterling, Fulbright & Jaworski, Kirkland & Ellis and many other Washington D.C. law firms.

The Lecture was designed to provide participants with a working knowledge of Foreign Corruption Practices Act compliance programs and how computer forensics can be an integral part of the internal audit committee process. The program detailed the value of forensically extracted electronically stored information (ESI) and how that information can add significant value any Ethics and Compliance Program.  According to the yearly CSI survey of businesses, nearly 90% of all business records produced today are never printed and exist solely in electronic format.  In addition, employees trying to do things that they know an employer or the government regulatory body doesn't want them to do, will typically delete items of interest, or use "out of band" email communications to avoid detection.  Having the compliance and audit committees review forensically extracted ESI as part of their review, significantly increases the effectiveness of those programs.

For more information on how to employ forensics in your ethics and compliance programs, contact Michael McCartney at michael.mccartney@digitsllc.com