We recently co-authored an article for Compliance Week on best practices for responding to government investigations.
The starting point is in fact prior to the investigation, with implementation of a compliance program that is able to help an organization both prevent and detect violations of the law or company policies. Among other things, the compliance program should include a clear process for investigating and remediating violations.
We emphasized the importance of being able to address multiple issues as part of the investigation, including: (1) understanding allegations and relevant laws; (2) anticipating and preparing for civil lawsuits; (3) following governance standards; (4) communicating audit-firm requirements; and (5) developing remediation efforts in concert with the fact-finding process.
We also recommend, in the case of a government investigation, maintaining frequent communication to build trust and thereby retain autonomy of the investigation.
“No two government investigations are the same,” we explained in the article. “Yet there are steps that should always be followed to maximize the chance that the investigation will satisfy legal obligations, respond to allegations of misconduct, and promote a culture of compliance.”
The full article, “Best practices for responding to government investigations,” was published January 29 and is available online.