LAWS 6827 Compliance and Risk Management

Business organizations and their directors/executives often face a complex, onerous, and global regulatory landscape, particularly for public companies and businesses operating in financial services, health care, consumer products, and other highly-regulated industries. As numerous corporate scandals have illustrated, the risk of fraud or regulatory breach can lead to civil and criminal liability, heavy sanctions, and significant reputational damage to companies and individuals. Against this backdrop, compliance has emerged as the growing, dynamic practice of identifying and mitigating legal risks through prevention, detection, and remediation. Students will learn the history and legal underpinnings of corporate governance, compliance, and risk management standards particularly as applied to public companies and regulated financial services firms. Topics will include fiduciary duties; the roles and interactions of board directors, executives, lawyers, compliance officers, auditors, regulators, and enforcers; compliance program effectiveness; internal investigations; corporate and individual liability; and ethics considerations. Students will also gain practical experience through case studies on high-profile compliance and risk management failures.