Ethicast

Called Before Congress? How Companies Can Prepare for Congressional Investigations

Ethicast — Mon, 11 May 2026 07:00:00 +0000

What happens when a company becomes the target of a congressional investigation, and how can ethics, compliance, legal, and government affairs teams prepare before scrutiny arrives?

In this episode of The Ethicast, host Bill Coffin speaks with Kimberly Hamm and Carlos Felipe Uriarte, partners at Morrison Foerster and co-chairs of the firm’s Congressional Investigations practice. Drawing on deep experience across Congress, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and high-stakes corporate investigations, Kim and Carlos explain what organizations should understand about congressional scrutiny, how investigations unfold, and why preparation across internal teams matters.

The conversation explores what a congressional investigation really entails, whether companies should expect executive testimony, the emerging issues most likely to attract attention, and how congressional inquiries can intersect with other government investigations or enforcement actions. Kim and Carlos also discuss how ethics and compliance, legal, and government affairs teams can work together before a crisis hits, and whether there is such a thing as “winning” before Congress.

Topics include:

What a congressional investigation involves
Why private sector companies are facing more congressional scrutiny
Whether investigations begin with testimony or document requests
High-risk areas including AI, supply chain, and data privacy
How congressional investigations can overlap with DOJ, SEC, or other agency activity
Why cross-functional preparation matters
What companies should expect if called before Congress

For more insights from Kim Hamm and Carlos Felipe Uriarte, visit their profile pages at mofo.com and Morrison Foerster’s Congressional Investigations page, including their Congressional Investigations Quarterly client alert.

For additional free resources on ethics, compliance, and corporate integrity, visit the Ethisphere Resource Center at ethisphere.com/resources.

Chapters

(00:02:10) - What does a congressional investigation really entail?
(00:04:28) - Do investigations start with executive testimony?
(00:05:34) - Topics and trends that may trigger congressional scrutiny
(00:08:21) - How congressional investigations intersect with other government investigations
(00:10:10) - Breaking down silos between Ethics & Compliance, Legal, and Government Affairs
(00:12:51) - What outcomes should companies realistically expect?

When Every Secret Becomes a Wager: Insider Risk in Prediction Markets

Ethicast — Mon, 04 May 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Prediction markets promise a sharper read on the future. But recent stories raise a darker question: what happens when traders are not predicting events, but exploiting confidential information or manipulating the inputs that settle the bet? In this episode, Erica and Bill examine alleged classified-information betting tied to a Venezuela military operation, suspected weather-sensor tampering in Paris, and a college football gambling scandal to unpack the ethics and compliance risks now surrounding prediction markets, from insider information and fraud to oversight, trust, and institutional integrity.

For those who are not aware, prediction markets work like a hybrid between investment markets and prop betting. "Investors" buy shares in the yes-or-no or A-or-B outcome of a projected uncertainty: Will Finland or Greece win the 2026 Eurovision contest? Will the Fed change interest rates in June? Will traffic in the Strait of Hormuz return to normal by May 15? Will Tottenham Hotspur be relegated at the end of the 2025-2026 English Premier League? And so on.

Prediction markets have been around for a while, but they have exploded in betting volume in recent years. And on a more troubling note, they increasingly appear to provide an avenue for the improper use of inside information as well as a vector for fraud, cheating, and other undesireable outcomes.

NEWS LINKS - MADURO RAID

U.S. soldier accused of betting on Maduro operation pleads not guilty https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/us-soldier-accused-betting-maduro-operation-pleads-not-guilty-rcna342586
Special forces soldier who won $400,000 betting on Maduro's capture pleads not guilty https://abcnews.com/US/special-forces-soldier-won-400000-betting-maduros-capture/story?id=132442898
US soldier pleads not guilty to charges of gambling on Maduro ouster https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-soldier-accused-gambling-maduro-removal-due-court-2026-04-28/
U.S. Senators Now Prohibited From Trading on Prediction Markets https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/senators-vote-to-ban-themselves-from-trading-on-prediction-markets-ae4535dd

NEWS LINKS - CHARLES DE GAULLE AIRPORT

Polymarket just paid out $21,398 on a $119 weather bet — after a Paris airport sensor spiked 6°C in seconds https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/options/articles/polymarket-just-paid-21-398-153000011.html
France investigates suspected tampering with weather sensors after Polymarket bets https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/23/europe/france-weather-sensor-polymarket-bet-intl-latam
French police probe suspected weather device tampering after odd Polymarket bet https://www.npr.org/2026/04/23/nx-s1-5797876/polymarket-paris-weather-bet
The prediction-market gold rush is here — and the shenanigans are getting messy https://www.businessinsider.com/prediction-market-event-analysis-outlook-polymarket-insider-trading-market-manipulation-2026-4
Polymarket reportedly seeking CFTC approval to reopen main exchange to U.S. traders https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/04/28/polymarket-seeks-cftc-approval-to-reopen-main-exchange-to-u-s-traders
Kalshi and Polymarket are racing to ban insider trading. The economist who built the theory behind prediction markets says it’s the whole point https://fortune.com/2026/04/26/prediction-markets-insider-trading-illegal-kalshi-polymarket-robin-hanson-economist/

NEWS LINKS - SPORTS INTEGRITY

Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby to enter gambling addiction program https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/48608889/texas-tech-qb-brendan-sorsby-enter-gambling-addiction-program-sources-say
Top transfer QB Brendan Sorsby taking leave of absence from Texas Tech for gambling https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7235027/2026/04/27/brendan-sorsby-texas-tech-football-qb-gambling-addiction/
Brendan Sorsby's betting activity was reportedly flagged to Cincinnati ahead of 2025 season https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/breaking-news/article/brendan-sorsbys-betting-activity-was-reportedly-flagged-to-cincinnati-ahead-of-2025-season-123322457.html
Prohibet https://ic360.io/prohibet
The NCAA’s betting problem just claimed another round of athletes https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2026/04/28/ncaa-betting-investigation-violations-college-basketball/89837276007/
Sports Integrity Strengthens as Global Match-Fixing Declines in 2025  https://sportradar.com/content-hub/news/sports-integrity-strengthens-as-global-match-fixing-declines-in-2025/

BELA Asks: What Are Good Champion Program ROI Data Points?

Ethicast — Fri, 01 May 2026 20:45:00 +0000

Ethics and compliance champions programs can extend the reach of a centralized E&C team, but how do you prove they are working? In this BELA Asks episode of Ethicast, Ethisphere’s Erica Salmon Byrne explains how organizations can evaluate both the overall ROI of an ambassador or champions program and the performance of individual ambassadors.

Erica discusses practical data points to track, including employee questions, policy confusion, participation in ambassador conversations, use of program materials, and employee awareness of local champions. She also explains why a strong champions program creates a valuable feedback loop between employees and the ethics and compliance team, helping organizations respond faster, improve communications, and strengthen risk mitigation.

Learn more about BELA: www.ethisphere.com/bela

How E&C Leaders Can Turn AI From Hype Into Practice

Ethicast — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Artificial intelligence is no longer a future-state issue for ethics and compliance teams. It is already reshaping how programs manage training, reporting, risk assessment, monitoring, measurement, and operational decision-making.

In this episode of The Ethicast, host Bill Coffin speaks with Roxanne Petraeus, Co-Founder and CEO of Ethena, and Dianne Ramos, Head of Ethics at Guardian Life Insurance, about how ethics and compliance leaders can move AI from experimentation into practical, responsible use.

Roxanne and Dianne recently led the “Prompt to Practice: A Hands-On Workshop for the AI-Curious CCO” breakout session at the 2026 Global Ethics Summit, and they bring a practical, field-tested perspective to one of the most urgent questions facing today’s chief ethics and compliance officers: how can E&C teams adopt AI quickly, responsibly, and in ways that actually improve program performance?

This conversation covers how to build AI fluency, create safe space for experimentation, engage leadership and key stakeholders, measure ROI, and lead teams through the cultural change that AI adoption requires.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why ethics and compliance teams should begin experimenting with AI now, even if they are still early in their journey
How to distinguish between AI tools that are ready for operational use and those better suited for learning and experimentation
Why leadership support, legal, risk, privacy, security, and compliance alignment matter when introducing AI
How to measure the impact of AI on cycle time, error rates, rework, costs, and program maturity
Why AI ROI should include both time savings and new capabilities that were not previously possible
How E&C leaders can bring teams along through change without creating fatigue, disengagement, or quiet resistance

To learn more about Ethena’s AI-driven compliance tools, visit goethena.com.

To learn more about Guardian Life, visit guardianlife.com.

To learn more about Ethisphere’s research on AI in ethics and compliance, visit ethisphere.com and download AI in Ethics & Compliance: Risk to Manage, Tool to Leverage.

Subscribe to The Ethicast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify for more conversations on ethics, compliance, corporate integrity, and the future of business leadership.

Chapters

(00:02:13) - How E&C teams can catch up on AI adoption
(00:04:33) - What is ready for prime time versus what is still experimental
(00:07:01) - How to operationalize AI in regulated or resistant organizations
(00:09:18) - Why measurement matters for AI in ethics and compliance
(00:12:23) - Lessons learned from real AI implementation
(00:15:51) - Resources and closing

BELA Asks: How Do I Make the Case for Dedicated E&C Communications?

Ethicast — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 18:57:36 +0000

At Ethisphere, we believe there is no competition in compliance. That’s why we’re using this show as a platform to answer high-level questions about business integrity that have been posed to us by the members of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, or BELA.

BELA is a global ethics & compliance community that provides exclusive access to helpful data, benchmarking, events, and other resources to advance your E&C program. It also provides a concierge service by which members can submit questions around best practices, and our internal experts will provide an answer, plus helpful resources with more information.

Many of these questions are particular to a specific company’s needs. But many more of them speak to challenges or opportunities facing E&C professionals everywhere. So in this episode, we’re going to answer one such question as part of our ongoing mission to make the world a better place by advancing business integrity.

Joining us once again to answer your questions is BELA Chair Erica Salmon Byrne. In this episode, Erica answers the following question: How can I build the business case for an embedded and dedicated communications specialist within our E&C department?

To learn more about BELA, visit https://www.ethisphere.com/bela to request guest access to the Member Resource Hub and to speak with a BELA Engagement Director.

BELA Asks: When Should I Date My Case Volume Data?

Ethicast — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:37:33 +0000

Erica Salmon Byrne, Executive Chair of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, answers another question from the BELA Membership around how to date investigations case volume data. In particular, should case volume be dates when investigations are opened or closed?

To learn more about joining the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, visit https://www.ethisphere.com/bela to request guest access to the Member Resource Hub and to speak with a BELA Engagement Director.

Driving Compliance Excellence Through Culture

Ethicast — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 19:26:04 +0000

In the highly regulated world of financial services, running a top-notch ethics and compliance program is table stakes for maintaining one's ability to do business at all. But Principal Financial Group recognizes that this goes deeper than merely abiding by regulatory expectation. By maintaining high ethical standards and reinforcing the understanding of (and adherence to) its Global Code of Conduct, related policies, and legal and regulatory requirements across the organization by delivering education, training, and conducting risk assessments, Principal has earned the coveted Compliance Leader Verification designation through 2026 from Ethisphere.

In this episode, Noreen Fierro, Senior Vice President, & Enterprise Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Principal explains how the company maintains its best-in-class ethics and compliance program by keeping culture at the center of it.

To learn more about the great work that Noreen and her colleagues are accomplishing at Principal, please visit their Governance, Ethics, & Risk page at https://www.principal.com/sustainability/governance-ethics-risk
To learn more about the Compliance Leader Verification program, and to see how well your ethics and compliance program compares to your peers, visit https://www.ethisphere.com/solutions

Chapters

(00:02:42) - How a long-term focus on consistent, recurring culture measurement helps to position Principal's E&C team as a trusted strategic advisor within the organization
(00:05:04) - Developing an organizational skillset around measuring, analyzing, and improving your overall culture has helped you to meet business units “where they live"
(00:09:06) - How other organizations with integrated models can apply Principal’s approach to advancing culture

BELA Asks: How Do I Manage the Risks of International Remote Work?

Ethicast — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:22:53 +0000

BELA Chair Erica Salmon Byrne tackles an interesting question from the members of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance around how to handle the risks that arise when employees relocate temporarily to an international location - either for professional or private reasons - but must maintain their connectivity to their virtual workplace.

How Leidos Gives Back to the Ethics Community

Ethicast — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 18:57:12 +0000

The Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) is a global ethics & compliance community that provides exclusive access to helpful data, benchmarking, events, and other resources to advance your E&C program.

Each year, BELA honors select member companies and individual ethics and compliance leaders for their extraordinary commitment to advancing community engagement, growth, and transformation. These are the BELA Impact Awards, and they reflect BELA’s own dedication to moving the integrity agenda forward for all companies.

In particular, the BELA Community Champion award recognizes outstanding contributions to the member community by way of content resources, event participation, publications, mentorship, or peer-to-peer support.

This year, BELA recognizes American defense, aviation, information technology, health services, and medical research company Leidos—which has also been a World's Most Ethical Companies honoree since 2018—as one of its BELA Community Champions.

With us today to discuss how Leidos earned this award—and how the organization exemplifies the credo that there is no competition in compliance—is Jelahn Stewart, Chief Compliance Officer, Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Leidos, where she oversees the organization’s global ethics, compliance, and business integrity functions.

Leidos Ethics & Business Integrity page: https://www.leidos.com/company/ethics-and-business-integrity
Learn more about BELA: https://www.ethisphere.com/bela

Chapters

(00:02:16) - How BELA resources help Leidos achieve their ethics and compliance goals
(00:05:16) - How BELA Roundtables provide a forum for E&C leaders to share information and best practices
(00:07:17) - On sharing resources to the BELA Member Hub and how Leidos gives back to the E&C community
(00:10:26) - Recommendations for contributing a policy or asset to the BELA member hub

Having Ethics Conversations with Managers

Ethicast — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 17:10:56 +0000

People managers are the front line for delivering to employees the expectations (and aspirations) of not just the ethics and compliance team, but that of senior management and even the Board. And yet, managers often struggle with these burdens because they just don’t receive the right support...which creates otherwise preventable friction and risk within the organization.

In this episode, Ethisphere’s Eric Jorgenson, Director, Data & Services, and Katie Kruger, Senior Culture Analyst, will discuss how organizations can improve their manager communications on topics involving ethics and compliance.

Learn more at the Ethisphere Resource Center: https://www.ethisphere.com/resources

Chapters

(00:01:21) - Understanding both Ethics Quotient and Culture Quotient data
(00:03:11) - The unique role managers play in shaping an ethical culture
(00:08:49) - Rethinking the role of managers as ethics ambassadors
(00:10:17) - How to lead meaningful ethics conversations with their teams
(00:14:25) - More ethics conversations vs better ones
(00:17:35) - Scaling ethics conversations across the organization

BELA Asks: What Does the Data Tell Us About E&C Governance?

Ethicast — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 16:00:00 +0000

In this episode of BELA Asks, Erica Salmon Byrne dives into the data surrounding best practices in governance and oversight for Ethics & Compliance. From data surrounding where the function sits, to how the Chief Compliance Officer should interact with the committee and the board, this episode is chock-full of valuable insights stemming from the 2026 World's Most Ethical Companies data set.

Want more data? Reach out to us to get access to the Sphere, our on-demand data platform!

#Ethisphere #Ethicast #BELAAsks #Governance #EthicsandCompliance

BELA Asks: Who Should Own Our Compliance Program?

Ethicast — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 13:00:00 +0000

In today's episode of BELA Asks, Erica Salmon Byrne, Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Chair of BELA, addresses who should ultimately own an organization's compliance program. The answer is: it depends.

Learn more about BELA: https://bela.ethisphere.com/
Ethisphere Resource Center: https://www.ethisphere.com/resources

Managing Cross-Jurisdictional Investigations

Ethicast — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 23:14:20 +0000

One of the most pronounced concerns of the 2026 risk landscape so far is that of external investigations that involve multiple jurisdictions. Many businesses operate on an international, multi-national, or global basis. And if they don’t, their third-party suppliers and partners certainly do.

At the same time, a worldwide fracturing of regulatory expectations, enforcement paradigms, and legal controls have made the threat of a cross-border investigation an even greater risk than it has been traditionally. For any business facing the possibility of dealing with legal troubles that span jurisdictions, there has never been a better time to prepare in advance than right now.

Joining us this episode to explain how you can manage the risk of cross-border external investigations is Sagarika Chakraborty, CEO – India and Gulf, and Global Head of Investigations, of IIRIS Consulting, the largest Indian Digital, Risk, and Intelligence consulting firm.

IIRIS Consulting: https://iirisconsulting.com
Sagarika Chakraborty LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sagarikachakraborty/

Chapters

(00:01:48) - The state of cross-border external investigations today
(00:03:26) - How organizations should prepare in advance for cross-jurisdictional investigations, and how should Legal and Compliance work together
(00:05:18) - Key challenges in running internal investigations across jurisdictions, particularly around privacy
(00:08:14) - How organizations can balance legal privilege with transparency when regulators across jurisdictions expect different levels of disclosure
(00:12:31) - Common mistakes boards & senior leaders make when overseeing cross-border investigations

BELA Asks: How Do I Address External Board Service?

Ethicast — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 17:13:32 +0000

In today's episode of BELA Asks, Erica Salmon Byrne answers the question, "We are reviewing our approach to service on external boards, both governing and advisory. In particular, what are circumstances in which we would or would not allow compensation for service on such boards?"

Erica addresses best practices on ensuring board service is documented as a conflict of interest, getting permission for service, and what to watch out for, particularly in allowing compensation for external board service.

The Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) is a community of organizations committed to strengthening and maturing their E&C programs. In BELA Asks, we take time to address members' questions, and we share that information widely, because we believe there is no competition in compliance.

#BELAAsks #Ethicast #Ethisphere #ConflictsofInterest

10 Ways Boards Should Oversee Ethics

Ethicast — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 21:46:46 +0000

As businesses face relentless market challenges, technological transformations, leadership misconduct, and geopolitical whiplash, Boards of Directors play a vital role in providing the kind of ethical leadership that will help organizations build value and manage risk. And yet, those same pressures also expose the thin ethical oversight that many Boards provide—mainly because they lack practical ways to promote culture, conduct, and trust as core business values.

In response, Boards of the Future—a U.S.-based nonprofit advancing ethical leadership and integrity at the highest levels of corporate power—has released How Boards Should Oversee Ethics, a guide that distills ten concrete practices to help boards bring ethics into the center of strategy, risk, and performance conversations.

In this episode, Boards of the Future Executive Director, Vera Cherepanova speaks to the distinct practices that can help Boards be better drivers of ethical business culture.

Download How Boards Should Oversee Ethics: https://newboards.org
Ethisphere Resource Center: https://www.ethisphere.com/resources

Chapters

(00:01:46) - How executive leaders can ask “better questions” of their Boards
(00:07:02) - Why Boards should step away from past analysis and embrace ethical foresight
(00:10:28) - How can Boards can best help set the conditions for speak-up culture

BELA Asks - 100th Episode Special

Ethicast — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 21:38:00 +0000

As we celebrate our 100th episode of BELA Asks, we're answering *two* questions: How Do I Help My New CEO, and How Do I Reward Speak-Up?" And, we have a special guest appearance, too. Don't miss it!

How to Train & Engage Non-Desked Employees

Ethicast — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:00:00 +0000

At this year's Global Ethics Summit, Ethisphere kicks things off with industry roundtables in which you can spend time with your peers discussing best practices, challenges, and successes that specifically pertain to your industry. One of these is Next-Gen Learning: Exploring Emerging Tech Tools to Engage the "Non-Desked" Employee, which will discuss of the challenges of trying to apply exciting advancements in training and communications with a production workforce.

Joining us this episode is this workshop’s leader, Christopher Annand, Senior Director of the Ethics & Compliance Office, as he offers his thoughts on how Cargill innovates around training and engaging its production employees.

Cargill is the largest privately held U.S. company in terms of revenue. Based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Cargill’s various businesses touch every major aspect of the global food supply chain, including agriculture, animal nutrition, food & beverage production, and transportation. Cargill also produces pharmaceuticals, supplements, beauty products, & bioindustrial products.

On March 29, 30, and 31, Ethisphere will host the 2026 Global Ethics Summit, held live in Atlanta GA and virtually online. This leading ethics and compliance event brings together leaders from nearly 500 organizations around the world, representing more than 60 industries, as they share innovations, insights, and best practices that help them tackle the real-world E&C challenges that face companies everywhere. Register for the Global Ethics Summit here: https://events.ethisphere.com/e/global-ethics-summit-2026

Chapters

(00:01:53) - The challenge of training employees in a production setting
(00:04:38) - How Cargill innovates around engaging its large and diversified production workforce
(00:09:16) - Advice do you have for E&C leaders seeking to train employees who might not be at a desk or terminal
(00:12:42) - Encouragement for companies seeking to improve their own training efforts

At Premera Blue Cross, Ethics is a Team Sport

Ethicast — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Premera Blue Cross is a not-for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield-licensed health insurance company that services approximately 2 million people in Washington state and Alaska.

Premera holds itself to the highest standards of ethical behavior, which is why Ethisphere has recognized the company with the coveted Compliance Leader Verification designation for 2025 through 2027.

In this episode, Sven Peterson, Vice President of Compliance, Ethics and Regulatory Services, and Corporate Compliance & Ethics Officer at Premera Blue Cross, explains how pursuing "ethics as a team sport" has been instrumental in advancing training and communications, developing a highly effective Compliance and Ethics Champion program, and strengthening monitoring and control functions.

Learn more about Ethics & Integrity at Premera Blue Cross: https://www.premera.com/visitor/ethics-integrity
Learn more about the Compliance Leader Verification program: https://www/ethisphere.com/solutions

Chapters

(00:02:50) - Premera Blue Cross’s ethics & compliance maturity journey
(00:06:13) - Program successes that reflects Prepera's wider commitment to ethics within its business strategy
(00:09:00) - Premera's future aspirations for its E&C program
(00:11:38) - Words of advice for companies looking to make program assessment part of their maturity journey

BELA Asks: What Approaches are Companies Using to Address Employee Concerns?

Ethicast — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 19:27:06 +0000

In today's episode of BELA Asks, Erica Salmon Byrne, Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Chair of BELA, answers the question, "In addition to training and manager policy education, what approaches are companies using to address areas with a significant number of concerns/ employee concerns of a specific type?"

For more information, visit ethisphere.com/resources #BELAAsks #Ethisphere #EmployeeEngagement #EthicsandCompliance

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Welcome to today's episode!
(00:01:04) - How are companies approaching numerous concerns?

Bridging Generational, Cultural, and Organizational Divides in Speak-Up

Ethicast — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 14:26:33 +0000

A can't-miss part of this year' agenda are interactive workshops such as One Speak Up Program, Many Voices: Bridging Generational, Cultural, and Organizational Divides. This session directly addresses the challenges of navigating the different expectations and communication preferences of a diversified workforce. Through real-life case studies and peer problem-solving, you'll build practical skills you can apply immediately. You'll leave with a comprehensive workbook filled with frameworks, guides, and a 90-day plan, plus actionable next steps, all tailored to help your organization navigate these differences without diluting your program's integrity.

In this episode, we're joined by this workshop's leader, Nela Gomez, VP, Growth and Commercial Strategy for North America at SpeakUp, as she discusses how to build a speak-up program that delivers the same levels of trust and confidence to your 22-year-old warehouse worker in Manila as it does to your 55-year-old manager in Munich, and your stateside legal team.

Visit attendges.com to register for the Global Ethics Summit, where you can save your seat in Marinela’s interactive workshop, One Speak Up Program, Many Voices: Bridging Generational, Cultural, and Organizational Divides. Space is limited, and GES will be upon us before we know it, so don’t delay! Register and reserve your spot today.

And to learn more about SpeakUp, be sure to engage with them at GES, visit speakup.com, and of course, follow both Nela and SpeakUp on LinkedIn.

And if you’re already set to attend GES, the Ethicast will once again be streaming live from the event! Please stop by and say hello. Who knows? We might even invite you to join the show.

Chapters

(00:01:52) - Sharing what actually works across generational and cultural divides within speak-up programs around the world, from global enterprises to smaller orgs
(00:04:28) - Speak-up programs are becoming significantly more complex as organizations manage increasingly diverse, multi-generational workforces
(00:05:41) - The move to culture-based E&C programs is driving the need for multi-channel reporting options and ongoing awareness campaigns rather than one-off initiatives

BELA Asks: When Should I Notify External Audit of a Misconduct Investigation?

Ethicast — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 20:41:50 +0000

You've got questions, and we've got answers! In this episode of BELA Asks, Erica Salmon Byrne, Chair of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, explains when the right time is to let external audit know that a misconduct investigation is underway.

Business Ethics Leadership Alliance: https://bela.ethisphere.com/

Inside JLL’s Data-Driven Ethics Excellence

Ethicast — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 18:57:23 +0000

Kendall Mills - Head of Ethics and Compliance, Americas, for global real estate services company JLL - shares how she uses data to highlight the impact of JLL's ethics and compliance program when meeting with the Board of Directors. This includes building better board presentations, sharing the right KPIs, and crafting a narrative that puts this all together.

JLL's Ethics Everywhere Annual Report: https://www.jll.com/content/dam/legacy/jll-com/documents/pdf/company-information/ethics-everywhere-annual-report.pdf
At the 2026 Global Ethics Summit—which will be held in Atlanta, GA this March 30-31, Kendall will go even deeper into this topic at the main stage session, Speak the Language of the Board with Data-Driven Stories. Kendall will be joined by colleagues from Mitratech, Amgen, Circana, and AT&T. Register today to attend the Global Ethics Summit in person, or virtually! https://events.ethisphere.com/e/global-ethics-summit-2026
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ethisphere-institute

Chapters

(00:01:50) - How and why JLL turned to data to drive ethics & compliance
(00:03:51) - How JLL's data journey reduces risk and builds value
(00:06:36) - Measuring the impact of this approach, and how it changes over time
(00:09:32) - Advice for E&C leaders to incorporate data into their own operations

BELA Asks: How Should I Monitor Industry Gatherings with Competitors?

Ethicast — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 21:55:00 +0000

You've got questions, and we've got answers! In this episode of BELA Asks, Erica Salmon Byrne, Chair of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, offers helpful insight for how E&C leaders can monitor industry gatherings where there is the potential to encounter members of competing companies. #BELA #ethics #compliance #competition

Business Ethics Leadership Alliance: https://bela.ethisphere.com/

The Ethics & Compliance Journey at AppLogic Networks

Ethicast — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 18:59:30 +0000

Our guest for this episode is Mark Driedger, CEO of AppLogic Networks, a provider of network observability technology, based in Plano, Texas that over the last year has undergone a substantial organizational transformation. That includes a truly impressive advancement of its ethics and compliance efforts. Which, as Mark explains, play a crucial role in aiding the company’s ongoing transformation, supporting its continued growth and sustained success, and upholding an enterprise-wide commitment to being a champion of digital human rights.

AppLogic Networks: https://www.applogicnetworks.com/
AppLogic Networks LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/applogicnetworks/
Ethisphere: https://ethisphere.com/
Ethisphere Resource Center: https://ethisphere.com/resource-search/

Chapters

(00:01:37) - What AppLogic Networks does, and how it has transformed over the last year
(00:03:07) - Building a strong leadership relationship with the ethics & compliance team amid broader organizational transformation
(00:05:18) - What success looks like for AppLogic's E&C program, the program's biggest wins, and planned future achievements
(00:08:56) - How E&C leaders can use "technologies for good" to build better, more ethical businesses everywhere

BELA Asks: How Many Assessments Should I Plan in My Training?

Ethicast — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 18:28:54 +0000

You've got questions; we've got answers. In this episode of BELA Asks, Erica Salmon Byrne addresses best practices in trainings, specifically: what is the appropriate number of modules/assessments per training? Erica covers best practices with a focus on ensuring the learner is understanding the material and understanding the purpose of the training and why it's important for their work. With those things in mind, a company can structure its effective training with the "right" number of assessments.

To request free guest access to the BELA Member Resource Hub and speak with a BELA Engagement Director visit: www.ethisphere.com/bela

#BELAAsks #Ethisphere #ComplianceTraining

Using AI to Manage Supplier Risk

Ethicast — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 15:51:53 +0000

In our increasingly interconnected business world, organizational supply chains have become multi-layered supply webs. As a result, the task of managing supply chain due diligence has become more important—and more challenging—than ever. But what if you could use generative AI and large language models to analyze things like program assessment data to accurately extrapolate your total universe of inherent and residual risk?

Discussing this with us in this episode is Craig Moss, executive vice president of measurement at Ethisphere. Craig is also a director at the Digital Supply Chain Institute and the Cyber Readiness Institute and is on the board for the Association of Professional Social Compliance Auditors.

Craig's most recent byline with the Dow Jones Risk Journal is “Using AI to Manage Supply Chain Risk.” which explains how generative AI, when applied to program maturity data and ESG assessment data, provide E&C teams with an hourglass-shaped funnel through which supplier risk suddenly becomes a whole lot more manageable.

Read “Using AI to Manage Supply Chain Risk,” at www.dowjones.com

FREE REPORT - AI in Ethics & Compliance: Risk to Manage, Tool to Leverage: www.ethisphere.com

Chapters

(00:01:36) - How program maturity assessment data can be used to find risk patterns and manage a much bigger scale of inherent and residual risk, especially within their supply chain?
(00:04:41) - How a combination of quantitative data and qualitative intelligence can inform an organization's overall approach to a more holistic compliance and ESG program
(00:07:05) - How generative AI and large language models can help companies manage a wide spectrum of compliance and ESG risks

BELA Asks: How Should Companies Escalate Investigations Involving Executives or Senior Management?

Ethicast — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 16:52:06 +0000

Erica Salmon Byrne, Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Chair of BELA, answers the question, "How should companies escalate investigations of ethics complaints when they involve an executive or member of senior management?"

From developing your policies and procedures prior to this kind of situation, to discussing practical ways that policy might look, Erica walks through exactly how an organization can deal with this type of report.

To request free guest access to the BELA Member Resource Hub and speak with a BELA Engagement Director visit: www.ethisphere.com/bela

Inside the 2026 Global Disputes Forecast

Ethicast — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:55:27 +0000

Baker McKenzie has released their 2026 Global Disputes Forecast, which surveys 600 senior decision makers with responsibility for, or with a key role in, litigation at large organizations. The survey provides a wealth of information on what, why, and how senior leaders are viewing today’s biggest business risks with regards to how they might translate into complex legal disputes, with tariffs, sanctions, export controls, and cross-border or multi-agency investigations at top of mind.

Baker McKenzie partners Widge Devaney and Peter Tomczak share their insights on what the year ahead will look like, and how organizations can prepare now to succeed in 2026's legal risk landscape.

FREE WEBINAR: Register for Global Disputes Forecast: Risk Trends and Priorities for 2026 here: https://ethisphere.com/webinars/global-disputes-forecast-risk-trends-and-priorities/

Read the 2026 Global Disputes Forecast here: www.bakermckenzie.com

Chapters

(00:03:03) - Will 2026 be more of a threat or an opportunity around global legal risk?
(00:07:11) - How can E&C teams prioritize risk and build a truly resilient program?
(00:10:33) - How can organizations put robust coordination mechanisms in place before a multi-jurisdictional investigation begins?
(00:15:32) - What can organizations do to handle the "it can't happen here" mindset?

BELA Asks: How Can I Manage Increasing Levels in Candidate and Employment Fraud?

Ethicast — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 23:11:57 +0000

The Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) is a community of organizations committed to maturing their E&C programs. One way they do that is through our concierge service, in which they can submit top-of-mind questions for curated answers.

In this episode of BELA Asks, Erica Salmon Byrne discusses managing increasing levels in candidate and employment fraud. #ethicsandcompliance #Ethisphere #BELAAsks

How to Prevent, Detect, & Respond to Evolving Risk

Ethicast — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 19:37:19 +0000

In today’s nonlinear, accelerated, volatile, and interconnected (NAVI) business environment, organizations are facing unprecedented pressure to keep pace with change. Yet most compliance functions remain underpowered, under-resourced, and unaligned with the evolving risk landscape. As a result, many businesses are struggling to manage rising threats—from AI-enabled cyberattacks to complex third-party risks—while also tasked with meeting demands for faster, smarter compliance outcomes. In this episode, Cecilia Melzi, Partner of the Forensics and Integrity Risk Services from EY Peru, discusses how you can prevent, detect, and respond to swiftly evolving business risk.

To learn more from Cecilia on this very topic, check out our free, on-demand webcast, Why Accelerating Compliance Transformation is Critical in an Era of Disruption, available now in the Ethisphere Resource Center, at www.ethisphere.com/resources

Read EY’s in-depth report, How can reimagining risk prepare you for an unpredictable world?, available at www.ey.com

Chapters

(00:01:36) - How today's NAVI (Nonlinear, Accelerated, Volatile, and Interconnected) business environment makes the work of E&C more difficult
(00:05:09) - The role of emerging technology such as AI as a component of E&C risk detection
(00:08:34) - Why it is so important for E&C to integrate its work with allied functions such as legal and internal audit

BELA Asks: Who Should Be In Our Champions Program?

Ethicast — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 20:20:10 +0000

Erica Salmon Byrne, Executive Chair of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, answers another question from the BELA Membership: Who should really be in our champions program? Erica also answers a second question around how to know when your champion, ambassador, or liaison program is really working.

To request free guest access to the BELA Member Resource Hub and speak with a BELA Engagement Director visit: www.ethisphere.com/bela

Ethicast Reacts: Insider Trading and the Maduro Raid

Ethicast — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 20:08:11 +0000

In this episode, Ethicast host Bill Coffin and Ethisphere Chief Strategy Officer Erica Salmon Byrne discuss the insider trading implications involving a suspiciously timed Polymarket bet on the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Are we entering a golden era of insider information?
What new risks does access to predictive markets bring to the workplace?
How can business respond ethically to technological and market gray areas?

Attend the 2026 Global Ethics Summit! Register here: www.attendges.com

Check out the Ethisphere Resource Center for free: www.ethisphere.com/resources

Appear as a guest on the Ethicast: www.ethisphere.com/ethicast

- or-

Book an editorial call with host Bill Coffin at: https://calendly.com/bill-coffin-ethisphere/30min

Post-Investigation Best Practices

Ethicast — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 13:45:00 +0000

Investigations are serious business, but what happens after one concludes is just as important as the speak-up that promoted the investigation, and the investigation itself.

Jodie Fredericksen (VP of Data & Services, Ethisphere) and Eric Jorgenson (Director, Data & Services, Ethisphere) share post-investigation best practices that get help ensure equitable outcomes and support organizational justice, from address workplace retaliation, to discipline calibration, to when the time is right for root cause analysis.

2:21: Retaliation is a perpetual problem for companies. Year after year it rates as one of the top 3 reasons why employees are reluctant to “speak up”. Do you see the climate around retaliation as improving or getting worse? Are there outside factors that companies should be considering when addressing retaliation?

4:33: Discipline Calibration really sounds like something more suited for a Human Resources podcast and discussion, why are we talking about it from an Ethics & Compliance point of view?

9:12: Once an investigation is closed, should root cause analysis be conducted for all investigations? Or are there certain criteria that should trigger a root cause analysis process?

FULL EPISODES

How to Stop Retaliation Before It Starts
https://youtu.be/Q_N2xjKkLJM?si=Gyf4jh8TRYjGACIg

Calibrating Discipline in Investigations
https://youtu.be/hq1izslHUuY?si=J81PU-TD_L-SPR2Y

When to Conduct Root Cause Analysis
https://youtu.be/785CAUPUERo?si=s8LEkko2z2-h7b4N

For a ton of free, in-depth reports, guidance documents, articles, videos, and more to help you reach ever-higher levels of excellence in ethics and compliance, visit the Ethisphere Resource Center, at www.ethisphere.com/resources

Chapters

(00:02:21) - Addressing retaliation
(00:04:33) - Discipline calibration
(00:09:12) - Root Cause Analysis

Four Questions on Investigations Best Practices

Ethicast — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 13:45:00 +0000

Here at Ethisphere, we believe there is no competition in compliance. That’s why we’re using this show as a platform to answer high-level questions about business integrity that have been posed to us by the members of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, or BELA.

In this episode, revisit a series of interconnected questions around the topic of investigations, through the insights of BELA Chair Erica Salmon Byrne.

0:54:
5:23:
12:51:
15:55:

Chapters

(00:00:54) - How should managers respond to reports of misconduct?
(00:05:23) - How do I check for post-investigation or post-survey retaliation?
(00:12:51) - How do I substantiate a claim of retaliation?
(00:15:55) - What strategic purpose should my investigations substantiation rate be serving?

2025: The Year of the Ousted CEO

Ethicast — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 13:55:00 +0000

After a year of CEOs getting caught on kiss cams, facing charges for looting their own company, or fielding tough questions form the DOJ about financial mismanagement, Ethisphere Editor in Chief Bill Coffin looks to what we should really be taking away from all of this leadership churn...and what it means for E&C programs everywhere.

RELATED EPISODES

E&C Lessons from the First Brands Bankruptcy: https://www.youtube.com/live/dGdjsuS7hOg?si=Ukjb6teEPyId-Y-d
Ethicast Reacts: Nestlé CEO Ousted Over Code Violation: https://www.youtube.com/live/k5hmZLovn2Q?si=_TTbthb-mvHYPxFZ
Ethicast Reacts: Embezzlement at the Detroit River Conservancy https://youtu.be/C-XUaM33QYY?si=RrK3Qpos1vkke5b2
Ethicast Reacts - Kohl's CEO Termination & NFL Prankgate https://www.youtube.com/live/n4x5HpWuTv8?si=Bo6Bsk1pFM3uv6_

Visit the Ethisphere Resource Center,: www.ethisphere.com/resources

When to Conduct Root Cause Analysis

Ethicast — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 22:04:24 +0000

Once an investigation into reports of workplace misconduct is closed, organizations often conduct a root cause analysis (or RCA) on the issue. But is that always the right course of action? Should root cause analysis be conducted for all investigations, or are there certain criteria that should trigger a root cause analysis process?

It’s a good question, because there are plenty of obstacles to overcome when conducting effective root cause analysis, from incorporating the right data analytics to securing leadership buy-in. And perhaps the biggest one of them all is ensuring that the lessons learned after conducting root cause analysis translate into sustainable change, rather than become an unimpactful check-the-box exercise. Ethisphere's Jodie Fredericksen and Eric Jorgenson explain.

1:53: Criteria that should trigger a root cause analysis
4:02: Common obstacles that prevent effective RCA
6:58: How to leverage root cause analysis data to identify trends
8:03: How to ensure that root cause analysis translates into sustainable change
9:08: Common mistakes when conducting root cause analyses….and how avoid them

What Role Should My Substantiation Rate Play?

Ethicast — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 17:38:45 +0000

In this episode, BELA Chair Erica Salmon Byrne returns to the topic of internal investigations and answers a most interesting question from the membership of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA): What strategic role should your substantiation rate play? Stick around for a compelling story Erica shares in which an unsubstantiated claim at one company led to a shocking discovery.

To learn more about BELA, request guest access to the Member Resource Hub, or speak with a BELA Engagement Director, visit www.ethisphere.com/bela

Calibrating Discipline in Investigations

Ethicast — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 14:49:12 +0000

On a long enough timeline, an inevitable outcome of workplace investigations is disciplinary action. Applying the right level of outcome to an investigation is crucial to a fair and effective ethics and compliance program. It’s something that the Department of Justice’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs encourages, but doesn’t necessarily require, which places it in the realm of voluntary best practices. But what is the DOJ really looking for? And what really constitutes a best practice?

In this episode, Ethisphere's Jodie Fredericksen and Eric Jorgenson discuss how calibrating discipline is an important—yet often overlooked—aspect of an effective workplace investigation.

Chapters

(00:01:39) - Why it's worth talking about discipline calibration from an Ethics & Compliance point of view
(00:03:45) - How E&C organizations calibrate discipline today
(00:05:51) - What the DOJ is looking for, and what constitutes best practice
(00:08:56) - What companies are doing to implement discipline calibration and recommended practices
(00:12:20) - Final thoughts

How Can I Bring Consequence Modeling Into E&C?

Ethicast — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 15:47:23 +0000

In BELA Asks, we answer to high-level questions submitted by the members of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) - a membership community for ethics and compliance professionals - for the benefit of E&C teams everywhere. In this episode, BELA Chair Erica Salmon Byrne explains what consequence modeling is, how you can use it to advance your E&C program, and why E&C practitioners everywhere should look to their allied functions for ideas.

To learn more about BELA, request guest access to the Member Resource Hub, or speak with a BELA Engagement Director, visit www.ethisphere.com/bela

From Toxic Patterns to Healthy Culture

Ethicast — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 20:09:57 +0000

Ethical culture is at the heart of business integrity. It is measurable and can create a virtuous cycle of psychological safety, values-based leadership, and higher financial performance. But it doesn’t always go that way. Every culture, no matter how well-meaning, lives with certain pressures that, if not handled the right way, can foster poor-decision making and foment unethical behavior.

In this episode, organizational culture expert Tobias Sturesson describes how his experience in freeing himself from a religious cult and unlearning its toxic behavior patterns has given him unique insight on how to help organizations build strong, ethical cultures that enable people to perform, thrive and act with integrity when under pressure.

Learn more about how Tobias can help your organization here: www.heartmanagement.org

Read Tobias's book, You Can Culture, here: https://youcanculture.com/

Listen to Tobias's podcast, Leading Transformational Change, here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leading-transformational-change-with-tobias-sturesson/id1504162092

For a free demo of our Ethical Culture Accelerator, visit here: www.Ethisphere.com/solutions

Chapters

(00:02:08) - Tobias's compelling personal story of how he went from toxic cult to ethical culture
(00:06:27) - Ensuring that top-down cultural leadership delivers results through every layer of the organization
(00:10:27) - How to rescue a culture in danger of going off the rails
(00:12:57) - Recommended first steps for building a strong, ethical culture

What are Best Practices in "Test-Out" Style Training?

Ethicast — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 17:05:00 +0000

One of the best benefits of membership in the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) is that members can submit any question regarding ethics & compliance, and our internal experts will provide an answer, plus helpful resources with more information. And while we invite everyone watching and listening to join BELA, we also know that there’s no competition in compliance, which is why the Ethicast thematically responds to high-level questions from the BELA community for the benefit of E&C teams everywhere.

In this episode of BELA Asks, BELA Chair Erica Salmon Byrne addresses the concept of a "test-out" style of training, and if there are good use-cases for organizations to have that option.

#Ethisphere #EthicsandCompliance #TestOutTraining #EandCTraining

E&C Lessons from the First Brands Bankruptcy

Ethicast — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 19:23:45 +0000

In late September 2025, aftermarket auto parts manufacturer and brand owner First Brands suddenly filed for bankruptcy, which took many in the world of finance (and auto parts) by surprise. But the failure was a long time coming, fueled by a debt-driven acquisition strategy and more importantly, an opaque, asset-based finance system that exists largely outside of regulatory restraint and perhaps even the most basic tenets of good corporate governance. In this episode, Ethisphere Chief Strategy Officer Erica Salmon Byrne provides a helpful look at what happened with First Brands, lawsuits and investigations into allegations of fraud and embezzlement, and what E&C leaders can learn from this as fears of contagion in the world's shadow lending system seem poised to spread to other parts of the global economy.

How basic corporate governance could have prevented disaster
The red flags that something was amiss at First Brands...and those who ignored them
How do you stop financial mismanagement at the top level of leadership?
Indicators suggest there are more stories like this out there waiting to happen
Why E&C really is a risk management strategy you can't afford to do without

Learn how to protect your business and supercharge your success. Visit www.ethisphere.com today for free resources, a look at our unique data & assessment solutions, the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, and more!

How Do I Build a New Skills and Capabilities Matrix for the E&C Department?

Ethicast — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 17:00:00 +0000

One of the highly utilized benefits of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) is its concierge service, in which members of the BELA community can submit any question regarding ethics & compliance, and our internal experts will provide an answer, plus helpful resources with more information. Since there is no competition in compliance, we respond thematically to high-level concierge questions for the benefit of E&C teams everywhere. And in this episode, BELA Chair Erica Salmon Byrne addresses how organizations can best develop E&C skill matrices. Learn more about BELA, request guest access to the Member Resource Hub, and to speak with a BELA Engagement Director at: www.ethisphere.com/bela

#ethics #compliance #skillsmatrix #2026annualplanning

Emotional Data Is the Key to Driving Culture

Ethicast — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 18:46:39 +0000

For most E&C programs, a robust data analytics element is table stakes for running a best-in-class business integrity effort. But as data volumes grow to astounding levels, we must ask ourselves an important question: are we gathering the right kind of data? Case in point: How people feel about a particular issue is one of the most commonly overlooked data sets in employee behavior. And yet, it is an element that many data analytics programs simply don’t take into account. In this episode, Ray Day and Tony Sardella of Stagwell and Allison Worldwide explore how data around employee emotions might be one of the most critically overlooked pieces of the data analytics puzzle.

To learn more from today’s guests, please reach out directly to Ray and Tony at:

Free resources on data and benchmarking,: www.ethisphere.com/resources Data & benchmarking: https://sphere.ethisphere.com

Chapters

(00:02:39) - E&C programs might be flying at “too high of an altitude” when it comes to gathering and analyzing program data
(00:05:19) - Approaching data analytics that focuses on emotion provides a unique insight to organizational risk
(00:10:40) - Incorporating employee emotion into strategic planning leads to more ethical leadership
(00:15:19) - Building out the capability to gather & analyze emotional data

Ethicast Reacts: NBA Insider Trading Scandal

Ethicast — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 19:20:01 +0000

On Oct. 23, the FBI indicted more than 30 people within the National Basketball Association for charges related to illegal gambling; namely insider trading-style schemes around so-called "pop bets," that wager not on a game's outcome but on an individual's performance or a specific moment or event within a game. The indictments have been described by the FBI as a major blow against organized crime, and characterize this as a major crisis for the NBA. For those within the ethics and compliance profession, this is a corruption scandal with clear lessons to teach us around subjects such as incentives, pressure, and more.

With us in this episode is Ethisphere Chief Strategy Officer, Erica Salmon Byrne, as she provides her insight on how E&C leaders can take the lessons learned from this scenario and inform best practices within their own business integrity efforts.

Halloween Special: How Do I Justify E&C to the Board?

Ethicast — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 18:18:00 +0000

In this special Halloween-themed episode of BELA Asks, we discuss something which many E&C leaders might find a little unsettling, if not downright scary: being called upon to justify the E&C function to the Board. With us as always is BELA Chair and Ethisphere Chief Strategy Officer Erica Salmon Byrne as she provides her signature insight to high-level questions such as these from the BELA Community.

To learn more about BELA, visit ethisphere.com/bela to request guest access to the Member Resource Hub and to speak with a BELA Engagement Director.

If you have a question that you’d like answered on this program, contact the BELA Concierge Service, and we’ll get to work on it for you.

Don't Sleep on Supply Chain Social Compliance Audits

Ethicast — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 19:04:04 +0000

In an increasingly interconnected world where supply chains have become multi-layered supply webs, the task of managing supply chain due diligence has become more important than ever. A key aspect of this is social compliance auditing, the manner in which organizations ensure that their partners and third parties are abiding by human labor law.

In this episode, Craig Moss—executive vice president of measurement at Ethisphere, director at the Digital Supply Chain Institute and the Cyber Readiness Institute, and board member of the Association of Professional Social Compliance Auditors—discusses the vital role that social compliance auditing plays within the larger effort to manage supply chain due diligence.

1:30: Why supply chain due diligence has become such a critical part of enterprise risk management
4:28: Social compliance audits get way more static than they deserve
7:19: How to embed social compliance audits within a risk-based due diligence process
12:13: Connecting social compliance audit data with broader due diligence data

Further reading: “Using Social Audits to Refine Supply Chain Due Diligence" at www.dowjones.com

Free report - AI in Ethics & Compliance: Risk to Manage, Tool to Leverage: www.ethisphere.com

How Do I Build a 1-3-5 E&C Road Map?

Ethicast — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 13:44:52 +0000

Ethics and compliance programs are often stuck in reactive mode, and the way to break out of that is to build a road map for where you see the function heading over the next year, three years, and five years. BELA Chair Erica Salmon Byrne explains how you can build a 1-3-5 road map for your E&C team.

This episode stems from the BELA concierge service, in which our internal experts will answer any E&C question a BELA member poses. And since there is no competition in compliance, we respond to anonymized, high-level concierge questions here for the benefit of E&C teams everywhere.

Want to join BELA? Here's how: www.ethisphere.com/bela

Understanding Organizational Justice

Ethicast — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 19:50:48 +0000

Organizational justice examines whether employees believe the company holds wrongdoers accountable and communicates disciplinary guidelines effectively. When we talk about speakup culture, the effectiveness of the ethics and compliance program, the power of values-based leadership, and the overall health of a culture of ethics, these things often connect directly back to organizational justice.

In this episode, Malthe Helt, a Culture Analyst on the Ethisphere Data & Services team, provides his insights on how organizational justice needs to be maintained and why it sometimes feels like the most invisible part of an organization's culture.

Why organizational justice is such an interesting, subjective, and compelling pillar of ethical culture
How trust—the most important aspect of organizational justice—is difficult and time-consuming to build and easy to break
Examples of organizations where misconduct or a breach of trust erodes organizational justice
The particular challenges of organizational trust’s truism that the stronger it is and the more it works, the more invisible it becomes

Measure & analyze your organization’s culture: www.ethisphere.com/solutions

FREE Report - AI in Ethics & Compliance: Risk to Manage, Tool to Leverage: https://ethisphere.com/resources/ai-in-ethics-compliance-risk-to-manage-tool-to-leverage/

How Do I Use AI to Prevent Insider Trading?

Ethicast — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 17:27:59 +0000

The SEC is using AI to detect suspicious trading patterns with unprecedented power and accuracy. So that begs the question: how can you be using AI to prevent insider traiding within your own organization? BELA Chair Erica Salmon Byrne explains.

Two Workers at Filing Agent to SEC Edgar Get Insider Charges: https://fortune.com/2025/06/28/sec-workers-edgar-system-insider-trading-securities-fraud/
Ethisphere's free AI Report: https://resources.ethisphere.com/story/ai-in-ethics-and-compliance/page/1?hsCtaAttrib=195957177382
Want to join BELA? Here's how: www.ethisphere.com/bela

Re-Envisioning Ethical AI on Global Ethics Day

Ethicast — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 20:54:08 +0000

Today is Global Ethics Day, an event created by the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. The theme for this year’s Global Ethics Day is “Ethics, Re-Envisioned,” which captures the state of incredible transformation we find our world undergoing, and the significant ethical crises, challenges, and opportunities that present themselves to leaders every day.

And few things are changing the landscape in the field of business ethics more than artificial intelligence, which isn't just transforming the everyday realities of E&C teams. It’s prompting leaders to wonder how they can prepare for their own next big moment of organizational transformation; how to reconcile AI’s own ethical concerns with the power it has to advance business integrity, and what "responsible AI" might look like a year or two from now. In this episode, Ethisphere's Chief Strategy Officer, Erica Salmon Byrne, discusses:

How E&C leaders can use the skills they've developed to adapt to AI to prepare for the next AI-level transformation that will suddenly make everything feel upside-down all over again?
How to reconcile ethical concerns about AI with the need to use it
What “responsible AI” looks like from an E&C perspective

Read AI in Ethics & Compliance: Risk to Manage, Tool to Leverage: www.ethisphere.com

How Do I Keep RIFs From Hurting Our Speak-Up Culture?

Ethicast — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 17:18:42 +0000

Reductions in force (RIFs) are deeply unsettling for any workplace, often prompting remaining employees to keep a low profile in order to protect their job. Unfortunately, this can also erode their willingness to call out witnessed misconduct. In this episode, Erica Salmon Byrne, Chef Strategy Officer of Ethisphere and Executive Chair of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), discusses how organizations can mitigate the impact RIFs have on speak-up culture.

Want to join BELA? Here's how: www.ethisphere.com/bela

How to Stop Retaliation Before It Starts

Ethicast — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 14:26:42 +0000

More than 85% of employees say that they would report an instance of workplace misconduct if they observed one. However, when the moment of truth arrives, only about half of the people who said they would report actually follow through with it. A big reason why is that for many employees, speaking up about misconduct carries the very real risk of being punished overtly or covertly by their peers and managers for it. In this episode, Ethisphere's VP of Data & Services Jodie Fredericksen and Director, Data & Services Eric Jorgenson discuss how ethics and compliance teams can implement meaningful anti-retaliation protocols that reduce workplace payback, increase speakup rates, and build a stronger culture of integrity.

2:36: Why is workplace retaliation such a persistent problem?
4:30: Are some forms of retaliation worse than others?
6:18: What anti-retaliation measures should every company employ?
10:14: How should companies communicate their anti-retaliation policy?
12:19: What aspects of retaliation continue to shock and astonish?

Anti-Retaliation resources: https://ethisphere.com/resource-search/?post_type=resources&s=retaliation&topic=-1&type=-1

What Are the E&C Issues of a Political Action Committee?

Ethicast — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 15:09:42 +0000

Midterm elections in the U.S. are fast approaching, and E&C leaders who aren't already grappling with the compliance issues of organizational political activity will do so soon. In this episode, Erica Salmon Byrne, Chef Strategy Officer of Ethisphere and Executive Chair of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), answers a question sent directly to the show from an audience member: What are the compliance issues of a political action committee?

Want to join BELA? Here's how: www.ethisphere.com/bela

Leveraging Residual Risk Data to Go Beyond Reporting

Ethicast — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 18:57:49 +0000

In this episode, we’re going to discuss inherent and residual risk with Craig Moss, executive vice president of measurement at Ethisphere and a director at the Digital Supply Chain Institute and the Cyber Readiness Institute.

Craig is a prolific thought leader, public speaker, and author on the subject of value chain, holistic risk assessment, and AI, and his most recent byline, “Leveraging Residual Risk Data to Go Beyond Reporting,” provides a fascinating look at the connections between inherent and residual business risk, and how strong controls such as compliance, and forward-thinking use of data, can create an advanced sustainability paradigm for any enterprise.

LINKS

“Leveraging Residual Risk Data to Go Beyond Reporting” https://article.dowjones.com/djriskjo...

AI I Ethics & Compliance: Risk to Manage, Tool to Leverage https://resources.ethisphere.com/stor...

Avoidable AI Mistakes: A GC/CECO Playbook (10/2, 1:00 pm ET) https://ethisphere.com/webinars/avoid...

Ethicast Reacts: ‘Shale-Shock’ Over Stone-Skimming Scandal

Ethicast — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 18:55:00 +0000

The World Stone Skimming Championship was rocked by cheating this September, but speak-up culture and organizational justice saved the day. Erica Salmon Byrne skips no details as she shares how E&C leaders can use stories like these to foster employee conversations around ethics and integrity.

For plenty of free ethics and compliance resources on conflicts of interest, speak up culture, values-based leadership, and much, much more, please visit the Ethisphere Resource Center at www.ethisphere.com/resources

Board Rapport is Greater Than Board Reporting

Ethicast — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 19:42:00 +0000

In this episode, Laura Jacobus, a Strategic Advisor with global technology organization Mitratech, discusses how E&C leaders can build huge value for their programs by developing the right tools and skills to deliver high-value, strategic insights to their Boards at a time when Boards themselves are looking to E&C to help manage risk and enable sustainable enterprise growth.

2:07: Why Boards are asking more of their E&C partners lately
6:13: How E&C leaders can use data to drive Board-level strategy
11:11: How the right tools can help develop the right E&C skills
14:04: How "learning the business" helps E&C build trust with the Board

ABOUT MITRATECH: Mitratech is a global technology organization that aids corporate legal, risk & compliance, and HR professionals in enhancing productivity, controlling expenses, and mitigating risk. To learn more about what how Laura and her colleagues can help connect and empower your organization’s core departments via fully automated compliance technology, AI-driven analytics, and seamless integrations, visit www.mitratech.com.

Ethisphere Resource Center: www.ethisphere.com/resources Appear on the Ethicast: www.ethisphere.com/ethicast

BELA Asks: How Can I Improve My Updates to the Audit Committee?

Ethicast — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 19:15:00 +0000

In this episode of the Ethicast, Erica Salmon Byrne, Chef Strategy Officer of Ethisphere and Executive Chair of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), discusses how you improve and expand your quarterly reporting to the Audit Committee...and thereby build stronger relations between the ethics and compliance function and the Board.

Want to join BELA? Here's how: www.ethisphere.com/bela

It Pays to Take Speak Up Seriously

Ethicast — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 20:25:43 +0000

In this episode, Charles Cain, Forensic & Integrity Services managing director at Ernst & Young LLP, discusses the risks that organizations run when they fail to take their speak-up reporting seriously. Sometimes, companies either can’t—or won’t—take proper action on reports of misconduct that have been surfaced, and when that happens, the culture's sense of organizational justice suffers. Once that corrosive effect takes root within a culture it can be very, very difficult to address it before some truly unfortunate things happen.

1:52: The damage done to businesses when speak-up programs falter
2:46: Where companies drop the ball on receiving and investigating reports of misconduct
3:42: How botched speak-up corrodes organizational trust
4:57: Recommendations for how organizations can address a weak or malfunctioning speak-up program
6:34: When speak-up systems work in public

BELA Asks: How Do I Reach Non-Wired Employees?

Ethicast — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 19:30:27 +0000

Erica Salmon Byrne, Chef Strategy Officer of Ethisphere and Executive Chair of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), discusses how you can socialize your ethics and compliance program with employees who might be out of reach of easy communications channels like e-mail or instant messaging because they're on a factory floor, traveling in areas where that connectivity is unavailable, etc.

Want to join BELA? Here's how: www.ethisphere.com/bela

#ethics #compliance #communications #nonwired

How to Build Trust in Your Speak-Up Program

Ethicast — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 17:16:46 +0000

Around 85% of people say they would report misconduct at work if they witnessed it, but when the moment of truth arrives, less than half actually do so. A big reason why is because people just don't trust their speak-up programs to work as they intend to do. In this episode, Gary Burke, Partner, Global Integrity & Compliance Leader, Forensic & Integrity Services, at EY, discusses how you can strengthen your company’s speak up program through solid training and trust-building.

1:42: Where trust in speak-up programs breaks down in organizations
4:56: How to extend trust-building throughout the organization
9:10: Recommended training to improve overall speak-up efforts

Register now for our free webinar on September 24 - Building Trust & Accountability: Taking Speak-Up Seriously - featuring Gary and his colleague, Charles Cain, Managing Director, Forensic & Integrity Services at EY. Gary and Charles will explore best practices around how organizations respond to employee reports of misconduct and the risks associated with failing to act when employees speak up. To register: https://ethisphere.com/webinars.

How Do You Revisit Your Organization's Core Values?

Ethicast — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 17:48:21 +0000

Erica Salmon Byrne, Chef Strategy Officer of Ethisphere and Executive Chair of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), discusses how ethics and compliance leaders can lead the charge on revisiting their organization's core values - a task that sets the foundation for ethical culture, robust compliance practices, and strong business integrity.

Want to join BELA? Here's how: www.ethisphere.com/bela

Nestlé CEO Ousted Over Code Violation

Ethicast — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 20:47:01 +0000

In this episode of Ethicast Reacts, host Bill Coffin and Ethisphere Chief Strategy officer Erica Salmon Byrne discuss the E&C implications of Nestle CEO Laurent Freixe's abrupt dismissal over an undisclosed romantic relationship with a direct report.

Ethicast Reacts - The Failure to Prevent Fraud Act

Ethicast — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 15:15:55 +0000

On September 1, 2025, the failure to prevent fraud offense under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act will go into effect. This means that an organization can be held criminally liable if any employee, agent, subsidiary, or other associated person or entity commits a fraud intending to benefit the organization or its clients, if the organization did not have reasonable fraud prevention procedures in place.

On today's episode of Ethicast Reacts, Erica Salmon Byrne, Chief Strategy Officer at Ethisphere will guide us through the Failure to Prevent Fraud Act and what companies need to consider as they prepare for the act to go into effect on September 1.

To read the guidance that Erica refrenced, click here: Guidance to organisations on the offence of failure to prevent fraud

For more on the SFO, see a former Ethicast: Ethicast Reacts: New UK SFO Self-Reporting Guidance

More resources can be found at www.ethisphere.com/resources

Reach out to your Engagement Director or info@ethisphere.com for Sphere data, risk assessment resources, and more!

How to Develop Truly Impactful E&C Training

Ethicast — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 18:23:50 +0000

Running an effective ethics and compliance training program is something most organizations really struggle with. In this episode, we speak with Christopher Annand, Senior Director - Ethics & Compliance at Cargill, a global food company and the largest privately held U.S. company in terms of revenue. Christopher has led a multi-year effort to modernize Cargill's online training components to include burst learning modules, and to adopt unified deployment strategy to improve learning outcomes and operational efficiency.

Instructional design & program architecture: the keys to great training
How Cargill's training program boosts other aspects of its E&C program
How to integrate your external experience into in-house E&C efforts
What it took to build Cargill's training curriculum, and lessons learned

Cargill E&C: https://www.cargill.com/about/ethics-and-compliance

Learn more about BELA; www.ethisphere.com/bela

Appear on the Ethicast as a guest: www.ethisphere.com/ethicast

Thanks for joining us! Strong ethics is good business.

BELA Asks: How Do You Prevent Anticompetitive Business Practices?

Ethicast — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 17:31:28 +0000

BELA Chair Erica Salmon Byrne addresses what a really strong antitrust or anti-competition prevention program looks like and draws upon some recent news coming out of the Department of Justice as a proof point.

This episode stems from the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) concierge service, in which our internal experts will answer any E&C question a BELA member poses. And since there is no competition in compliance, we respond to anonymized, high-level concierge questions here for the benefit of E&C teams everywhere.

Learn more about BELA, request guest access to the Member Resource Hub, and to speak with a BELA Engagement Director at: www.ethisphere.com/bela

Justice Department's Antitrust Division Announces Whistleblower Rewards Program: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-departments-antitrust-division-announces-whistleblower-rewards-program

Sustainability Data Should Drive Results Over Reporting

Ethicast — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 16:13:07 +0000

Sustainability reporting requirements have spawned a complex ecosystem of data gathering, measuring, and analysis. But this has trapped many organizations in a cycle where gathering sustainability data is an end unto itself. In this episode, Craig Moss (Executive Vice President, Measurement at Ethisphere, and Director at the Digital Supply Chain Institute) explains how companies can make better use of that sustainability data to drive the overall performance of the business.

2:20: By excessively focusing on reporting, companies actually create risk because they are constantly using their data to look backward into the past instead of drawing on past data to inform future improvement
4:14: How companies should begin the conversation internally to expand their own data reporting to performance measurement and improvement instead of focusing mainly on regulatory compliance
8:46: How AI adoption, especially around supply chain, can help change the gathering of reporting data from a compliance-driven effort to a performance-driving one

ARTICLE: Sustainability Needs More Focus on Doing and Less on Reporting: https://article.dowjones.com/djriskjournal/articles/sustainability-needs-more-focus-on-doing-and-less-on-reporting-21aa0bbd?mod=djrj_top_news

To learn how you can measure and improve your compliance and sustainability program as well as that of your suppliers, reach out to Craig directly at craig.moss@ethisphere.com

To learn more about how you can adapt your supply chain to the demands of the digital economy, go to the Digital Supply Chain Institute at www.DSCinstitute.org.

Ethisphere Resource Center: www.ethisphere.com/resources

How Do I Start an Ethics Podcast?

Ethicast — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 17:20:01 +0000

Podcasting is a great way to message and build dialogue around ethics and compliance. But how do you actually get an ethics podcast off the ground? And more importantly, how do you keep it going? BELA Chair Erica Salmon Byrne talks about the why of starting an E&C podcast, and Ethicast host Bill Coffin offers some practical tips on the how of it.

This episode stems from the BELA concierge service, in which BELA can submit questions regarding ethics & compliance, and our internal experts will provide an answer plus helpful resources with more information. And since there is no competition in compliance, we respond thematically to high-level concierge questions for the benefit of E&C teams everywhere.

Learn more about BELA, request guest access to the Member Resource Hub, and to speak with a BELA Engagement Director at: www.ethisphere.com/bela

Bringing Together Your E&C Stakeholders

Ethicast — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 14:09:27 +0000

Kimberly White, Vice President and General Counsel-Compliance at global ingredients company Ingredion shares how she launched an ambitious, enterprise-level E&C meeting series to drive strategic alignment on business integrity. And, she shares how this initiative got its start in Ingredion's application for World's Most Ethical Companies® recognition, which the company has earned an impressive 11 times.

1:38: How long it took to make this meeting a reality
3:54: How stakeholder-driven strategic planning aligns everyone around business integrity
8:59: How this initiative will inform Ingredion's 2026-2026 planning cycle
11:20: A proof point around how Ingredion's E&C has developed its voice
15:11 How the World's Most Ethical Companies informs Ingredion's larger business strategy

Learn more about Ingredion: https://www.ingredion.com/na/en-us/company/meet-ingredion/business-integrity-ethics-compliance

Apply for the World's Most Ethical Companies (Applications open from 7/30-10/30): https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/apply-now/

Be a guest on the Ethicast: https://ethisphere.com/ethicast/

For new episodes each week, be sure to subscribe on YouTube, Apple podcasts, and Spotify. And if you don’t mind, please share us with a colleague. It really helps out. That’s all for now, but until next time, remember: Strong ethics is good business.

How Should I Message on AI Use & Policy?

Ethicast — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 14:16:32 +0000

Erica Salmon Byrne, Chair of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), answers a high-level member question on how E&C teams should communicate expectations around the proper use of AI and what an organization's AI policy might be. As we often say, it comes down to message, messenger, and modality.

Learn more about BELA, request guest access to the Member Resource Hub, and to speak with a BELA Engagement Director at: www.ethisphere.com/bela

Strong Ethics is REALLY Good Business

Ethicast — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 20:05:59 +0000

Year after year, Ethisphere's Five-Year Ethics Premium shows how much the publicly listed honorees of the World's Most Ethical Companies® outperform their peers. This year, that overage is 7.8%, which is no small number. But what if you actually invested in these companies? How much would you make simply by putting your money with companies that exemplified best practices in business integrity? A lot, it turns out.

Ethisphere's Bill Coffin breaks down a hypothetical investing experiment that clearly shows strong ethics really is good business. He takes $100,000 in imaginary money, puts into the 49 companies from the 2025 World's Most Ethical Companies that received honors 10 or more times, and crunches the numbers. Watch to see how much this hypothetical investment would have made.

The Summer issue of Ethisphere magazine drops on 8/1 at www.ethisphere.com/magazine
For past issues of Ethisphere magazine, visit www.ethisphere.com/resources
To appear as a guest on this program, drop us a line at www.ethisphere.com/ethicast

BELA Asks: How Should Managers Handle Reports of Misconduct?

Ethicast — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 15:03:06 +0000

One of the best benefits of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) concierge service, in which members of the BELA community can submit any question regarding ethics & compliance, and our internal experts will provide an answer, plus helpful resources with more information. Since there is no competition in compliance, we respond thematically to high-level concierge questions for the benefit of E&C teams everywhere. And in this episode, BELA Chair Erica Salmon Byrne addresses an extremely important issue: how to prepare managers to respond appropriately when they receive a report of employee misconduct.

Learn more about BELA, request guest access to the Member Resource Hub, and to speak with a BELA Engagement Director at: www.ethisphere.com/bela

Why the SEC Is 'Going Back to Basics'

Ethicast — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 12:45:00 +0000

Between federal regulatory shifts and Executive orders, the ways in which companies can expect to be held accountable for misconduct are undergoing substantial change—or at the very least, significant clarification.

Baker McKenzie partner and former SEC assistant regional director Peter Chan recently spoke with Kate Zoladz, Deputy Director (West) of the Enforcement Division of the SEC, and shares his valuable insights from that conversation around the SEC's current enforcement priorities.

1:31: A pivot "back to basics," away from novel legal theory prosecutions
4:29: A new focus on rewarding cooperation and remediation
8:21: The SEC's era of “broken windows” enforcement is over
13:14: Will the SEC bring new FCPA enforcements?

Learn more from Peter: www.bakermckenzie.com

Ethisphere Resource Center at www.ethisphere.com/resources

Join the Ethicast: www.ethisphere.com/ethicast

BELA Asks: Guidance for Serving on Outside Boards

Ethicast — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 14:30:04 +0000

For many executives, a natural part of their professional progression is to serve on boards of directors outside of their primary place of employment, be it at another company in a different industry, or an organization that connects to something in their personal life. In all such cases, however, there's an ethics and compliance component to how that kind of relationship should be handled. And in this episode of BELA Asks, Erica Salmon Byrne provides helpful guidance for how serving on an outside board doesn't have to be a major compliance headache.

Learn more about BELA: https://www.ethisphere.com/bela

Ethisphere Resource Center: https://www.ethisphere.com/resources

Understanding the Dark Pattern of Misconduct

Ethicast — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 12:58:36 +0000

In this episode, we speak with Guido Palazzo, professor of business ethics at the University of Lausanne and his book, The Dark Pattern: The Hidden Dynamics of Corporate Scandals, which identifies nine toxic elements—a so-called “dark pattern”—that lead to corporate scandals. And, it offers nine actionable lessons—or a “bright pattern”—for building morally resilient organizations.

2:04: Identifying the "dark pattern" that unites the worst corporate scandals

4:41: Addressing the systemic cultural issues that get companies in trouble

7:06: Handling the psychological impact that scandals have on employees

10:05: Rejecting the dark pattern for a bright pattern of integrity

The Dark Pattern: The Hidden Dynamics of Corporate Scandals is available now wherever fine books are sold.

To learn more about Guido, please visit www.guidopalazzo.com.

For a wide range of free reports, articles, and videos on business integrity, speak-up culture, manager training, and more, visit the Ethisphere Resource Center at www.ethisphere.com/resources.

To appear on the Ethicast, drop us a line at www.ethisphere.com/ethicast.

Thanks for joining us! Until next time, remember: Strong ethics is good business.

BELA Asks: How Should I Collect Conflicts of Interest Disclosures?

Ethicast — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 15:42:06 +0000

Why Compliance Training Fails (And What You Can Do About It) with Avangrid's Andrew Jacobs

Ethicast — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 15:30:00 +0000

In today's episode, we sit down with Andrew Jacobs, Chief Compliance Officer of Avangrid Networks. Andrew recently published a paper entitled, "Why Compliance Training Fails," and in it he outlines the major pitfalls that compliance programs are facing with their training. He looks into studies on human behavior and real life studies that parallel some of the issues organizations face with the failure to comply. He also gives great guidance on ways compliance practicioners can evolve their compliance training to greater effectivness. It was a wonderful, inspiring conversation, and we hope you enjoy it!

1:45 - The groundwork for this paper
2:53 - Guidance for practitioners as they work to make their compliance training more effective
5:42 - A look into some of the current research
11:48 - How we can create a "cultural norm" within our organizations
16:45 - Encouragement for compliance professionals

For more resources on effective compliance training, ethical culture, and more, visit www.ethisphere.com/resources

To read Andrew's paper, click here

BELA Asks: How Do I Prepare for the UK/France/Swiss Anticorruption Alliance?

Ethicast — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 15:52:55 +0000

You've got questions, we've got answers! In this episode, Erica Salmon Byrne answers another question from the membership of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance about the global trends shaping ABAC regulation: How should companies prepare for the new UK/France/Swiss ABAC alliance?

UK Announcement: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-france-and-switzerland-announce-new-anti-corruption-alliance
Learn more about BELA: https://www.ethisphere.com/bela
Ethisphere Resource Center: https://www.ethisphere.com/resources

BELA Asks: What Does a Good Antitrust Program Look Like?

Ethicast — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 17:49:11 +0000

In this episode, BELA Chair Erica Salmon Byrne answers another question from the membership of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) to the benefit of E&C practitioners everywhere. And this time, it's about regulation: What does a good antitrust program look like?

Understanding the Latest Ethics Quotient Updates

Ethicast — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 20:15:22 +0000

Ethisphere's Ethics Quotient (EQ) questionnaire is a comprehensive evaluation of an applicant’s ethics and compliance program, culture, and governance practices, and it forms the core of the applications process for the World’s Most Ethical Companies recognition. On June 30, Ethisphere will release the revised EQ, giving prospective applicants a month to review its changes and prepare for the applications process. In this episode Ethisphere Director, Data & Services, Neal Thurston explains the updating process and what it means for you.

Request application information for the 2026 World’s Most Ethical Companies: https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com
Ethisphere Resource Center: https://ethisphere.com/resources

Chapters

(00:01:31) - How the EQ team decides what needs updating or inclusion
(00:03:50) - This year's biggest changes to the EQ
(00:05:29) - Advice for prospective World's Most Ethical Companies applicants

Ethicast Reacts - Embezzlement at the Detroit River Conservancy

Ethicast — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 15:12:20 +0000

An embezzlement case of epic proportions shines a bright light on the importance of internal controls and speak-up culture, as federal prosecutors seek a sentence of 18 years for the former Detroit Riverfront Conservancy CFO William Smith for embezzling $44.3 million from the nonprofit over 10 years. Ethisphere Chief Strategy Officer, Erica Salmon Byrne, offers some much-neededethics and compliance context on what we can learn from this oversight failure, and how to prevent it at your organization.

Ethisphere Resource Center: https://www.ethisphere.com/resources

News link: https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2025/04/14/how-former-detroit-riverfront-cfo-embezzled-40-million-undetected-for-over-a-decade/

News link: https://www.axios.com/local/detroit/2024/08/23/detroit-riverfront-conservancy-searches-for-new-auditor

News link: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/300125283/202433209349321323/full

Chapters

(00:02:36) - What are we to learn from the auditor’s role in this?
(00:03:31) - What can we learn about speak-up culture here?
(00:05:30) - How can E&C programs prevent such epic corruption?
(00:08:08) - How can Board rotation discover this kind of fraud?

Inside Convatec's Next-Level Compliance Week

Ethicast — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 15:20:57 +0000

As a leading developer, manufacturer, and marketer in the highly regulated medical products industry, Convatec invests a considerable amount of time and energy into its Compliance Week program as a keystone event to advancing compliance across the organization, and further Convatec's culture of integrity. Convatec Deputy Chief Compliance Officer Chris Corallo explains how his team executes it.

How Do I Plan a Global Ethics & Compliance Week?: https://youtu.be/R36FsMgpH2g?si=UAmxEuvy7WI9tB7b
What Are Fresh Ideas for a 2025 Ethics Week?: https://youtu.be/-Q8KfxsKjhY?si=K9GeioCDGhEjOEBU
Be a guest on the Ethicast: https://ethisphere.com/ethicast

Chapters

(00:01:20) - How Compliance Week impacts the enterprise all year
(00:02:07) - How Convatec plans and executes its Compliance Week
(00:06:22) - How to choose what topics you cover during Compliance Week
(00:08:30) - The Ethics in Business award and its impact

BELA Asks: How Should I Manage Material Risk-Takers?

Ethicast — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 14:33:09 +0000

Our latest question from the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) membership asks, what are ethics and compliance best practices when it comes to managing an organization's "material risk-takers?" BELA Chair Erica Salmon Byrne has the answer.

For guest access to BELA: https://ethisphere.com/bela

Ethisphere Resource Center: https://ethisphere.com/resources

Develop & Grow Your Champions Network

Ethicast — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 12:41:00 +0000

In this episode, Matt Silverman, author of The Champions Network: A Blueprint to Expand Your Influence and Spread Big Ideas in Any Organization, shares best practices for how you can start, develop, and grow an ethics and compliance champions network where you work. Champions networks are a proven way to broaden the reach of ethics and compliance programs and embed compliance into an organization’s culture.

Get The Champions Network: A Blueprint to Expand Your Influence and Spread Big Ideas in Any Organization on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/u8ej5w3c

Ethisphere Resource Center: https://ethisphere.com/resources

Be a guest on the Ethicast: https://ethisphere.com/ethicast

Chapters

(00:01:35) - The special challenges of building a champions network
(00:06:33) - How to not rush into developing a champions network too early
(00:13:16) - Why being an E&C champion is a great career move
(00:16:55) - Champions networks strengthen orgs in times of challenge

BELA Asks: How Do I Check for Retaliation?

Ethicast — Fri, 30 May 2025 13:00:00 +0000

In this BELA Asks episode of the Ethicast, Erica Salmon Byrne, Executive Chair of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, explains how you can detect signs of post-investigation or post-survey retaliation within your organization.

Learn more about BELA: https://bela.ethisphere.com/

Subscribe for more ethics & compliance insights!

How Ethical Leadership Builds Value

Ethicast — Wed, 28 May 2025 12:50:00 +0000

In this episode of the Ethicast, Brian Peckrill, Executive Director of the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund, discusses the unique value that ethical leadership builds for organizations during these challenging and turbulent times.

1:26: Why staying true to your values builds value
3:41: The stages of moral development in business
7:03: Don't worry - the E&C discipline is here to stay
10:47: Details on the 2025 Ethical Leader of the Year Award

Learn more about the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund: https://williamgmcgowanfund.org

Free ethics and compliance resources: https://ethisphere.com/resource-search/

Find out how to appear on the Ethicast: https://ethisphere.com/ethicast/

Subscribe for more ethics & compliance insights.

BELA Asks: How Do I Roll Out Manager Toolkits?

Ethicast — Fri, 23 May 2025 13:20:08 +0000

In this episode of BELA Asks, Erica Salmon Byrne, Executive Chair of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), shares insights on how to effectively communicate and implement manager toolkits for ethics and compliance.

Learn more about BELA: https://bela.ethisphere.com/

Subscribe for more ethics & compliance insights!

Inside Marelli's Program Maturity Journey

Ethicast — Wed, 21 May 2025 14:18:09 +0000

In this episode, Craig Moss, EVP, Measurement at Ethisphere interviews Yasuyoshi Goto, SVP Global Compliance and APAC Legal at Marelli, a motor vehicle manufacturer based in Tokyo, Japan. Goto-san shares his insights on how Marelli has made significant improvements to its global ethics and compliance program, and how partnering with Ethisphere made that work possible.

1:40: Prioritizing which program improvements to pursue
3:33: Launching a champion program with Turkey as the pilot country
7:55: Aggregating risk across business units for a global view of risk
15:11: Focusing on supply chain due diligence
18:08: Implementing a "measure & improve" strategy

Learn more about Ethisphere program assessments: www.ethisphere.com/solutions

Learn more about Marelli's ethics and compliance program: https://www.marelli.com/en/sustainability.html

Subscribe for more ethics & compliance insights each week!

Non-AI Tech & Regulatory Trends in E&C

Ethicast — Wed, 14 May 2025 18:58:26 +0000

In this episode, Haima Marlier, a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Investigations + White Collar Defense Group and co-chair of its Fintech practice, highlights some of the emerging technology issues compliance teams should focus on (that aren't AI), as well as a clear-eyed perspective on what regulatory enforcement realities persist (especially on the state level) despite the ongoing political turmoil in Washington.

Non-AI tech issues impacting E&C today
Uptick in securities enforcement within "blue states" during the FCPA enforcement pause
Will SEC and DOJ enforcement remain relevant? Yes. Is the risk of private litigation being overlooked? Also, yes

BELA Asks - What Are Great Employee Listening Strategies?

Ethicast — Fri, 09 May 2025 21:07:10 +0000

In this episode, BELA Chair Erica Salmon Byrne answers another great question from our BELA members: What employee listening strategies really make a difference? (Hint: It has something to do with playing the game "Last Word.")

Best Practices in M&A Due Diligence

Ethicast — Wed, 07 May 2025 18:44:00 +0000

Anna Grover, Global Compliance Counsel, for two-time World’s Most Ethical Companies honoree Assurant, explains how she approaches the complex issue of mergers & acquisitions due diligence through the lens of ethics and compliance.

The role of ethics and compliance in mergers and acquisitions
When it's actually a good thing for compliance to not find a problem
The importance of proactive M&A due diligence
Building strong relationships within the deal team

Learn more about Assurant, including its corporate citizenship, latest insights, and more at: www.assurant.com

To see Assurant’s spot among its fellow World’s Most Ethical Companies honorees, visit www.worldsmostethicalcompanies.com

Ethicast Reacts - Kohl's CEO Termination & NFL Prankgate

Ethicast — Fri, 02 May 2025 19:53:47 +0000

In this live episode of the Ethicast, we cover the termination of Kohl's CEO Ashley Buchanan for cause, and an embarrassing data security lapse for the NFL.

At FirstEnergy, Ethics Powers Excellence

Ethicast — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 13:43:55 +0000

FirstEnergy is one of the largest investor-owned electric systems in the United States. In this episode, Brian X. Tierney, FirstEnergy Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Antonio Fernández, Vice President and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer, discuss their efforts to build a best-in-class ethics and compliance program that has earned the company Ethisphere's coveted Compliance Leader Verification designation for 2025-2026.

FirstEnergy's long-term view of their ethics maturity journey
How support from senior leadership moves the needle
Engaging middle managers to be E&C's front line
Advice for prioritizing strategic E&C initiatives

Learn more: https://www.firstenergycorp.com/about.html

Compliance Leader Verification: https://ethisphere.com/solutions/compliance-leader-verification/

BELA Asks: What Is a Good Post-Benchmarking Action Plan?

Ethicast — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 17:44:03 +0000

Organizations that benchmark their ethics and compliance programs against their peers often stumble on what to do with their benchmarking data, and what next steps should look like. To that end, Erica Salmon Byrne, Executive Chair of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, answers the question: What is a good post-benchmarking action plan?

For guest access to the BELA Member Resource Hub and to speak with a BELA Engagement Director, visit https://ethisphere.com/solutions/bela

Ethicast Reacts: New UK SFO Self-Reporting Guidance

Ethicast — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 16:19:33 +0000

The UK's Serious Fraud Office has issued new guidance around what constitutes "cooperation" and best practice around self-reporting of misconduct with regards to securing a deferred prosecution agreement. We look at the wording of the guidance, alignment with other regulatory standards, and key takeways for E&C teams.

SFO Guidance text: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sfo-corporate-guidance/sfo-corporate-guidance

Deferred ProsecutionAgreements Code of Practice https://www.cps.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/publications/DPA-COP.pdf

Failure to prevent offences: A comparative guide https://www.dlapiper.com/-/media/project/dlapiper-tenant/dlapiper/pdf/failure-to-prevent-offences-a-comparative-guide_102024.pdf?rev=e67f357c8e9e4c20905b4bcb8d406f85&hash=8410550F158992E862D8B779C84F6A0A

How to Develop Your Leadership and Character Skills

Ethicast — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 17:07:01 +0000

Meredith Bell, co-founder and president of leadership training company Grow Strong Leaders (and podcast of the same name) shares her insights on how leaders can strengthen their character and communication skills to inspire others to perform at the highest level.

Everybody thinks they're better communicators than they really are
Mile markers to measure your growth as a communicator
The 36 character aspects to develop to become a great leader
Leadership opportunities in our current business environment

Grow Strong Leaders website: https://growstrongleaders.com/

Grow Strong Leaders podcast: https://growstrongleaders.com/podcasts/

Grow Strong Leaders interview with Erica Salmon Byrne: https://growstrongleaders.com/erica-salmon-byrne/

Connect with Your Team: Mastering the Top 10 Communication Skills: https://tinyurl.com/2ehve6nz

Peer Coaching Made Simple: How to Do the 6 Things That Matter Most When Helping Someone Improve a Skill: https://tinyurl.com/3xud6wmc

Ethisphere Resource Center: https://ethisphere.com/resource-search/

Ethicast Reacts: What the DOJ's Bulk Data Rule Means for You

Ethicast — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 20:58:18 +0000

On April 8, the U.S. Department of Justice implemented its Final Rule prohibiting or significantly restricting the transfer of U.S. Government-related data, and bulk U.S. personal data to China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela.

What’s driving the rule are concerns over unfriendly actors using U.S. personal bulk data to train AI and thereby gain insight on Americans’ everyday behaviors. Its broad scope, however has significant compliance implications, especially for healthcare, global operations, and any entity handling sensitive personal data.

Why the DOJ is making this a priority
Impacts on orgs already monitoring their data security & third parties
A sign of the DOJ's enforcement consistency

Interview with David Newman, Morrison Foerster, on bulk data transfers, trade compliance, and more: https://www.youtube.com/live/O_g6W1Gqo1Q?si=FhrjIkKZpxPRiNzn

Visit the Ethisphere Resource Center: www.ethisphere.com/resources

How to Craft a Training Program That Really Connects

Ethicast — Sat, 05 Apr 2025 01:29:04 +0000

Many organizations really struggle with their ethics and compliance training and communications programs, relying on methods that are outdated, ineffective, or just plain cringey.

Roxanne Petraeus, CEO of Ethena, and Susan Divers, Ethena advisor and renowned E&C expert, speak to how organizations can better equip their employees to absorb compliance, drive ethical culture, and forge success.

1:58: Changing perceptions around managers as arbiters of culture

4:15: Communicating with people managers around organizational values

8:11: How to build a truly impactful training, communications, and culture program

Learn more about Ethical Management, a training course specifically for mid-level managers, presented jointly by Ethena and Ethisphere: www.goethena.com.

BELA Asks: How Do I Make the Most Out of BELA Day?

Ethicast — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 04:01:00 +0000

The 2025 Global Ethics Summit is upon us! And the first day of it is a special program dedicated specifically for the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance! So the big question is...How do I make the most out of BELA Day? Erica Salmon Byrne has the answers.

There's still time to register for the Global Ethics Summit, especially if you want to attend virtually! Take a look at the event agenda and register at https://events.ethisphere.com/e/2025-Global-Ethics-Summit

For guest access to the BELA Member Resource Hub and to speak with a BELA Engagement Director, visit https://ethisphere.com/solutions/bela

How AI Can Transform Your Monitoring & Investigations Today

Ethicast — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 12:55:20 +0000

Parth Chanda, Executive Vice President, Risk and Compliance Transformation, of Case IQ, shares actionable insights on how ethics and compliance programs can implement AI into their programs' workflow and gain massive efficiencies, especially around monitoring and investigations.

AI's impact upon traditional ethics and compliance functions
AI use cases for AI in E&C—particularly monitoring and investigations
Challenges to keep in mind while crafting and E&C AI strategy
How to demystify AI and set expectations around its implementation

Learn more about AI use vases for monitoring and investigations: www.CaseIQ.com.