Compliance and corruption: Interview with Margaret Davis

Transcript: Interview with Margaret Davis

David Ingram: Margaret, in your article, you write that the concept of compliance is becoming more to become widespreadsich weit verbreitenwidespread. But what exactly does compliance mean?

Margaret Davis: If you “to comply with sth.etw. einhalten, befolgencomply with” something, you do what is expected of you. So, if you comply with regulations or the law or a corporateUnternehmens-corporate code of conductVerhaltenskodexcode of conduct, you to obey sth.etw. gehorchen, befolgenobey them. And that’s what’s behind the idea of compliance. With globalization and EU regulations, staying within the law has become more complicated, which is why compliance is so important.

Ingram: Who needs to be concerned about compliance?

Davis: Well, basically everybody, because we all need to obey the law. But depending on your position in a company and depending on your profession or industry, it could be more or less important. So, as an employee, you need to find out whether your company has a code of conduct and then follow it. If you’re a manager, you need to know whether there are rules against hiring relatives or accepting gifts and so on. But it’s not always so black and white.

Ingram: Can you give an example?

Davis: Yes, journalism is one area where the lines can get to get blurredsich verwischenblurred. Journalists meet a lot of people and sometimes they become friends with contacts. This can lead to conflicts. Two years ago, a prominent radio and television journalist was fired because he had to broker sth.etw. aushandelnbrokered an art deal between a friend, who was an art dealerKunsthändler(in)art dealer, and Mark Carney, who was then the governor of the Bank of Canada. The journalist had interviewed Mark Carney on a couple of occasions and they became quite friendly. The journalist was also friends with an art dealer, so he brought Carney and the dealer together and the dealer sold Carney a picture. So you might say that this was just networkingAufbau und Pflege von Kontaktennetworking, except that the journalist then got a commissionProvisioncommission on the sale of the picture. His employer, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, said this to violate sth.etw. verletzenviolated its code of conduct. The code said that journalists should not use contacts made via their work for personal gainGewinn; Vorteilgain. Evidently the journalist hadn’t read the code of conduct. And maybe he’d still have his job if he hadn’t been paid for the deal!

Ingram: Thank you very much, Margaret. I’ll do my best to stay out of trouble in future!

Davis: Thank you. you’re welcomegern geschehenYou’re welcome.