Main topics

Anticorruption risks for businesses in Russia and CIS

• The process of  executing and complying with local and foreign legislation and its application
• Which key regulations define global compliance standards?
• Overview of the Russian law enforcement practice
• What is the real cost of violating anticorruption legislation?
• Article 13.3. The obligation for companies to adopt measures for preventing corruption (Federal Law 270-F3 " On combating corruption")
• Why the anticorruption legislation is not limited to FCPA and UKBA?
• Best guidelines and recommendations for the development and adoption of measures for preventing and combating  corruption within the company (Est. by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation on 8 November, 2013)

The emphasis on the Top Down element for creating a culture of compliance and employee engagement: How to minimize the risk of corporate infringements and crimes

• How to  comply with ethical and business norms from the senior management: A practical example
• What is the senior management’s role in implementing  anticorruption procedures in the organization?
• Should the management have an active interest in stimulating the employees for an effective compliance programme and how?
• The prospect development of compliance programme and the expected results from the Top Down

Practical examples of possible corruption violations during business activities and the optimum ways for their prevention

• Current issues in defining the concept of bribery; elements of improper payments and contradictions in the legal regulation
• Which fields of activity are most susceptible to corruption risks (donations, sponsorship, cooperation with health care organizations or medical staff and the government sector, others)
• Examples of complex situations in the field of  anticorruption & anti-bribery, which could occur in the daily operations of the company  and how to resolve them

How to Prepare and Conduct an Internal Investigation of Bribery without Breaking the Law?

• What is the procedure of the internal investigation and what documents regulate the whole process?
• What is the role of the Department of Internal Audit in conducting the investigation?
• How to select line-up of Commission of Inquiry taking into account relation of the bribery incident to the business line of the company or financial institution?
• On what principles the actions of the Commission of Inquiry should be based?
• What is the specifics of using the information from the technical systems of the Security Department?
• What kind of activities related to the collection of materials, suspect’s interview, the explanatory report and affected customer surveys the Commission has the right to undertake?
• What is the role of the Security Department in conducting an official investigation?
• What further measures can be taken based on an internal investigation?

The role and the responsibilities of the Board of Directors and the compliance department in employing comprehensive anticorruption programmes

• How to integrate compliance programmes into the corporate strategy
• To what extent is it essential to involve the Board of Directors into the company’s anticorruption compliance programme?
• Anticorruption compliance: a look from the board of directors’ perspective
• The cooperation process between the Board of Directors and the compliance department 

The process of complying with the requirements of anticorruption legislation during M&A transactions

Practical aspects of business partners due diligence in modern Russia

• How to construct a sequential decision-making process for selecting your business partners
• How to minimize the risk of business relations with business partners who were or can be involved in corrupt activities
• What is the optimum amount of time and resources that should be spent on searching for information about your business partner?
• How to overcome conflicts in different legal regimes and how to  designate contractual rights and obligations 
• What are the methods to identify the chain of owners and the ultimate beneficiaries of the company’s business partners?
• Defining the company’s solvency and the possibility of fully implementing the obligations set in the contract
• Joint ventures due diligence: The procedural issues
• How to conduct anticorruption monitoring of current business partners

 How to Build Effective Sanctions Compliance Procedures and Reliable Contractual Relations under Sanctions: Sharing the Best Practices

• Sanctions against Russia: possible developments. Are the sanctions here to stay as long as the Jackson-Vanik amendment?
• Should we expect a broad interpretation of the sanctions regulations and the increasing number of indirectly affected people and businesses?
• How to build effectively sanctions compliance procedure:

• Examining legal qualification of sanctions and its impact on the existing contract and liability for breach of obligations:

• Navigating the use of Sanction Clause in Contracts: the best ways of including contractual terms defining the behaviour of the parties in the case of sanctions imposition
• Should we expect the legal claims from Russian companies with a view to the lifting of sanctions? What could be the possible outcome in such cases?

Whistleblowing: Organizing the notification mechanisms in the company as one of the stimulating methods of preventing corruption and fraud

• Positioning the Hotline notification mechanism
• Providing reception, registry and corruption information to the company’s management
• The importance of analyzing the information on the violations
• The importance of analyzing the significance of the violations
• Should you stimulate your employees to use the Hotline and the notification mechanisms?

Anticorruption policy and corporate control in procurement and tenders

• How to comply with anticorruption standards in procurement when disclosing the chain of owners, beneficiaries and business partners
• The process of implementing compliance control on preliminary, current and following procurement stages
• The process of compliance procedures for the development of competition; ensuring transparency of procurement and preventing corruption
• Conducting Due Diligence of suppliers and intermediaries; testing their level of reliability and financial stability in terms of information disclosure about the owners of business partners and ultimate beneficiaries

The arising issues whilst using fraud key indicator systems

• Theft vs. incompetence – how to differentiate?
• Avoidable and unavoidable difficulties of usage
• The limits and capabilities of the system

The development of an employee training system as a fundamental element of the company’s anticorruption compliance program and culture: Microsoft case study

• What are the elements of the anticorruption regulation training system and the employees’ requirements in Microsoft?
• The process of  developing the training system and the use of technology in Microsoft
• What is role of the management, the legal, the finance, the internal control and the compliance departments?

Corporate events and trips for third parties: How to segregate acceptable marketing practices from potential actions that can violate international and national anticorruption legislation

• What potential risks a company might face when client or supplier representatives participate in an organized event or trip?
• What restrictions exist in the case when the client representatives are government officials?
• What needs to be monitored during the planning of an event?

Business Case: «Practical Application of Anti-Corruption Policies

• Describing the concept of the company’s anticorruption policy
• Examples of effective screening mechanisms
• Business partners due diligence policy
• Due diligence policy in recruitment
• The policy on business gifts and expenses
• The policy on charity and sponsorship aid
• The policy on conflict of interest regulation, Hotline situation and the code of conduct and ethics

The Storage of Personal Data in Russia

• Shall we wait for "mitigating" amendments to the legislation?
• How much the execution of this law will cost to businesses?
• Can companies store personal data of Russian citizens abroad, providing they have the consent of their owners?
• Can the personal data processing consent be obtained remotely?
• The main concern of foreign companies in the light of the changes: the specifics of legal requirements for foreign legal entities that do not have a subsidiary in Russia
• Depersonalisation data - as one of the options in the law?
• Establishment of the Institute of the Internet Development (IRI) as a platform for dialogue between the government and various industry associations, representing the industry interests

Successful strategies for managing conflict of interest and its interrelated elements: Identification, regulation and prevention based on practical examples

• What is the definition of “Conflict of Interest” in a commercial organization?
• What are the main signs and types of “Conflict of Interest” in a company?
• How can “Conflict of Interest” have a negative influence on business success in modern times?
• What are the methods for identifying and regulating “Conflict of Interest”?
• How to prevent “Conflict of Interest”?
• Using legislative regulation to manage “Conflict of Interest”
• How to probe your potential business partners  to identify interrelated connections with the company’s own employees
• The process of organizing the declaration of “Conflict of Interest”