The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing companies to contend with a host of issues, including quarantines, travel restrictions, supply chain disruptions and overall strains on workflow.
The crisis requires companies to consider not only their short-term crisis management, but also how their business continuity plan will need to be adapted.
Compliance professionals, who often play a vital role in crisis management and emergency planning, should prepare themselves and others within their organizations to think proactively about maintaining their company’s compliance and integrity program during this time.
This includes anticipating the risks associated with the immediate and secondary effects of the COVID-19 crisis and thinking of innovative ways to leverage technology to continue adherence to corporate policies and procedures.
Companies should not view COVID-19 as a compliance “force majeure event.” While some measure of case-by-case compliance relief may be granted, the governmental and regulatory expectation is that companies maintain strict oversight over compliance matters during this period, particularly those related to anti-fraud, and adapt their programs to take into account risks relating to COVID-19
In this alert, we identify some of the different issues that compliance professionals should keep in mind as they navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please click here to read the full alert memorandum.