Introduction to the White Collar Crime, Investigations and Compliance Symposium

From consumer protection and privacy to telecommunications, cybersecurity and governance, the legal ‎landscape is ‎changing.  Is your business prepared for the anticipated regulatory changes in Canada, the ‎United States and Europe? ‎Our panel members will be discussing the regulatory trends that will impact your ‎business in Canada, the United States and Europe.

Canada has a new Commissioner of Competition who is keen to increase enforcement. The Competition ‎Bureau has ‎been recently armed with an expanded budget. We provide an overview of what to expect ‎and introduce Aiscension, ‎DLA Piper’s new proprietary, market-leading AI audit and investigations tool.  ‎

Global Class Action Group Partners from across DLA Piper’s offices will discuss trends in ‎class action litigation in the context of white collar and corporate crime, as well as the risks faced by national ‎and international corporations and their directors.‎

When a company seeks to pursue fraud recovery, it soon faces a series of challenges. Money is traced, ‎and then moves ‎again. Funds move into jurisdictions from which recovery seems impossible. Fraudsters ‎use corporations to hide behind ‎shell companies and bank secrecy laws prevent disclosure. ‎In this panel ‎discussion, our Global DLA Piper team discusses ‎the most common challenges as well as  practical solutions.‎

In this interview, Alan Sarhan from DLA Piper (Canada) LLP discusses Canada’s corporate compliance ‎landscape with ‎Dr. Hentie Dirker, Chief Integrity Officer at Group SNC-Lavalin Inc. The interview will highlight ‎major compliance ‎developments in Canada over the past decade, how Canada measures in comparison ‎to its international peers and ‎Dr. Dirker’s experience developing SNC-Lavalin’s world class program which ‎led to the company’s early release from ‎World Bank sanctions. The interview will conclude with a ‎discussion on how to right-size your program with practical ‎tips for the successful and ‎cost-effective ‎implementation of compliance policies and procedures adaptable to a ‎range of organizations.‎

No two investigations are the same, and each investigation requires a tailor-made approach. In our panel ‎with in-‎house counsel specializing in investigations, we discuss challenges relating to modern ‎investigations, including ‎everything from interviews and privilege to reporting. Our session will discuss best ‎practices and strategies for in-‎house investigation processes, including avoiding or minimizing risk and ‎tips on how to maintain privilege over an ‎investigation mandate.‎

Technology has advanced in leaps and bounds. The fraud landscape is constantly evolving, and new ‎‎technologies are ‎enabling fraud fighters to better prevent, detect, and monitor for fraudulent behaviour.  ‎In ‎this session, PwC will ‎showcase some of the tools and technologies that can be used by fraud ‎examiners ‎to respond to and combat ‎economic crime.‎

Employees can be your greatest compliance asset, but one rogue employee (or group of employees) can ‎be capable ‎of intentionally causing material harm to the organization. Despite increasingly complex ‎controls, employee fraud ‎continues to be a real risk for many employers. Employee fraud can take many ‎forms, from stolen company assets to ‎unrecorded vacation to falsified expense reports, with some ‎incidents being more severe than others. Detection ‎can be tricky, investigation is complicated by ‎procedural rights arising in the employment relationship, and recovery ‎can seem almost impossible. In ‎this session, veteran DLA Piper employment lawyers will provide a human resources ‎perspective on ‎combatting employee fraud.‎

Conclusion to the White Collar Crime, Investigations and Compliance Symposium.