What Every Multinational Company Should Know About … Implementing Compliance Audits

Most multinational companies are aware of the need for robust compliance programs consisting of risk assessments, policies, and procedures adopted to mitigate identified compliance risks, and identifying and responding to violations of policies and procedures (or laws and regulations). (For additional context, see our three-part series on implementing an international compliance program (1) here, (2) here, and (3) here.) Not to be overlooked, an important part of an effective compliance program is a mechanism to check whether the program is actually designed and operating effectively to achieve its goals. Compliance audits are one such mechanism that multinational companies should implement along with their compliance programs.