ValueEdge Advisors Vice Chair Nell Minow appeared on Adam Turteltaub’s podcast to talk about the challenges of COVID-19 and its economic impact for corporate compliance.
Companies are struggling to survive and boards are stretched beyond belief. So how do you get the governing team to focus on compliance? According to Nell Minow — dubbed the “Queen of Good Corporate Governance” by BusinessWeek Online and Vice Chair of Value Edge Advisors — compliance teams need to remind the board and leadership that compliance is not an add-on or a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have and an essential part of risk management.
At these times the risks for organizations are grave an include operational risk and new financial risks, especially for companies that accept money under the CARES Act.
To ensure compliance plays a role in managing these risks and others that will follow as business resumes, she recommends that all sides work to ensure that compliance is at the foundation. In addition, and very importantly, as incentive plans change to meet the new realities of business, compliance needs to be on top of those plans to identify the risks that they create.