[00:00:00] Hi everyone. In today's episode, we'll take a look at the topics that will determine the course of ethics and compliance in 2025 as well as explain how you can appear on the show. I'm your host Bill Coffin and this is the Ethicast.
[00:00:23] 2024 was a terrific year for the show and we'd like to start 2025 by thanking all of you for joining us on more than 100 episodes that covered the breadth and depth of today's business integrity landscape. Some of our most watched episodes discussed best practices and strategic opportunities around federal regulatory guidelines, supply chain due diligence, artificial intelligence, psychological safety, anti money laundering, organizational culture assessments, trade compliance, speak up culture and and reinventing corporate compliance programs along the way. There was no small amount of news that showcased the kinds of tidal forces that shaped the year in ethics and compliance and underscored the strategic worth of a strong and fully resourced E and C program. TD bank, for example, had to pay $3 billion for conspiring to fail to uphold anti money laundering controls, which resulted in the banks processing some $670 million in illegal proceeds from narcotics cartels.
[00:01:22] RTX subsidiary Raytheon agreed to pay more than $950 million to resolve charges of defective pricing, fraud and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
[00:01:34] Aerospace giant Boeing faces ongoing criminal proceedings after a federal judge rejected its DOJ plea deal related to violations of its deferred prosecution agreement stemming from a pair of fatal 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.
[00:01:51] Disgraced cryptocurrency tycoon Sam Bankman Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud, conspiracy and money laundering connected to the dramatic collapse of the crypto trading platform FTX, which wiped out some $32 billion in value in late 2022. Boar's Head, a meat processing company so secretive that even its chief financial officer doesn't really know who is CEO, faced federal investigation for extensive food safety violations after a listeria outbreak from one of its meat plants killed 10 people.
[00:02:23] McKinsey & Co. Agreed to pay $650 million to resolve a criminal and civil investigation into the firm's consulting work with opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma LP. Johnson and Johnson, meanwhile, agreed to pay $700 million to more than 40 states to resolve investigations that the company misled consumers on the safety of its talc baby powder, which thousands of ongoing consumer lawsuits alleged causes cancer. And in one of the strangest stories of 2024, Macy's delayed its third quarter earnings release after revealing that a former employee intentionally hid $151 million in delivery expenses from 2021 through 2024 in a botched effort to cover up an otherwise innocent error.
[00:03:09] All of these stories and episodes point to the ongoing challenges and opportunities that organizations in general, and ethics and compliance teams in particular, will continue to face in 2025. People are messy and unpredictable creatures, which means that there will always be a risk that needs managing or some kind of misconduct that needs addressing. From auditing and governance to anti bribery and anti money laundering, to corporate culture and multi generational workforces to values based leadership and robust speak up cultures.
[00:03:37] But more than that, the future of this discipline is about the many ways in which ethics and compliance actually builds organizational value by building sustainable business practices that advance integrity, increase innovation, and improve efficiency. More than anything, the Ethicast is here to tell that story how the best practices amongst E and C practitioners don't just make better companies, they make a better world.
[00:04:01] So to help us do that, I'm asking you for a favor. In the notes to this episode, you'll find an email address. We'd love for you to drop us a line to let us know what topics are most occupying your attention as we head into 2025. What challenges are you trying to address, what opportunities are you trying to seize, and what aspects of your work are keeping you awake at night? As we continue to bring you the best thought, leadership and business integrity, we want to make sure that your biggest interests and concerns are being addressed. So please let us know what you'd like to see on the show, and we'll make sure to include that in our coverage. But also, if you'd like to appear on this show as a guest, we would love to have you please use that same email address to recommend someone you think would have a terrific story to tell, a best practice to share, or an insight to offer for the betterment of E and C programs everywhere. There's no competition in integrity, and there is always room for one more champion to share their truth. I'm Bill Coffin and this has been the Ethicast. For more episodes, check out the Ethisphere YouTube
[email protected] ethisphere as well as Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and be sure to subscribe on any of those platforms
[email protected] ethicast thanks so much for joining us. And until next time, remember, strong ethics is good business.
