Compliance

Business proximity
with a sense of proportion.

The mere suspicion of unlawful behaviour – or “non-compliance” – can significantly impact the reputation of a company regardless of its size, legal format or industry sector. Irrespective of their headquarters’ location internationally operating companies must comply with a growing number of foreign regulations such as the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977 (FCPA), the UK Bribery Act 2010 or the French Loi Sapin II 2016. As cross-border law enforcement is continuously increasing, companies also need to face strengthened scrutiny by international authorities.

A consistent, risk-based Compliance Management System (CMS) enables a company to systematically prevent, detect and respond to misconduct. This not only reliably reduces liability risks for companies, entrepreneurs and employees – it also increases the transparency and quality of corporate processes, enhances business opportunities and drives attraction for employees, customers, business partners and investors. This is where our tailored advisory approach kicks off: compliance with a sense of proportion.

Key areas of expertise

Compliance with a sense of proportion – with GSK Stockmann by your side, you are capitalising on the experience of compliance experts who are uniquely skilled in combining state-of-the-art advice with practical implementation know-how. Not only has our team gleaned extensive insights from working with a large number of national and international clients; we also bring specific field experience from working as Chief Compliance Officers. Further, we have gained special expertise through Compliance Monitorships for the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the World Bank. In addition, we work with tailored compliance tools and modern databases to implement compliance not only effectively, but also efficiently.

All this enables us to offer our clients independent support and comprehensive solutions with a true sense of proportion for the entire CMS spectrum – in challenging corporate situations. Our expertise also covers emerging fields such as technical and social compliance.

We advise companies in the private and public sector, as well as their executives and directors. We work hand in hand with our clients’ in-house experts (in particular, with Compliance Officers, General Counsels, Data Protection Officers, Anti-Money Laundering Officers, Risk Management and Corporate Audit).

Structuring of corporate compliance functions, including the design of an effective and efficient CMS and internal control system (ICS) strengthening the three lines of defence
Structuring of corporate risk management functions, particularly in areas which are regulated by financial market authorities, requiring specific regulatory compliance, such as the Minimum Risk Requirements for Insurance Undertakings (MaRisk), the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) or financial crime compliance including anti-money laundering (AML)
Design and documentation of regulatory compliance processes (for example, suitability tests for asset management or the sale of financial products)
Structuring of corporate processes ensuring compliance with further specific legal requirements (for example, data protection)

Realisation of compliance risk analyses and compliance health checks
Design and continuous development of risk-based compliance policy frameworks (House of Policies), codes of conduct, compliance management policies, anti-corruption guidelines, organisation manuals, process descriptions, etc.
Conception of compliance trainings (in-classroom seminars or e-learnings)
Implementation of compliance hotlines and whistleblowing systems (WBS)
Design and implementation support of risk-based Business Partner Compliance Due Diligence Processes (BPCDD)
Design of compliance clauses for business partners
Execution of Business Partner Compliance Due Diligences and Anti-Money Laundering Checks
Execution of M&A Compliance Due Diligences (MACDD) for corporate takeovers or the establishment of joint ventures
Execution of compliance reviews prior to major projects or entering into strategic alliances
Conception and drafting of internal and external compliance communication, for example drafting UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 statements, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports, etc.

Execution and support of special compliance investigations (Internal Investigations), for example, on allegations of corruption, money laundering, insider trading or market manipulation
Legal representation and investigation of claims, for example in the event of corruption, breach of trust, fraud, antitrust violations and other crimes and offences
Legal support during regulatory investigations and criminal proceedings

Design of company-specific sanction catalogues
Legal support during individual disciplinary proceedings
Advice for cooperation and communication with law enforcement agencies and regulatory authorities, both nationally and internationally

Providing compliance advice with a sense of proportion requires a qualified and flexible team. Our compliance team consists not only of experts in the fields of corporate law, banking- and financial regulatory law, labour law, data protection law, foreign trade law, procurement law, antitrust law, tax law, public law and criminal law, but also seasoned practitioners with highly specific field experience as Chief Compliance Officers or Anti-Money Laundering Officers for international companies and banks.

In addition, our solid understanding of business administration, expertise in international project management and a consistent focus on corporate processes enable us to implement solid compliance processes and robust controls closely aligned between CMS and ICS.

Thanks to the broad range of experiences we have gained in multi-year Compliance Monitorships for the DoJ, the SEC, international environmental authorities and the World Bank – not only as senior members of the Monitorship teams, but also providing advisory services to the companies under Monitorship – we can offer our clients valuable support in dealing with complex compliance challenges.

As a leading independent European business law firm with an international focus, our independence is particularly valuable in the inevitable cross-border cooperation and communication with international law enforcement agencies.

With our fully owned subsidiary GSK Compliance Services GmbH, we also offer clients the opportunity to outsource certain CMS modules such as Business Compliance Due Diligences or Anti-Money Laundering Checks. We also take over outsourced ombudsmen or Anti-Money Laundering Officer assignments.