Ethical culture starts with tone at the top but doesn’t end there. Employees, investors, vendors, and customers take their cues from what they observe, not just what they are told. 

Regulators, rating agencies, and other stakeholders expect companies to conduct assessments to ensure they are not exposing the company to unreasonable levels of risk. 

The Code of Ethics is the cornerstone of any compliance and ethics program.

Training employees, officers, and directors of a company’s Code of Ethics and policies is critical to establishing an effective compliance and ethics program. 

Employees should have a method for reporting violations of law and policy in a company. 

Once a compliance and ethics program is implemented, it’s important to periodically monitor and audit the program to determine what revisions should be made to comply with new laws and regulations or to adjust to a company’s changing culture or operating procedures.