It happens rather frequently in professional circles.
A term is used and it sounds fancy and sophisticated. The term is repeated again and again as if everyone knows what it means.
But the reality. often. is the term is vague and ambiguous and undefined.
So it is with data analytics in the compliance space (including FCPA compliance).
For example, this law firm alert is titled: “Does Your Company Use Data Analytics in Its Anti-corruption Program? It Should.”
The term data analytics or data is used numerous times in the short alert and states:
“The government expects companies to use data analytics themselves in implementing and in monitoring the effectiveness of their compliance programs and policies. For example, a company might analyze data pertaining to sales in high-risk regions to identify potential bribery and corruption concerns.
If you are not already using data analytics in your company’s internal monitoring, now is the time to start. A company can vastly improve its strategic footing by identifying and addressing potential FCPA issues before the government does.”
A company’s sales in a specific country is certainly “data,” so if that “data” is “analyzed” is that what is meant by “data analytics”? If so, that seems like a very basic proposition and something companies have likely been doing for decades.
Here, the former Chief of the DOJ’s FCPA Unit states:
“DOJ and SEC leadership have been outspoken recently on the use of data to identify criminal misconduct, including potential violations of the FCPA. To that end, DOJ has hired experts in data analytics and the use of “big data” to mine and search all available data sources to identify crimes and open new investigations.”
Data is generally defined as factual information (such as measurements or statistics) used as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or calculation.
I would assume that the DOJ has always used data (so defined) to identify criminal misconduct.
If paying to attend “dog and pony show” compliance conferences is your thing, at this upcoming event you can hear all about “FCPA Data Analytics,” “data-driven compliance” and “hear industry leaders tell their data analytic story.”
That sounds pretty sophisticated (and perhaps it is, or perhaps it is not).
It all depends on what data analytics means.
Is this list of the top ten corporate FCPA settlement amounts an example of data analytics? The list was compiled using data that was then analyzed. What about the percentage of corporate FCPA enforcement actions that originate from a voluntary disclosure? To arrive at the figure, data was “mined and searched.”
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