Compliance

Looking ahead. Managing risks. Anchoring values. Developing business.

Compliance

Our range of advisory services

  1. Risk analysis
  2. Compliance management systems
  3. Compliance trainings
  4. Forensics / Internal investigations
  5. Strategic advice to corporate bodies
  6. Compliance of associations

For further information about our Compliance practice Dr. Silke Möller is at your disposal at any time.

Risk analysis

We support our clients in analyzing the risk areas relevant to them, which may vary depending on the industry and the organizational structure, company size, etc. Hence why we ensure that compliance measures are tailored precisely to the individual needs of the concerned.

If, in addition to the frequently relevant topics of antitrust law, anti-corruption or capital market law, other risk areas need to be covered (e.g. data protection, labor law), we will work together with relevant law firms from a network of specialists. The same applies to international compliance projects involving our foreign partner firms or our clients' established foreign advisors.

 

Compliance management systems

Another focus of our consulting activities is the development, structuring and implementation of compliance management systems. This begins - where necessary - with the performance of audits and extends to support in setting up or adapting a custom-fit compliance organization with appropriate reporting structures and response scenarios, and to the creation of risk-adjusted compliance documentation and the implementation of training courses. Our expertise in this area also includes preparation for possible search situations.

Following the definition of needs-oriented risk prevention measures, we also support the (global) roll-out of corresponding systems.

Selected matters on which we advised

  • Advising a German listed retail group on the establishment of a worldwide Dawn Raid Task Force and the international introduction of a Code of Conduct as well as other compliance guidelines
  • Introduction and implementation of CMS, among others, for several well-known branded goods manufacturers in the food sector
  • Development of an antitrust CMS for the German subsidiaries of one of the largest European construction groups
  • Analysis and optimization of the antitrust CMS of an internationally active group from the transport sector
  • Review and update of the CMS of a listed group from the financial sector
  • Development and implementation of a global CMS for a large manufacturing company from the Ruhr area
  • Advising a US-American company from the automotive supply sector on the implementation of the CMS in Germany
 

Compliance trainings

Training is an important component of any compliance management system. These not only serve to demonstrate practices to management and employees that are risky from a compliance point of view, but also have the specific aim of highlighting the safe room for action and thus achieving a higher degree of certainty of action in day-to-day business.

In the training courses we conduct, we attach particular importance to ensuring that they are specifically tailored to the needs of the company in question, both in terms of content and the target group. In the preliminary stages of a training course, we therefore first define together with our clients the target group that is exposed to a specific compliance risk, e.g. company management or individual groups of employees from the operational area (sales, purchasing, etc.). Our training courses also regularly include an interactive part where compliance-relevant principles and the latest developments in official practice and case law are discussed in greater depth in a practice-oriented manner.

 

Forensics / internal investigations

In response to specific compliance violations, but also from a preventive point of view (e.g. post-closing audits), we regularly manage extensive internal investigations for our clients. In doing so, we can draw upon many years of experience in conducting interviews and the IT-supported analysis of data and have established working relationships with leading providers of IT forensics solutions, which we can integrate into the respective mandate if necessary.

Upon discovery of a compliance violation (e.g. in the course of an internal investigation or an audit), we also advise our clients on the legally given options as well as preventive measures and processes for the future, always focusing on the individual needs of the companies.

Selected matters on which we advised

  • Conducting an extensive internal investigation into a possible antitrust violation at a leading event company and, based on the findings, providing strategic advice on further action
  • Comprehensive internal investigation with a high double-digit number of interviews and detailed review of extensive documents for a company in the automotive sector and subsequent support in the strategic implementation of the results
  • Regular support of forensic investigations from the perspective of stock corporation and capital market law (business judgment opinions, capital market communication, etc.)

Strategic advice to corporate bodies

We provide comprehensive advice to our clients' management and supervisory boards on all aspects of corporate law, capital market law and strategy resulting from compliance measures, e.g. on the preparation of resolutions, on optimization options for existing compliance systems, on the requirements for action due to new legal or factual developments (including in connection with ESG issues), on possible courses of action in the event that relevant compliance violations are identified, on issues of accountability and crisis response. In this context, we also support our clients or their communications advisors in developing appropriate crisis communications.

Selected matters on which we advised

  • Advising a listed supplier in the automotive sector on corporate and capital market law issues in connection with compliance cases, in particular in connection with an investigation by the public prosecutor's office
  • Advising various DAX and MDAX companies on insider law compliance issues
 

Compliance of associations

Business associations are often faced with special challenges in the area of compliance, as they often not only have to structure their own association work in a legally compliant manner but are also an important point of contact in compliance matters for the respective member companies. Regarding the risk areas involved, a particular focus is often on antitrust issues. Our expertise in this area ranges from the antitrust law-compliant structuring of internal association committee work to the association's organizational and liability law to the conduct of internal investigations and the legal support of the association's public relations work.

Selected matters on which we advised

  • Legal support for well over 100 committee meetings of a major association group in the building materials sector on structuring the meetings in compliance with antitrust law and developing corresponding guidelines for ongoing committee work
  • Advising a professional association with more than 13,000 members on compliance issues under association law, including the preparation of compliance documentation for the association's members and committees