The compliance movement in russia: what is driving it?
Abstract
The introduction of compliance management systems is becoming more and more important in Russian companies. Initially limited to anti-corruption compliance and driven by foreign extraterritorial legislation, corporate leaders are now considering the benefits of enhanced risk management systems. From a corporate law perspective, the driving force behind this is the business judgement rule. Corporate leaders should be encouraged to take reasonable entrepreneurial risks without fearing liability. Therefore, by adopting compliance and risk management systems corporate leaders will be able to exculpate themselves when business decisions go wrong and losses are suffered. But the question is who will be the driving force in the Russian corporate context: the executive director or the board of directors? This paper examines two strands of domestic compliance regulation: anti-corruption compliance and the 2014 Code of Corporate Governance. It shows that while there are grounds for the possibility that in Russia the executive directors will be the drivers of compliance, the greater likelihood is that the board of directors will be collectively responsible. Important incentives for the day-today management of the companies will therefore most likely be missed.
About the Author
Thomas KruessmannEstonia
Coordinator of the Jean Monnet Network “Developing European Studies in the Caucasus,” Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu (Estonia)
36 Lossi, Tartu, 51003, Estonia
References
1. Ермакова Н.А., Ахуньянова Ч.Ф. Комплаенс-контроль в системе внутреннего контроля корпорации // Международный бухгалтерский учет. 2014. № 3. С. 2–10 [Ermakova N.A., Akhunyanova Ch.F. Compliance Control in the System of Internal Control of the Corporation, 3 International Accounting 2 (2014)].
2. Иванов Э.А. Антикоррупционный комплаенс-контроль в российских компаниях // Международно-правовые чтения. Вып. 12. Воронеж: ВГУ, 2014. С. 86–101 [Ivanov E.A. Anti- Corruption Compliance Control in Russian Companies in International Law-Readings. Issue 12 86 (Voronezh: Voronezh State University, 2014)].
3. Шашкова А.В. Значение Кодекса корпоративного управления Банка России 2014 г. // Вестник МГИМО Университета. 2014. № 4(37). С. 253–263 [Shashkova A.V. The Meaning of the Code of Corporate Governance of the Central Bank of Russia, 37(4) MGIMO Review of International Relations 253 (2014)].
4. Smith D. Assessing Compliance with Requirements for Anti-corruption Compliance Programs // Материалы III Международного Конгресса "Предпринимательство и бизнес в условиях экономической нестабильности" [Smith D. Assessing Compliance with Requirements for Anti- corruption Compliance Programs in Materials of the III International Congress "Entrepreneurship and Business under Conditions of Economic Instability"] 133–135 (Moscow: Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, 2015).
For citation:
Kruessmann T. The compliance movement in russia: what is driving it? Russian Law Journal. 2018;6(2):147-163. https://doi.org/10.17589/2309-8678-2018-6-2-147-163