What the FDIC’s Toxic Workplace Culture Can Teach Us

On November 13, the Wall Street Journal published a bombshell report by Rebecca Ballhaus detailing a pervasive toxic culture at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, the federal agency that oversees the stability of the U.S. banking system. The report involved interviews with more than 100 FDIC employees and detailed a gruesome record of misbehavior, including misogyny, sexual harassment, alcohol abuse, managerial neglect, speak-up retaliation, and more. Joining us to offer her expert insight on what lessons ethics and compliance professionals can learn from the situation at the FDIC is Ethisphere’s Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Chair, Erica Salmon Byrne.

  • 2:06: Upholding cultural expectations for traveling employees
  • 4:11: What to do about workplace fiefdoms
  • 7:17: The connection to this Spring’s bank failures
  • 9:13: A potential silver lining for E&C professionals
  • 11:20: Tips for surviving a toxic workplace

To read the full news report, “Strip Clubs, Lewd Photos and a Boozy Hotel: The Toxic Atmosphere at Bank Regulator FDIC,” click here.

#wsj #fdic #culture #metoo

The SBF Verdict and How Crypto Can Benefit from Better Regulation

Ethisphere’s Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Chair, Erica Salmon Byrne, offers her insight and expertise to understand the implications and lessons to be learned from the historic guilty verdict of “crypto king” Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the now-collapsed crypto exchange FTX, and the latest addition to the financial world’s rogue’s gallery.

  • 1:59: What the speed of this prosecution tells us
  • 4:04: How this compares to other historic white collar criminal cases
  • 5:23: The connection to Alameda Research means in all of this
  • 7:34: When an org chart is just a shell game
  • 9:09: SDNY does not kid around when it comes to white collar crime
  • 10:45: The shaky ethical foundations of FTX
  • 14:54: How crypto can benefit from better regulation

#sbf #ftx #crypto #sdny

Ethisphere Recognizes Unum with Compliance Leader Verification™

Ethisphere’s Compliance Leader Verification recognizes organizations with an outstanding commitment to achieving a best-in-class ethics and compliance program



Scottsdale, AZ – November 8, 2023 – Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, announced today that Unum Group has earned the coveted Compliance Leader Verification, spanning the years of 2023 and 2024.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) is an international provider of workplace benefits and services. Its key voluntary insurance products include disability, life and pet insurance, total leave management and behavioral health services. In addition to the company’s external commitment to ethics and compliance, its senior leaders’ internal commitment focuses on a code of conduct and a confidential ethics/whistleblowing hotline that is accessible to its more than 10,800 employees. It also offers a robust data loss prevention program.  

“We were particularly impressed by the well-staffed and visible E&C team, which has continued to raise the bar not only with respect to the operation of its function within the organization, but also by virtue of its collaboration with other key sister control function leads, such as internal audit and risk. This alignment ensures an impactful approach to addressing risk within the organization,”

Said Jodie Fredericksen, Senior Compliance Counsel.

“For 175 years, Unum Group has operated with the highest standards of excellence for our customers and communities, We appreciate Ethisphere’s thorough review of our practices. Receiving Compliance Leader Verification from such a highly regarded organization is testament to our commitment to transparency and ethical behavior across our company.”

Stated Beth Simon, VP, Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer​​​​​​​ of Unum

The Compliance Leader Verification process involves a rigorous review of an ethics and compliance program and corporate culture. It includes completing the Ethics Quotient® (EQ), a questionnaire covering the elements of an effective program; benchmarking program practices against the World’s Most Ethical Companies®; and extensive document review and interviews with executives and stakeholders.

Unum’s performance was evaluated on six key areas: program resources and structure; perceptions of ethical culture; written standards; training and communication; risk assessment, monitoring and auditing; and enforcement, discipline, and incentives.

More information about Compliance Leader Verification is available at https://ethisphere.com/what-we-do/leader-verification/

About Ethisphere 

Ethisphere® is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust, and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies® recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with Ethisphere Magazine. Ethisphere also helps to advance business performance through data-driven assessments, benchmarking in The Sphere, and guidance. More information about Ethisphere can be found at https://www.ethisphere.com. Follow us on LinkedIn

About Unum Group 

Unum Group (NYSE: UNM), an international provider of workplace benefits and services, has been helping workers and their families for 175 years. Through its Unum and Colonial Life brands, the company offers disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental, vision and stop-loss insurance; leave and absence management support and behavioral health services. In 2022, Unum reported revenues of about $12 billion and paid $8 billion in benefits. The Fortune 500 company is one of the 2023 World’s Most Ethical Companies, recognized by Ethisphere®.  

Visit the Unum Group newsroom for more information, and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

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Natalie Jones

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