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counsel. “There’s a renewed interest in culture from the Board Such a climate is driving the opportunity for change and
of Directors right on down.” opening the doors for ethics, conduct or integrity offcers to
That is spurring the rise of an executive role within corpora- step in and help mold the corporate consciousness.
tions to tackle ethical and moral issues. Julianna Fox, who was In fact, the topic of in-house counsel as integrity offcer will
appointed Chief Ethics and Compliance Offcer at global build- be discussed at the CCCA’s National Conference in April, notes
ing consulting giant WSP in 2018 after serving as the company’s Eric Wai, Director, Client Relationships, at LexisNexis Canada
Global Director of Compliance and Ethics, says “I think it’s a Inc., one of the sponsors. The topic grew out of conversations
trend. In the U.S., there is a signifcant presence of this function at last year’s conference about the role lawyers play in guiding a
throughout many industries. I fnd in Canada we are not quite company’s moral compass.
there yet. I think the function is still growing.” This year’s plenary speaker on the topic will be Silicon Valley
One need only look at the headlines to see what is driving lawyer Amyn Thawer, a Canadian who is the frst Head of Glob-
the trend. Almost daily, companies are being called on the car- al Compliance and Integrity at LinkedIn Corp. In an interview,
pet for bad behaviour, from record fnes paid by Wells Fargo he notes that “culture is now becoming a key competitive differ-
for cheating their customers to organizations and institutions entiator in the market place.” When he joined in 2014, LinkedIn
getting called out in the #MeToo movement over inappropriate employed 3,500; today, it is at 14,000. He says one of his chief
conduct by executives. roles is to “operationalize the company’s culture and values.”
It’s taking a toll on consumer confdence in the corporate
world. According to the 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer, Canadi-
ans’ trust in their business and government continues to decline.
Only 49% of the general Canadian population trust business and “integrity matters,” amyn tHawer says,
citing a range of corporate scandals
46% trust government, indicative of a general decline globally. In
2018, trust slipped across seven of nine Canadian business sec- that has led to much regulation in
the u.s., such as the creation of the
tors, with the exception of telecommunications and energy.
Moreover, Canadians are increasingly turning to authority fg- Sarbanes-Oxley Act and a host of other
ures for truth, but on that front CEOs and Boards of Directors reforms. the role of the integrity
bring up the rear as credible spokespeople. Academics, technical officer, he explains, “is not
experts and employees are seen as more credible. A further 68% of only to meet the regulatory
the populace believe CEOs are driven more by greed than a desire requirements, but to really
to make a positive change in the world, while 51% say companies impact the brand.”
that only think about themselves and proft are bound to fail.

24 CCCa MaGazInE | SPRInG 2019 PRInTEMPS