The Direct and Indirect Effects of Corporate Compliance

Abstract

Leaving aside the ethical implications of corporate compliance for managers and shareholders, this chapter examines only its material effects. (For a summary of the various motivations for compliance highlighted by the doctrine see, ex multis, Parker and Nielsen 2012, pp. 430-35.) Specifically, the main goal of this chapter is to point out that the positive and negative effects of compliance for corporations are not only those normally perceived as the result of the application of the relevant rules and that the consequences of compliance policies for corporations seem to be wider than is normally considered.In general, corporate compliance within (complex) business organizations is a matter of monitoring whether the employees and directors are following the laws, regulations, standards, and ethical practices that management has adopted for ensuring that certain specific norms are respected.