External Compliance Officer
FS-PP Berlin not only advise companies and organisations on compliance issues, but also take on the tasks of an external legal compliance officer for medium-sized companies in the private and public sectors with the legal skills of a certified compliance officer and certified compliance auditor. This can be realised on a permanent or temporary basis - e.g. for the parental leave of the compliance officer or compliance officer.
Compliance management systems and compliance officers
Boards of directors and management are obliged to install a risk management system appropriate to the respective company and to ensure that risks of business-related violations of the law are prevented, actual violations of the law are recognised and responded to. Compliance - understood as adherence to laws and rules - is part of management responsibility and, according to modern understanding, requires the establishment of a compliance management system.
The Compliance function can be filled by a Compliance Officer, who also has line authority, but usually a staff function is chosen, in which case we correctly speak of a Compliance Officer. The compliance officer regularly reports directly to the management level. He or she must generally work towards compliance in the company, may obtain information everywhere for this purpose, give tips and advice, conduct audits. He reports to the management level periodically or as required. The compliance officer does not have the right to issue instructions to employees.
External compliance officers
The compliance officer can be appointed externally. Special knowledge and experience in the field of compliance are required and, of course, good cooperation with the internal functions such as auditing and risk management.
The external compliance officer is particularly dependent on the support of the internal organisation for the task of systematic risk identification.
Large companies have the resources to maintain an internal compliance officer function. Medium-sized companies shy away from the effort and then have the task of the compliance officer "co-done" by an existing employee. Often this is done by the head of legal or auditing. However, this is not a good solution because the line function does not easily harmonise with the staff function. In this case, it can prove advantageous to create organisational independence by commissioning external services.
Specific services offered by the external compliance officer
FS-PP Berlin offer the services of an external compliance officer. The specific feature is the focus on legal advice, i.e. the assessment of legal risks, in particular liability risks, and the identification of ways to control these risks. This and nothing else is the core of compliance.
The basis of the services is a precisely defined lawyer's assignment in the form of a legal advice and agency agreement.
FS-PP Berlin can work cost-efficiently because they do not have to reinvent the wheel. This is guaranteed by many years of experience in defence in criminal and administrative offence proceedings, in compliance consulting and in auditing compliance management systems.
Competences at FS-PP Berlin
5 Specialist Lawyers for Criminal Law, 2 Compliance Auditors (TÜV), 3 Compliance Officers (Steinbeis), 1 Healthcare Compliance Officer (Steinbeis), 1 Mediator, 3 Data Protection Officers (TÜV), 1 Data Protection Auditor, 1 Data Protection Risk Manager (University Certificate FOM)
Experience and references
Attorney-at-law Dr. Rainer Frank, Certified Compliance Auditor (TÜV) and Certified Compliance Officer (Steinbeis), was appointed as the external legal compliance officer of Liegenschaftsfonds Berlin GmbH & Co. KG and exercised this function in 2014/2015. In 2018, he was temporarily the External Compliance Officer of Messe Berlin GmbH. He is currently (2021) the Compliance Officer of a medium-sized special machinery manufacturer and a federally owned foundation under public law.
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