According to the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), most Canadian Legal Officers see ethics and compliance, regulatory and government change and information privacy as the most pressing issues facing them in the year ahead. Staying aware of company activities with potential legal implications is a top priority in the coming months for Canadian Legal Officers with 86 per cent preferring to spend their time advising executives and participating in strategic corporate issues. ‘In light of the implementation of Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation and developments related to the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, we anticipated ethics and compliance, as well as regulatory changes, to top the list of concerns for Canadian CLOs, ‘ said Veta T. Richardson, president and CEO of ACC. ‘And to address these issues, we expect Canadian CLOs to play an even more critical role in the strategic decision-making within their companies.’
Management practices
The research also revealed that 97 per cent of Canadian CLOs applied one or more management practices to control outside legal spending and 28 per cent anticipate their use of value-based fees to increase in the year ahead. Furthermore, over one-third of respondents indicated compliance functions are handled by the CLO. However, 39 per cent said compliance functions report to the Board of Directors, 32 percent to the CFO and 31 percent to the CEO. The association carried out the research as part of its global research on legal departments globally. Source: ACC CLO 2014 Survey
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