The art of compliance storytelling

We at pfm always love a good compliance story, even the ones that (as your other half is always quick to remind you) might not seem that funny to the wider world.

But at PEI’s Private Fund Compliance Forum in May, one CCO was able to win the room over with an anecdote about email monitoring. (Though admittedly picking the right audience – in this case a room full of other compliance professionals – probably had a lot to do with it).

Now as you may know, CCOs regularly screen firm communications to catch bad behavior. Certain trigger words even prompt specific emails or messages straight to the CCO’s attention. And one day, a trigger word brought up a string of emails sent by an analyst to a friend outside the firm, where he talked about lying to a partner (his boss) about a family commitment so that he could go meet with a recruiter during work hours about a new job opportunity.

“It was awkward to say the least,” the CCO said to a room full of her grinning peers.  “I mean, should I even bring information like that up to the partner? I ultimately decided not to.”

We’re not sure we’d be so discreet – not because of ethical considerations, but because we love having some good gossip to share.