Canadian Lawyer InHouse

9 cANAdIANlAwyermAg.com/INhouse DECEmBEr 2014 A roundup of legal department news and trends "I certainly have seen, in many of the cases we have done, a separation of the compliance function from the legal department. A lot of the companies we see that with are large multinationals and I think that makes sense," he said. However, for many GCs like Michael Julian from AEG Power Solutions, they don't have the luxury of debate when resources dic- tate they must juggle compliance responsibilities as part of their job. Julian said from "day one" when he started with AEG in 2005, he has handled the company's compliance activities. "From the beginning I had the compliance role without the title," he said. "I saw my role as GC as largely for protecting the company; I was clear on who I was protecting." Allgood called on BMO Financial Group executive vice president and general counsel Simon Fish, who was in the audience, to share his view on the issue. Both the legal and compliance departments report to Fish at the bank. "I think it's perfectly natural for compliance and law to co-exist under one function," he said. "The issue is really independence and the propensity for any confl ict of interest to arise." Fish said he always starts the conversation about the issue by saying: "We're talking about compliance with law and its statutes and regulations. So I say to my colleagues, 'Where does the confl ict of interest arise?'" In his time at the bank, Fish said he has not experienced any confl icts of interest. "Quite frankly, I think it's inherent to what we do as lawyers to explain to our business line what the law requires and what to do to make sure they comply with the law and come back and make sure they are doing so," he said. BMO has a chief compliance offi cer who reports to Fish "for practical reasons" and if the CCO feels somehow they have a difference of opinion they are free to report it to the CEO, the audit committee, or chairman of the board. "I continue to be mystifi ed, somewhat, about the relatively recent thrust to separate these two activities and see them as distinct," said Fish. "I do think it's driven perhaps by individuals in organizations who see it as a way of furthering their own careers." One audience member asked the panel if they felt lawyers today are trained to handle the complexity of the compliance function. Fish said there is a mix of talent in the BMO compliance group, which includes a number of lawyers, some accountants, and bankers. "You're looking for the people with the right skill sets to perform particular tasks. At the end of the day, if they don't know what it is you're complying with I think you're lost from the get-go," he said. Koukios said sometimes the lawyer for the company is involved in advocacy for the company, whereas the audit committee should be looking more at compliance and making sure the bottom line is correct and less on advocacy. IH Untitled-2 1 2014-11-24 7:32 PM

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