Setting the Right Tone with a New GC/CCO
OPPORTUNITY
A Silicon Valley-based, multi-family office had spent the past year shifting its locations and responsibilities from New York to California while also outsourcing its back office operations and fund administration. These organizational and operational changes afforded the firm an opportunity to re-examine and re-direct its operations, risk and compliance programs. The firm decided to hire a new General Counsel (GC)/Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) to establish clearer expectations, a tone of compliance, and leading industry practices. Given the significant amount of change the firm was already managing, the client requested ReGroup’s assistance onboarding the new GC/CCO.
PROCESS
In order to assist the new GC/CCO in meeting the firm’s expectations, we interviewed the CEO to understand compliance’s current and desired role in the firm and what the CEO hoped the new hire would achieve in a year's time. Then we interviewed the new GC/CCO to assess her understanding of her role at the firm and discussed her objectives for the firm’s compliance program. We then assisted the GC/CCO in re-prioritizing her objectives, assessing the current state of the firm's compliance program state, identifying opportunities for professional and program improvement, and managing staff and vendors. Lastly, we educated the GC/CCO on specific substantive areas as needed.
RESULTS
ReGroup's coaching enabled the GC/CCO to hit the ground running once she understood how her goals and objectives could best align with the firm’s overall goals and risks.
Our advice and guidance also enhanced the GC/CCO’s ability to implement, measure, manage, and report new and ongoing compliance program initiatives, ensuring that the tone of compliance set at the firm communicated trust, transparency, and accountability.
“I hired ReGroup to coach me through extreme change in our firm when distractions (and expectations for success) were high. ReGroup absorbed complexity and pushback with thoughtful consideration of the facts, then provided solutions scaled to our size.”