Are Corporate Compliance Monitors Probation Officers?

The idea of a corporate compliance monitor often reminds people of a probation officer.  This makes sense because there are people called “monitors” who act like probation officers.  Courts sometimes order an external monitor as a condition of probation after the corporation has been convicted of a crime. 

In my current project, however, I make a concerted effort to limit my inquiry to corporate compliance monitors who are retained as a result of an agreement between the government and the corporation.  Imposed as part of a corporate probation program, a court-ordered monitor is typically charged with ensuring compliance with the court’s order and functions on behalf of the court.  In contrast, a corporate compliance monitor often has little to no interaction with the court and serves as an agent of the government.  In these instances, the corporate compliance monitor is often charged with much more than “monitoring,” as I mentioned in a previous post. 

Instead, the corporate compliance monitor is engaged in something more akin to root-cause analysis.  Root-cause analysis attempts to systematically determine the cause of the structural failure within the firm so that it can implement the policies and procedures necessary to prevent a similar subsequent failure.  To effectuate this analysis, the government and the corporation agree to enter into a relationship with the corporate compliance monitor who is charged with conducting this analysis. The monitor then provides counsel to both the corporation and the government regarding the steps the corporation should take to ensure future regulatory and legal compliance.  Court-ordered probation watches the corporation to see if it complies with legal and regulatory requirements, but a corporate compliance monitor assists the corporation in these efforts.  Thus, corporate compliance monitors appear distinct from, ableit related to, corporate probation programs.