Certified Compliance Specialist
Build, Manage and Evaluate an Effective Compliance and Ethics Program
Regulatory compliance is no longer a back-office administrative function. It is an organization-wide management responsibility that affects governance, risk, reputation, financial performance, operational continuity, and stakeholder confidence.
The Certified Compliance Specialist program provides an intensive examination of the principles, frameworks, controls, and professional practices needed to develop and maintain an effective compliance and ethics program.
Led by international compliance, financial crime, and due-diligence expert L. Burke Files, the program moves beyond simply identifying applicable laws and regulations. Participants learn how to integrate compliance responsibilities into business operations, internal control, enterprise risk management, employee conduct, management reporting, training, monitoring, and corrective action.
The program addresses the complete compliance management cycle:
- Identifying applicable obligations
- Assessing compliance risks
- Establishing policies and procedures
- Assigning responsibility and authority
- Training employees and management
- Creating effective reporting channels
- Monitoring and testing compliance
- Investigating suspected violations
- Correcting identified deficiencies
- Reporting results to senior management and the board
- Evaluating and improving the compliance program
Participants will examine recognized compliance concepts and frameworks, including the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations, COSO internal control principles, Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, whistleblower protections, anti-money laundering controls, fraud prevention, corporate governance, ethics, and risk management.
Certification Process
This course is designed to support the Certified Compliance Specialist certification process. L. Burke Files will assist participants with the applicable certification documentation and administrative requirements.
Certification candidates may be required to satisfy eligibility, membership, assessment, ethics, continuing education, and renewal requirements established by the organization issuing the credential. Completing the CCS course does not, by itself, guarantee that a professional certification will be awarded.
Who Should Attend?
This program is designed for:
- Internal and external auditors
- Fraud examiners and financial investigators
- Compliance and ethics professionals
- AML and financial crime professionals
- Corporate security and intelligence personnel
- Legal and regulatory professionals
- Bank and financial institution personnel
- Government investigators
- Procurement and third-party risk professionals
- Professionals preparing for Certified Compliance Specialist certification
Benefits of Attending
Participants will be better prepared to:
- Build or strengthen an organizational compliance and ethics program.
- Understand how compliance supports governance, risk management, and internal control.
- Define responsibilities across the organization and reduce gaps in accountability.
- Identify and prioritize significant regulatory and conduct risks.
- Translate complex obligations into understandable policies and operating controls.
- Design compliance processes that support business operations instead of obstructing them.
- Improve employee training and awareness.
- Establish reporting channels that employees are willing to use.
- Evaluate whether compliance controls are operating effectively.
- Conduct or oversee compliance reviews and investigations.
- Recognize money laundering, fraud, corruption, and misconduct warning signs.
- Respond appropriately to violations and whistleblower reports.
- Develop corrective actions that address root causes instead of symptoms.
- Provide boards and senior management with more useful compliance information.
- Demonstrate a commitment to professional compliance competence.
- Pursue the applicable Certified Compliance Specialist certification.
Strengthen your ability to design, manage, test, and improve an effective compliance and ethics program. Register for the Certified Compliance Specialist program to learn directly from international compliance and financial crime authority L. Burke Files, develop practical skills you can apply immediately, and pursue the applicable professional certification.
Details on Event Presentation
The sessions will be as follows:
Monday – 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday - 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Offered in-person in various cites each month on Monday-Tuesday in two sessions.
NASBA Program Disclosure
Program Level of Understanding: Basic to Advanced
Prerequisites: None.
Advance Preparation: A number of documents will be provided in advance.
Delivery Format: On-site Training (Group-Live); Seminar (Seminar (Group Internet Based))
NASBA Field(s) of Study: Auditing
CPE Credits: 16, based on 50 minutes of instruction per hour
CPE Event Highlights
- Examine the business, legal, regulatory, ethical, and governance reasons for maintaining an effective compliance program.
- Understand the role of the board, audit committee, executive management, compliance officer, internal audit, and operating management.
- Study the essential elements of an effective compliance and ethics program.
- Distinguish compliance management from legal advice, internal auditing, risk management, and operational management.
- Integrate compliance responsibilities into enterprise risk management and internal control.
- Evaluate organizational culture, management philosophy, risk appetite, incentives, and conflicts of interest.
- Develop a comprehensive inventory of applicable laws, regulations, standards, contracts, and internal policies.
- Apply Federal Sentencing Guidelines principles to organizational compliance program design.
- Use COSO components to organize compliance controls, risk assessments, information, communication, and monitoring.
- Design practical policies, procedures, codes of conduct, and employee guidance.
- Establish confidential and anonymous reporting channels.
- Develop risk-based compliance training and communication.
- Apply monitoring, auditing, control testing, and compliance assessment techniques.
- Investigate suspected violations and develop corrective action plans.
- Examine whistleblower response, anti-retaliation, and escalation procedures.
- Understand anti-money laundering methods, warning signs, and program requirements.
- Evaluate whether the compliance program is working in practice—not merely documented on paper.
- Prepare meaningful compliance reports for management, boards, audit committees, and regulators.
- Identify opportunities to reduce compliance costs while improving effectiveness.
- Receive assistance with the applicable certification documentation.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this program, participants should be able to:
- Explain the legal, ethical, governance, and business purposes of an effective compliance program.
- Define the compliance responsibilities of the board, management, compliance, legal, risk, and internal audit functions.
- Evaluate how organizational culture, incentives, and risk appetite affect compliance.
- Conduct risk-based compliance assessments and prioritize significant exposures.
- Apply COSO principles to compliance program design, internal controls, and monitoring.
- Develop practical policies, procedures, training, and confidential reporting mechanisms.
- Establish processes for investigating misconduct, escalating concerns, and implementing corrective action.
- Evaluate compliance controls for design and operating effectiveness.
- Identify common money-laundering methods and essential AML program controls.
- Prepare meaningful compliance reports and recommend cost-effective program improvements.
Key Issues on the Agenda
The Purpose of Compliance
- Meeting legal, regulatory, contractual, and organizational obligations
- Protecting reputation, stakeholders, and business continuity
- Preventing misconduct, fraud, corruption, and regulatory violations
- Integrating compliance with risk management and business strategy
Compliance Governance
- Board, audit committee, and executive management responsibilities
- Independence, authority, and access of the compliance function
- Coordination among compliance, legal, risk management, internal audit, and operations
- Appropriate staffing, expertise, technology, and resources
Organizational Culture and Ethics
- Tone at the top and ethical leadership
- Risk culture, appetite, incentives, and performance pressures
- Conflicts of interest and codes of conduct
- Accountability through employment and disciplinary practices
Elements of an Effective Compliance Program
- Management oversight and written policies
- Training, communication, and confidential reporting
- Monitoring, auditing, enforcement, and discipline
- Risk assessments, corrective action, and continuing improvement
Regulatory Obligations
- Laws, regulations, contracts, and professional standards
- Domestic and international requirements
- Sarbanes-Oxley and Federal Sentencing Guidelines
- False Claims Act and whistleblower protections
- AML, anti-bribery, and anti-corruption requirements
Compliance Risk Assessment
- Identifying and prioritizing internal and external risks
- Assessing likelihood, impact, and residual exposure
- Considering high-risk activities and previous violations
- Linking risks to controls, training, and monitoring
- Updating assessments as conditions change
Internal Control and COSO
- Control environment and risk assessment
- Control activities, information, and communication
- Monitoring and reasonable assurance
- Preventive, detective, manual, and automated controls
- Control ownership, documentation, and testing
Policies, Procedures and Codes
- Translating obligations into operating requirements
- Developing practical and enforceable policies
- Assigning ownership and communicating expectations
- Updating policies as risks and requirements change
- Connecting policies with training, monitoring, and discipline
Compliance Training and Communication
- Identifying audiences and developing role-based training
- Selecting appropriate delivery methods
- Measuring completion, comprehension, and effectiveness
- Avoiding check-the-box training
- Documenting and reinforcing employee learning
Whistleblowing and Internal Reporting
- Confidential and anonymous reporting channels
- Protection from retaliation
- Intake, documentation, triage, and escalation
- Professional response and confidentiality
- Reporting significant concerns to management and the board
Monitoring and Compliance Auditing
- Ongoing monitoring and risk-based reviews
- Testing compliance and control effectiveness
- Using thresholds, metrics, dashboards, and exception reports
- Documenting results and preserving evidence
- Escalating significant control failures
Investigations and Corrective Action
- Investigation protocols and evidence preservation
- Independence, objectivity, and root-cause analysis
- Consistent discipline and remediation
- Revising policies, controls, and training
- Tracking corrective actions through completion
Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crime
- Predicate crimes and the money-laundering process
- Structuring, connected accounts, and wire transfers
- High-risk businesses, intermediaries, and payment systems
- AML risk assessments, policies, and controls
- Compliance leadership, training, and independent testing
Compliance Reporting
- Management, board, audit committee, and regulatory reporting
- Key risk and performance indicators
- Violations, investigations, and corrective-action status
- Training, hotline, and monitoring results
- Emerging risks and information needed for effective oversight
Summary of the Subject Matter
The Certified Compliance Specialist program examines how organizations identify, manage, monitor, and report compliance obligations and risks.
Participants explore the consequences of noncompliance and the benefits of an effective program, including stronger governance, improved internal control, reduced losses, and greater stakeholder confidence. The course defines the responsibilities of the board, audit committee, management, compliance, legal, risk management, internal audit, and operating personnel.
The program covers policies, oversight, training, reporting systems, risk assessments, monitoring, investigations, enforcement, and corrective action. It also connects compliance program design with COSO principles and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations.
Additional topics include whistleblower systems, anti-money laundering, fraud, corruption, control testing, program metrics, and board reporting. The primary focus is determining whether a compliance program is properly designed, adequately supported, trusted by employees, and operating effectively.
Distinguished Instructor
L. Burke Files is an international financial investigator, compliance authority, author, and due-diligence expert with experience in more than 130 countries. His work includes financial crime, fraud, corruption, anti-money laundering, asset recovery, intellectual property, and complex investigations involving billions of dollars.
He heads Financial Examinations & Evaluations, Inc. and serves as President and Co-Founder of the International Due Diligence Organization. He previously worked in corporate finance, commodities, and international financial markets.
Mr. Files is the award-winning author of Due Diligence for the Financial Professional. His instruction is practical and based on real-world investigations. He will also assist participants with the applicable certification paperwork.