One of the great frustrations of those who work in companies where there is a solid compliance culture is dealing with the limits imposed by their internal policies and procedures, as compared to competition that, sometimes, uses dubious and loose processes, which lead to numerous conflicts of interest, but which can translate into increased sales.

Since the Dodd-Frank Act was enacted in the United States in 2010, the role of whistleblowers has proven crucial in helping authorities prevent fraud, bribery, and other legal violations. This is because the government lacks the personnel and resources to efficiently monitor the market on its own.

To talk about information security or cybersecurity is definitely not the easiest of tasks, as developments in this area seem to be happening at a speed that is difficult to keep up with. The cat-and-mouse race between hackers and information security experts is incessant and at a breathtaking pace. Something that appears to be novel today may already be outdated, because in another corner of the world a more efficient solution may have already been discovered or a flaw in the current solution may have been identified that makes it vulnerable.

Many people wonder why the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has been so successful, which has anequivalent agency in Brazil. The reason for its effectiveness is not hard to understand: the agency does not hesitate to investigate and impose penalties to curb irregularities that impact the day-to-day operations of the US stock market, including instances of corruption.

Non-disclosure agreements are used by many companies with the purpose of guaranteeing or, at least, trying to hinder the disclosure of their confidential information by employees or former employees. Some companies require the signing of NDAs alongside the employment contract, while others require the signing of these documents upon termination of the employment contract, occasionally offering a bonus and demanding silence in exchange. If the employee violates the agreement, he or she may be forced to return the amount paid, often with interest and/or fines added.

After the first round of elections in Brazil on October 2, 2022, which elected some governors, senators, federal and state deputies, the research institutes are the big stars among the fierce dispute over the presidency of the Republic. Research institutes managed to get the attention of society, which was, until then, debating whether the electronic voting machines were reliable or not, since, for some, they would be non-auditable; whereas for others, they would be safe as they do not even have internet connection.

The recurring theme of romantic relationships between co-workers has been around the corporate world for quite some time and often leaves the field of Human Resources or even Compliance in difficult situations.

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On July 1, 2021, Statute #14,181, also known as the Overindebtedness Act, was approved. It amended the Brazilian Consumer Protection Code and the Brazilian Elderly Bill of Rights with the purpose of protecting individuals who, in good faith, contracted debts above their ability to pay and without compromising their social minimum, with the exception of consumers of luxury items, which are not protected.

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The Transparency Portal, at federal level, was developed by the Ministry of Transparency and the Brazilian Office of the Comptroller General during the first term of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in November 2004, with the initial purpose of giving visibility to financial aspects related to all federal government programs and actions.

Going to prison in Brazil is any easy task. The Brazilian procedural law, especially in criminal law, creates so many mechanisms for postponing the final and unappealable decisions that anyone having the resources to hire a lawyer or relying on an active public defender can postpone it. As such, many cases end up time-barred, although Brazilian legislation is slowly advancing in making crimes such as femicide or rape imprescriptible.