Retail Chief Ethics & Compliance Officers Meet at Best Buy

RILA recently held a meeting of its Compliance Council, comprised of members’ chief ethics & compliance officers, at the headquarters of Best Buy in Richfield, MN. The meeting’s agenda had two major themes: 1) integrating compliance into the business; and 2) privacy and other emerging compliance risks. Members also benchmarked and shared company experiences with key industry compliance challenges with retail compliance peers.

Thinking Outside the Box to Find New Ways to Integrate Compliance into the Business 

The meeting kicked off and closed out with two outstanding sessions designed to help retail CECOs find new ways to integrate compliance into the business. Jumpstarting the meeting, Karen Hold, president, Experience Labs, facilitated an interactive design thinking exercise focused on helping CECOs increase the strategic role of compliance departments in the business.

Attendees chose one of three challenges to solve:

1. How can my compliance team be a strategic partner in growing our business?

2. How can we get appropriate resources for our compliance program?

3. How can we get the business to own implementation of compliance recommendations?

Working with various partners, attendees identified principle obstacles, as well as key decision makers necessary to achieving chosen goals. Partners collaborated using fun hands-on tools and props to develop and create plan of action models, which were shared with the entire group. As exercise takeaways, members had action plans with concrete, proactive steps to strengthen and enhance their company’s compliance program.

GC Insights into Developing Strong Legal and Compliance Functions

Todd Hartman, general counsel, Best Buy closed out the meeting with an informal discussion on the development of Best Buy’s legal, risk and compliance department. Prior to becoming Best Buy’s general counsel, Hartman was the company’s CECO, and led its effort to expand the role of compliance and risk function throughout the organization. He shared professional experiences, the evolving organization and structure of Best Buy’s legal, risk and compliance department, and his leadership and management style at Best Buy’s general counsel.

Member Case Study - Navigating a CPSC Investigation and Civil Penalty Settlement

Nancy Swanson, director, enterprise product safety & compliance, Best Buy presented on how Best Buy navigated the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) investigation and civil penalty settlement process involving the inadvertent sale of recalled product. After walking attendees through the detailed timeline of the alleged violation and penalty settlement process, Swanson highlighted key takeaways and lessons learned, as well as the new processes and oversight that Best Buy has developed and implemented to strengthen its compliance program.

Evolving Privacy Compliance Obligations - Complying with CCPA & GDPR

With increasing government regulation and cybersecurity threats, retailers are challenged to meet consumer expectations and privacy compliance obligations. Attendees heard from two industry experts Dan Clarke, President, IntraEdge and Pete Mueller, Chief Technology Officer, IntraEdge on the requirements of the new California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which require a company to establish a process to provide customers with information on their personal data collected and used by the company. Clarke and Mueller highlighted a new, innovative privacy compliance technology, Truyo, which enables companies to collect and deliver personal privacy data to consumers, along with important information on how retailers use the data to provide high quality and personalized service, and allows consumers the opportunity to make an informed choice on future collection, retention, and use of personal data. 

What’s New in Washington - RILA Public Policy Update

RILA’s government affairs and legal and compliance team provided updates and insights into current legislative and regulatory issues. Tiffin Shewmake, RILA vice president and Retail Compliance Center executive director, highlighted RILA’s upcoming, first ever Innovation in Action Summit, focusing on facility-level compliance with hazardous waste regulations. Nick Ahrens, vice president of innovation, discussed RILA’s efforts to enact federal privacy standards. Hun Quach, vice president of international trade, provided much-needed clarity to today’s chaotic trade landscape­. Evan Armstrong, vice president of workforce, highlighted RILA’s new Diversity and Inclusion Initiative and Tool Kit. Joe Williamson, director of government affairs, discussed evolving federal and state regulation of CBD products. Autumn Moore, director of regulatory affairs and compliance, discussed federal and state regulation of consumer products and recent enforcement trends, and Austen Jensen SVP of government affairs, provided insight into the upcoming 2020 election cycle.

Peer-to-Peer Benchmarking

RILA members consistently rate the opportunity for peer-to-peer benchmarking as one of the most valuable benefits of active engagement. Keri Grafing, senior director, global compliance & ethics, Best Buy lead an open discussion about developing a local support network of compliance professionals, highlighting successes and challenges from her experience with the Minnesota Compliance Network. Attendees also discussed managing third-party risks, evolving responsibilities of compliance departments, and methods to better embed compliance in company culture.