The Anti-Corruption & FCPA Compliance Committee organized AMCHAM’s 11th Anti-Corruption Compliance and Risk Management Master Class: Technology & Compliance: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly on September 19th at Hotel Aloft, Aerocity, New Delhi. Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM, in her welcome remarks spoke about how technology is significantly impacting compliance across various industries, bringing both challenges and opportunities. Mr. Gaurav Ajmani, Chairperson – Anti-Corruption & FCPA Compliance Committee, AMCHAM and Associate General Counsel: Business Conduct & Ethics, Amazon gave an overview of the sessions and spoke about the dual nature of technology. Ms. Lovjit Curran, FBI Assistant Legal Attaché, U.S. Embassy gave the special address. She spoke about the increased cooperation between the Indian and American law enforcement agencies and how technology is being leveraged in this process. She also shared her experience of covering fraud as a white-collar crime. Technology leads to an increase in cyber frauds and it is important to find the right balance while incorporating technology in the egal and compliance vertical. The vote of thanks was given by Ms. Bhawna Ranganadhan, Co-Chairperson – Anti-Corruption & FCPA Compliance Committee, AMCHAM and Sr. VP & Deputy General Counsel, Legal and Compliance, Genpact.

The opening session on ‘Today’s Risk and Technology’s Role’ featured speakers Mr. Vasu Muthyala, Partner, Clifford Chance and Ms. Tess Forge, Counsel, Clifford Chance who covered the evolving journey of the compliance vertical and associated risks. They highlighted that sanctions were the new FCPA and geopolitical risk that will impact businesses. Organizations need to factor in the implications of this new found risk. As India carves out a nuanced position globally, American companies operating in India must design their compliance programs accordingly. The increased due diligence and risk of reputational damage will aid in framing robust compliance frameworks.

Session two was a panel discussion on ‘Harnessing Technology for Seamless Compliance’ with panelists Dr. Rupinder Mann, South Asia Head – Ethics & Compliance, Beckton Dickinson, Ms. Deepa Baburaaj, Chief Legal Officer & Chennai Site Head, Guardian India Operations, Mr. Vikram Tiwari, Regional Director of Compliance, Asia Pacific, Microsoft and moderated by Mr. Aakash Sharma, Partner – Forensic & Financial Crime, Strategy, Risk & Transactions, Deloitte India. The panel deliberated upon main drivers for organizations to integrate technology into compliance frameworks, how technologies like AI, ML, and NLP are utilized in compliance, use cases, how has technology improved the accuracy and efficiency for compliance programs, performance metrics, future trends, challenges for integrating technology into compliance, ethical considerations and balancing human oversight with technology.
The third session featured Ms. Navaz Dubash, Partner – Forensic & Financial Crime, Strategy, Risk & Transactions, Deloitte India and Mr. Saurabh Khosla, Partner – Forensic & Financial Crime, Strategy, Risk & Transactions, Deloitte India talking about ‘Leveraging Technology to Combat Corruption Risks: A Promising Tool in Your Anti-Corruption Efforts.’ The session focussed on adopting technology to combat corruption risks in reactive and proactive phases. The speakers talked about real life practical challenges and how sophisticated tools can provide market intelligence gathering across countries to mitigate effectively which helps organizations to navigate potential risks ensuring protection and timely decision-making measures.
Session four on ‘Mitigate, Monitor, Manage: Tech Solutions and Limits for Third-Party Risks’ welcomed back Mr. Vasu Muthyala, Partner, Clifford Chance and Ms. Tess Forge, Counsel, Clifford Chance who covered risks around potential sanctions and shared that in today’s environment of heightened regulatory scrutiny, businesses must prioritize the mitigation, monitoring, and management of third-party risks. Leveraging advanced technology solutions can significantly enhance compliance efforts and safeguard organizations against potential threats. However, it is crucial to recognize that technology has its limitations and they emphasized that human oversight remains essential.

The last session, ‘A New Dawn: India’s New Criminal Laws Aimed at the ‘Ease of Living” with Mr. Vijayendra Pratap Singh, Senior Partner & Head – Litigation, AZB & Partners, Mr. Priyank Ladoia, Partner, AZB & Partners, Mr. Raghav Seth, Counsel, AZB & Partners and Mr. Asif Ahmed, Senior Associate, AZB & Partners, provided a deep dive into the changing landscape of criminal law and how businesses should prepare for the future. The key highlights included understanding the driving principles of the new criminal laws, fundamental shifts in criminal law focusing on what organizations must consider as they navigate this transition and  international reach of prosecution which is a critical factor for multinational corporations to keep in mind. The speakers explained more about pre-emptive attachment and anti-corruption efforts with the police having been vested with pre-emptive attachment powers, how these measures may reshape the life cycle of an investigation and trial. The session touched on protecting whistle-blowers, introduction of witness protection schemes and e-FIRs which will safeguard the identity of whistle-blowers and encourage the public to ‘say something if they see something,’ leveraging technology in compliance, the growing role of technology in criminal investigations, risk management, and compliance processes—highlighting both opportunities and challenges and the balancing act, how to balance privacy concerns and attorney-client privilege in high-stakes situations.

Mr. Gaurav Ajmani, Chairperson – Anti-Corruption & FCPA Compliance Committee, AMCHAM and Associate General Counsel: Business Conduct & Ethics, Amazon and Ms. Bhawna Ranganadhan, Co-Chairperson – Anti-Corruption & FCPA Compliance Committee, AMCHAM and Sr. VP & Deputy General Counsel, Legal and Compliance, Genpact concluded the 2024 masterclass. The event was supported by AZB & Partners, Clifford Chance, Deloitte and CSI Leasing.