DONALEE MOULTON
Doing business in the global
marketplace means adhering to
human rights legislation in a myriad of countries. Savvy companies
are doing their due diligence in an
effort to avoid legal problems,
protect their reputations and send
an important message to employees and customers.
In fact, said Michael Torrance,
a lawyer with Ogilvy Renault
LLP in Toronto, “human rights
due diligence is an issue of grow-
ing importance for multinational
business.”
Here’s why. First, Torrance
noted, “the marketplace, includ-
ing individual consumers and
business partners, are increas-
ingly demanding that those they
do business with are not involved
in human rights violations.”
“There is always a chance of
reputational risk,” stressed Connie
Reeve, a partner with Blake, Cas-
sels & Graydon LLP’s Employ-
ment & Labour group in Toronto.
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Bock, a partner in the Employment & Labour Group at Davis
LLP in Toronto.
There can also be money
problems. “Investors, particu-
larly institutional investors, are
beginning to consider so-called
‘social risks’ in making invest-
ment decisions,” noted Torrance.
“Due diligence in respect of
human rights is seen as a method
of social risk management, which
can make a company more
favourable to investors.”
Avoiding problems starts by
making a commitment to compli-
ance visible. “The most basic thing
a company should have is a policy
that expresses their views with
respect to discrimination and
harassment,” said Reeve.
That policy will need to be
reviewed as companies move into
new territories, noted Bock. “It’s
rare that you find policies that are
one-size-fits-all.”
For example, she said, how
equal opportunity is dealt with in
the U.S. and Canada can be quite
different. “Many U.S. companies
are required to collect diversity
information from employees. In
Canada, it’s almost the exact
opposite approach, and [com-
panies] may run into trouble if
they require employees to report
that information.”
Companies will need to ensure
their policies are compliant in the
country, state or province in which
they are operating. For many
companies, their general human
rights policies will provide a solid
foundation on which to build.
“The [general] policies often set a
high bar and do not require a lot
of revision,” said Reeve.
Suspicious transactions remained undetected
Laundering
Continued From Page 10
laundering and began serving a
15-year sentence in May.
Another Canadian lawyer,
Stanko Grmovsek, was sentenced
to 39 months in prison in January
of this year after pleading guilty to
fraud, money laundering and
insider trading in Ontario.
Grmovsek’s law school friend, Gil
Cornblum, tipped undisclosed
material information about pending transactions involving firm
clients to Grmovsek that
Grmovsek used to trade, generating $10 million in illegal profits.
Cornblum committed suicide the
day before he was scheduled to
plead guilty in Toronto.
In Spain, Chilean-born lawyer
Fernando Del Valle is on trial for
allegedly laundering €12 million of
illicit proceeds from prostitution
and drug trafficking through his
law firm on behalf of clients, and
facilitating money laundering
through the establishment of trust
and corporate vehicles that were
used to conceal the origin and
ownership of illicit funds. If con-
victed, Del Valle faces a 15-year
term of imprisonment and a fine of
€37 million. Like Rothstein, Del
Valle’s wealth accumulated quickly.
In a few short years, his little-
known real estate law firm became
one of the best known in Marbella.
Christine Mingie is a lawyer
with Lang Michener LLP in Van-
couver. She advises casinos and
financial institutions on anti-
money laundering compliance
and is a member of the Associa-
tion of Certified Anti-Money
Laundering Specialists.
