Paracas Advisors – Management Consulting Boutique

The toxicity of sycophants: Internal Audit as a gatekeeper

Over the weekend, I found this one-year-old article called « The Danger of Surrounding Yourself with Sycophants in Business – Having...

ECB on non-financial risks: severe conclusions from the annual analysis on outsourcing

The European Central bank (ECB) issued an interesting article on February 21st, 2024. Since 2022, the ECB collects the outsourcing...

An Inspiring idea from Michael Diekmann, former Allianz Group CEO

Throughout my career, I’ve met, exchanged and worked with some remarkable leaders, whether colleagues from EY or Allianz, or peers...

AML-CFT: 4 reasons to be optimistic about a stronger impact

On February 15th, 2024, the GIS – Geopolitical Intelligence Services AG – published an article by Elisabeth Krecke with a...

Evaluation of a Corporate Compliance Program – the DOJ approach

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) describes in a Justice Manual the factors prosecutors should consider in conducting an investigation...

An Inspiring idea from Paul Boyle and James Turner, former Aviva and Prudential Plc CAEs

All along my career, I have met, exchanged, or worked with remarkable leaders, either colleagues in EY or Allianz, or...

Do you know? The growing impact of severe storms

When discussing natural catastrophes (Nat Cat for insurers, as opposed to “Man Made” losses), what comes to mind for most...

Handling Fit & Proper interviews

In a recent post, Adam Balfour commented on the “two Ethics and Compliance questions that should be asked in every...

The value chain of the compliance activity: organizing the function

I took over the Group Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) role of the Allianz Group in spring 2020, with the mandate...

The Internal Audit Chief Operating Officer for large teams

A CAE, with a small or a large team, spends a significant time in administrative tasks. They are important: from...

The benefits of IA Professional Practices in large teams

For decades now, external audit firms have organized themselves with Professional Practices. Their purpose is to concentrate expertise per industry...

Career management: the “rule of 8”

April 2nd, 2024 I get regularly asked how long one should stay on a given position. When is it too...

Compliance function and processes: the immune system of an organization

January 5th, 2024 A company in Germany is expected to comply with external laws and regulations but also with internal...

An Inspiring idea from Jacques Richier and Jean-Marc Pailhol, former CEO and former Board member of Allianz France

Over the course of my career, I have met, interacted, and worked with some remarkable leaders, be it colleagues from...

An Inspiring idea from Ian Robinson, former AXA Group CAE