Many clients are worried about facing criminal prosecution for non-compliance, consequently they are turning to their legal advisers in order to allay their fears

Many companies could improve their compliance procedures by outsourcing the management of reporting channels to external parties, says Begoña Fernández, partner at Deloitte Legal.

Many Portuguese companies remain unconvinced of the need for compliance programmes due to the fact it is not mandatory under Portuguese law, says Henrique Salinas, partner at CCA Ontier in Lisbon.

Companies should have an integrated compliance programme in place as it is costly, and problematic from a management perspective, to have numerous policies

Lawyers have a role to play in ensuring clients adopt a culture of business ethics rather than merely taking steps to avoid criminal offences

The ‘Me Too’ movement has raised awareness of sexual harassment and has prompted companies and their senior management to pay closer attention to the problem