IL RUOLO DEI COMPLIANCE PROGRAMS NEL GOVERNO D’IMPRESA

[Autom. eng. transl.] The legal systems of Western countries (including Italy) foresee the possibility that companies are exempt from liability for the case in which they have adopted the so-called compliance programs. These are tools and control processes set up within the company and aimed at preventing the commission of illicit facts through the definition of internal ethical and behavioral norms (Weaver et al., 1999a and 1999b, MacLean et al., 2010). The literature has highlighted for some time some contradictory profiles related to compliance programs. In this regard, the doctrine recalls: i) on the one hand, the weaknesses that render compliance programs ineffective (MacLean and Benham, 2010; Fasterling, 2011) and ii) on the other hand, the usefulness of compliance programs in order to to nurture the legitimacy of the organization (MacLean and Benham, 2010). The present work aims to examine the role of compliance programs in corporate governance in the banking sector, in the light of the line of business research and with the support of two business cases. The choice of the banking sector is linked to the particular sensitivity and attention that the banks place on the internal control system and, in particular, on compliance programs, based on the specific regulations imposed by the Supervisory Authority.