Matthew Pachman on independence
From Independent Ethics Officers | Matt Pachman · · Business Ethics Pioneers
“I'm like the guy who sells you burglar alarm services for your house. I'm going to go into your house, I'm going to look around, I'm going to see all the places where things can go wrong... And the point of that analogy is, I'm working with you. I'm independent, but I'm not an outside regulator. I am not the vice principal. I'm succeeding if my entity is succeeding.”
On , Matthew Pachman, Vice President and Chief Risk & Compliance Officer at FTI CONSULTING INC, spoke about independence during Independent Ethics Officers | Matt Pachman on Business Ethics Pioneers.
About Matthew Pachman
Matthew Pachman, Vice President and Chief Risk & Compliance Officer at FTI Consulting, discussed his career and views on ethics and compliance in a September 2024 interview with the University of Illinois Gies College of Business. Pachman described entering the field after the WorldCom scandal, where he was asked to start an ethics program at MCI as the company emerged from bankruptcy. He later held similar roles at Freddie Mac and Altegrity before joining FTI Consulting. Pachman characterized the role of a chief ethics officer as akin to a "burglar alarm" salesperson, working with management to identify and mitigate risks, while maintaining the ability to report issues to the board if necessary. In the interview, Pachman identified privacy issues as a major current risk, citing rapidly changing laws in Europe and the United States. He also discussed corporate social responsibility (CSR), stating that while it may not always fall under the ethics officer's purview, a strong CSR program can positively influence corporate culture. Pachman emphasized the importance of learning from the history of the ethics profession and cautioned against its "commoditization," noting that the role requires a shift from a lawyer's mindset to a programmatic, problem-solving approach.