WE WORK FOR SUSTAINABILITY OF COMPLIANT OPERATIONS
What sort of functions does the Legal and Compliance department undertake?
Santa Farma is known for its attributing importance to legal processes and regulations and prioritizing ethical and moral values. Therefore, the aim of the “Legal and Compliance” department is to support all corporate functions while ensuring the compatibility of their operations with law and ethical values. In that respect, we handle the contracting processes with due regard for ethical values and corporate principles, provide legal consulting services to support corporate departments, undertake regulatory compliance projects, determine legal risks when necessary and produce solutions compatible with the law. We are engaged in the process from the beginning till the end. For example, we review significant domestic and global contracts, provide opinion about personal data, and offer support for performance of sales and marketing activities in line with the regulations to the extent necessary. As a result, we work for sustainability of compliant operations in a dedicated and transparent manner. In addition, we conduct activities to raise awareness about compliance with law and ethical principles with the support of the senior management. Santa Farma Chairman and CEO Mr. Erol Kiresepi has contributed a lot to our operations with his belief in and support for “Legal and Compliance” department.
How do you spend a typical day? How do you take action for emergencies?
Right from the beginning, our message to all business departments at Santa Farma is that “our door is always open to you” and this has enabled them to become accustomed to consult the legal and compliance department before taking any action. We are very lucky to have achieved that. As a natural consequence of this corporate habit, we have so much work to do at the legal and compliance department. In order to balance this heavy workload, we take care to form an open and mild communication with other department so that we can understand their viewpoint and uphold the interests of the corporation. We organize regular coordination meetings with all departments with which we frequently work in collaboration and create business lists with priorities at all times. We regularly contact the management in order to reflect their strategies into our daily functions. In case of an emergency, we discuss why the task at hand is urgent and important with the relevant business department and perform a risk analysis before resolving the problem in collaboration with the relevant department in line with the priority plan created at corporate level.
What is challenging and fun about working on legal and compliance?
As a lawyer, I think it is enjoyable and satisfactory to cooperate with commercial departments, get exposed to their viewpoints and approaches to business and acquire industrial experience but unfortunately, the global perception about legal and compliance departments is that those departments are obsessed with details and they should not be involved in the process to the extent possible. However, at Santa Farma, we endeavor to facilitate the processes for commercial departments while upholding the principles of Santa Farma in line with the regulations and ethical principles. Of course, we aim to guarantee sustainability of operations and increase the productivity of the corporation but we have to devise alternative ideas compatible with our rules if the activities that are intended to be performed are not in compliance with the ethical rules or law.
At this point, it is important for the relevant business department to have awareness about the rules and cooperate with our department accordingly. We covered a considerable distance about that at Santa Farma. “Rational power” is one of the values of Santa Farma. I think we promote this rational power by collaborating with other departments because after all, everyone is willing to find a common denominator for the same goal. This, in turn, enables us to uphold the corporate interests and offer better services for healthcare.