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Empowering Integrity is a framework developed for organizations that need to ensure they have the right structures in place to prevent, detect, and respond to misconduct. It also helps foster an ethical culture and center ethics within the organization's strategy.

Empowering Integrity means embedding ethical conduct throughout the fabric of an organization to build resilience in the face of new challenges lying ahead.

Ortus can help you get there.

Find out how

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How can Ortus help?

Ortus provides credible, independent advice, support, and training to leaders and Board members who need to empower integrity in their organizations.

Our expertise comes directly from landmark cases that have changed the way the world thinks about integrity, compliance, sustainability, and governance. In each of these matters, we have helped companies weather the challenge at hand, address systemic issues, and emerge stronger than before.

Here are some of the ways Ortus can help:

Independent reviews and investigations: Ortus undertakes credible, independent reviews and investigations of corporate ethical matters to help leaders gather and understand the facts and underlying issues quickly and thoroughly.

Strategic action plans: Bringing together the perspectives of key stakeholders, Ortus facilitates the development of strategic action plans to respond to ethical crises, identify issues, implement necessary safeguards, and lay the groundwork for effective resolution of legal and regulatory proceedings.

Remediation design: Ortus works with stakeholders to develop effective remediation measures and comprehensive roadmaps for lasting transformation of their culture, leadership, and governance.

Remediation assessment: Ortus undertakes credible, independent assessments of the implementation of remediation measures in the aftermath of investigations and crises.

Independent monitoring: Ortus can serve as an independent compliance monitor, stewarding organizations through transformative measures designed to achieve and sustain excellence in integrity and corporate responsibility.

Culture assessments: Ortus can assess the strength of an organizations's ethical culture, focusing on indicators such as speaking up, accountability, role-modeling, performance pressures, and transparency, to identify and address potential red flags, weaknesses, or blind spots.

Ethics and compliance program assessments: Ortus undertakes rigorous, independent assessments of corporate ethics and compliance programs against established international benchmarks, reporting to boards, executives, and regulators as appropriate.

Independent board advisory: Ortus advises Boards (and Audit Committees / Governance Committees) on responding to ethical risks and crises, including on developing transformational change strategies, addressing leadership, culture, strategy, business models, practices, and organizational structures.

Governance training: Ortus provides education and mentoring to directors on how to effectively and substantively oversee their organization's management of ethics and culture issues, including guidance on asking the right questions and assessing information provided by executive management.

Spotlight
ESG and Ethical Leadership

Climate. Technology. Inequality. Responding to these disruptive global challenges means reimagining how and why we do business.

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PODCAST

ESG, CEOs, and Corporate Scandal

Ortus CEO José Hernandez spoke with Headspring Executive Development about his experiences at the frontlines of corporate scandals and how leaders can mitigate the risks of misconduct and create value by aligning their companies with stronger ESG purpose.

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple

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How is Ortus different?

Our work complements the work of legal advisors and corporate functions, ensuring that critical red flags and blind spots are not missed.

Corporate leaders and Board members reach out to Ortus when their organization needs support delivering on critical ethical commitments.

How is Ortus' approach different?

Experience & Credibility >

Ortus has supported companies in connection with some of the most significant corporate ethical matters on record, including three of the largest U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) cases to date. In helping organizations uphold their pre- and post-resolution commitments, Ortus has cultivated significant credibility with regulators and enforcement authorities.

Clarity & Focus >

In fact-finding and remediation efforts, companies that maintain rigid organizational silos and a constellation of external advisors can be hampered by blind spots, poor coordination, and redundancy. Ortus brings together the input and perspectives of all stakeholders to develop effective roadmaps with clear KPIs — keeping efforts on track and facilitating good governance.

Strategic Perspective >

Instead of following rote checklists or a "one-size-fits-all" methodology, Ortus' work plan always incorporates a strategic analysis of the wider geopolitical, economic, and cultural contexts — which can be decisive in achieving the best outcome.

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Spotlight: Fixing a Broken Business

Spotlight
Fixing a Broken Business

Corporate crises result from deep systemic failures: poor judgment by leaders, inadequate structures for oversight, weak culture, and ill-devised strategies.

BOOK

Broken Business: Seven Steps to Reform Good Companies Gone Bad

In Broken Business, Ortus CEO José Hernandez presents first-hand stories of corporate ethical failures and redemption to illustrate the practical strategies that business leaders can follow to respond to crises, repair their companies, and emerge stronger than before.

Learn More

Spotlight
Key Questions for Boards

Ortus provides credible, independent advice, support, and training to leaders and Board members who need to empower integrity in their organizations.

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WHITE PAPER

Governance of Anti-Corruption and Responsible Business: A Framework for Boards of Directors

Ortus' José Hernandez and Mark Laurie authored this director's primer on anti-corruption compliance published by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada). The white paper outlines important questions that corporate directors should ask to understand how their organization manages misconduct risks.

Download

People

People, networks, perspectives

Led by José Hernandez, a globally recognized expert on ethics, leadership, and misconduct, Ortus works with an interdisciplinary network of professionals to help clients empower integrity

OUR TEAM

Ortus has its origins in FGI Europe, a consulting firm focused on strategy and crisis management founded in 2008 by José Hernandez — a leading global authority on issues of corporate misconduct and ethical leadership — with former FBI director, Louis J. Freeh.

In 2016, José launched Ortus, a unique firm with a mandate to help leaders empower integrity throughout their organizations. Ortus' core team includes experts in strategy, crisis management, compliance, and governance. Ortus also continues to work in seamless cooperation with Freeh's team on complex matters around the world.

Meet our core team

Learn about our network

José R. Hernandez Ph.D., CA, CPA

Chief Executive Officer

Hernandez@OrtusStrategies.com

Tel +31 624 321 859

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OUR GLOBAL NETWORK

Since our founding, Ortus has taken a collaborative approach to our work, partnering with other firms and independent experts to ensure that each engagement benefits from the right perspectives, knowledge base, and capacity.

Beyond our core team of integrity, strategy, and governance experts, Ortus maintains a global reach through our broad and interdisciplinary network of professionals around the world.

Big 4

Global Law
Firms

Strategy
Firms

Meet our core team

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MEET OUR CORE TEAM

José R. Hernandez

Chief Executive Officer

Hernandez@OrtusStrategies.com

Tel +31 624 321 859

A Canadian CPA and former partner of a Big Four accounting firm, José has helped his clients navigate once-in-a-lifetime crises related to fraud, corruption, and money laundering across five continents. José’s work ranges from boardroom strategy to implementation of compliance controls to liaison with prosecutors and regulators.

He has supported companies in complex enforcement actions involving the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and various national authorities. He has also served as deputy on a major FCPA monitorship.

José also works with governments and the accounting profession as a vocal advocate for policies that promote ethical business, protection of whistleblowers, and the fight against dirty money. Since 2016, he has served on the Government of Canada’s Advisory Committee on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing.

José holds Bachelor of Mathematics and Master of Accounting degrees from the University of Waterloo (Canada). He completed a Ph.D. in Economics and Business Administration at VU Amsterdam, where he is guest faculty. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant (Ontario), Certified Public Accountant (Delaware), and Chartered Financial Analyst.

His approach to improving organizational ethics is documented in the book Broken Business: Seven Steps to Reform Good Companies Gone Bad (Wiley 2018).

Mike Garvey

Consulting Partner

Garvey@OrtusStrategies.com

Mike Garvey is a Consulting Partner, governance expert, and senior strategist with Ortus. He was previously a member of the FGI Europe team, where he specialized in advising directors and management of leading companies on a wide range of ethical and corporate governance matters.

Garvey also serves as a corporate director on several public, private and not-for-profit boards. He has chaired the Audit Committees of three TSX-listed companies and served as Lead Director for one. He has chaired the boards of the University of Waterloo, The Donwood Institute, The Michener Institute of Applied Health Sciences, The Friends of Ontario Universities, and Hospital Diagnostic Imaging Repository Services.

He retired as a partner at a Big Four accounting firm in 2006. Garvey served as Managing Partner of the firm’s practice in Cuba for ten years. He was also the firm’s engagement partner for a number of significant multinational clients during his career.

Garvey obtained his Bachelor of Arts (Honours Economics) from the University of Waterloo. He holds the professional designations of FCPA, FCA, and ICD.D.

Mark Laurie

Consulting Director

Laurie@OrtusStrategies.com

Tel +1 514 346 5517

Mark Laurie is a Consulting Director for Ortus based in Western Canada.

He has worked closely with clients in the design, implementation and monitoring of ethics and anti-corruption compliance programs at their companies, with particular emphasis on internal investigations, business partner due diligence, policy development, and communications.

Internationally, Laurie has played a leading role in investigations and compliance reviews as part of engagements in Canada, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, South Korea, and the United States.

Earlier in his career, Laurie worked in communications and media relations at a number of organizations in Canada. He also worked as a writer and analyst at the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University in Montreal and a Master’s degree from Ryerson University in Toronto. Laurie speaks English and French.

Stephanie Schön

Accountant

Schoen@OrtusStrategies.com

Stephanie Schön is an accountant for Ortus based in Stuttgart, Germany. She joined Ortus’s predecessor firm, FGI Europe, in November 2011, after several years working in financial and payroll accounting at a Big Four accounting firm.

Schön is an International Accountant, a Member of the Federal Association of Independent Accountants in Germany, and an Associate Member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Minnesota. She is fluent in German and English.

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#Ethics #Leadership #Governance

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What is Empowering Integrity?

CULTURE

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